Author Archives: The Japan Agricultural News

HOKKAIDO, Oct. 26 – The 16th All Japan Holstein Grand Prix was held on October 25 in Abira Town, Hokkaido, to recognize excellent dairy cow producers across the country who succeeded in improving dairy cows. It marked a comeback after a decade of absence, as the last one five years ago was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2025 championship welcomed, from 38 prefectures, a record-high 380 dairy cows. The Champions, the highest award winners, were selected on October 26. The event is organized by the Holstein Cattle Association of Japan (HCAJ). HCAJ Chairman Tsutomu Maeda expressed his hope at the opening ceremony to strengthen ties among dairy farming … Continue reading →

SHIMANE, Oct. 22 — Hiroyasu Hida, a 72-year-old farmer of the city of Yasugi in Shimane Prefecture, cuts grass by attaching a mower on the arm of an excavator. The use of an excavator reduces the physical burden since a user can stay seated on a roofed seat even when working under the scorching sun. The working time is also significantly cut to one tenth of the time needed to weed with a brush cutter. The ridges between the fields have been widened to 2 meters to allow excavators to work on them, with the total area expanding to 5 hectares. Hida, who manages 8 hectares of farmland in a … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Oct. 23 — Major rice cooker manufacturer Zojirushi Corp. and cooked rice processing machinery maker Suzumo Machinery Co. announced they will put on sale in April a professional-use rice cooker that can be used to make sushi rice. The new rice cooker, jointly developed by the two firms, is the industry’s first device equipped with a function to cook sushi rice, according to the companies. They are aiming to market the cooker to be used by restaurants serving Japanese cuisine, which are gaining increasing popularity among foreign tourists, as well as selling it abroad. The product is an induction heating (IH) cooker with a capacity of steaming up to … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Oct. 19 – The qualifier race for the 102nd Tokyo-Hakone Round-Trip College Ekiden Race (Hakone Ekiden) was held in Tachikawa City, Tokyo, and Tokyo University of Agriculture (TUA) successfully qualified for the 2026 Hakone Ekiden main race for the 71st time, or the first time in two years. The team placed in the 6th, cheered by the university’s iconic Daikon Dance (radish dance). They avenged a loss in the 2025 qualifying race by just a second. Ten universities with the lowest combined times of the top 10 runners in the half-marathon (21.0975 km) earned spots to compete in the main tournament on January 2nd and 3rd next year, out … Continue reading →

IBARAKI, Oct. 13 – Speedia Co., Ltd. (Chuo Ward, Tokyo), a subsidiary of one of Japan’s largest gyudon beef bowl restaurant chains, Yoshinoya Holdings Co., Ltd., is raising approximately 500 ostriches in Ishioka City, Ibaraki Prefecture. Ostrich meat, a red meat low in fat and rich in iron, is often compared to beef in taste and texture. The farm has set its sights on promoting it as “the 4th meat” in Japan, a potential new favorite alongside beef, pork, and chicken. In its 3.5-hectare farm, Speedia has approximately 40 rectangular fields, each 30 to 40 meters long, to house Japan’s largest number of ostriches. In the fields, which Speedia calls … Continue reading →