Author Archives: The Japan Agricultural News

ZEN-NOH’s online shopping site opens shop dedicated to Isson Ippin products

TOKYO, Jan. 24  – The products featured in the series of Isson Ippin articles in the Japan Agricultural News (in Japanese) are now available at an online farmers market portal run by the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (ZEN-NOH), the JA Town. On January 24, the JA Town opened an event website to market processed agricultural products highlighted in the series to introduce, each time, one excellent product (Ippin) from one village (Isson) in Japan. The shop sells some of the Isson Ippin grand and gold prize winners in 2005 through 2024. The merchandise include the 2022 Grand Prize winner, Takasaki Fresh Pasta from JA Takasaki in Gunma Prefecture, … Continue reading

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Japan’s farm coop starts selling protein soup using skimmed milk powder

TOKYO, Jan. 21 — The National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Association (JA ZEN-NOH), a marketing arm of the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives group, started selling on Jan. 20 protein soup made with domestically-produced skimmed milk powder. The powdered product, to be consumed by dissolving it in hot water, will be included in the lineup of JA ZEN-NOH’s Nippon Yell brand. The protein — made using ingredients from Hokkaido such as skimmed milk powder, onions, sweet corn and red bean powder — comes in three types, including corn soup. JA ZEN-NOH hopes to boost consumption of milk by utilizing skimmed milk powder to produce protein products, amid the growth of markets for … Continue reading

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Enjoy in-flight meals on the ground; Winery in Sera Town, Hiroshima, starts serving dishes supervised by JAL first class chef featuring local ingredients

HIROSHIMA, Jan 21 – “We serve in-flight meals on the ground.” Sera Town, Hiroshima Prefecture, and Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. (JAL) have created a new lunch menu featuring local ingredients and begun serving it at Sera Winery in Sera Town since mid-January. The town, known for fruit and flower tourist farms, has fewer tourist attractions in winter, so it developed two dishes under the supervision of a chef in charge of in-flight meals for JAL’s international first-class flights. The dishes meet high safety standards for in-flight meals, such as requirements for temperature controls. “A bowl of rice topped with Sera Minori Roast Beef” (3,500 yen) comes with slowly-cooked roast beef, … Continue reading

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Come and join straw-art piglets and big mama!

Meet this big mama pig and piglets in Tokyo Midtown Hibiya in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. An artist and volunteers, nearly 100 in total, came together to make this gigantic straw sculpture using rice straw supplied by a farmer in Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture. It took 1.5 months for them to complete it. It is part of “Shoku-to-Ikiru (Living with Food),” an event to provoke interest in food-related social issues, such as food waste and vanishing regional food culture. The sculpture, measuring six meters in length, two meters in width, and three meters in height, was created by a 48-year-old artist, Yuma Matsumoto, under the theme of “Mother’s Milk.” It has … Continue reading

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Yellow chives dried in the sun as shipments reach peak

OKAYAMA, Jan. 12 — As shipments of yellow garlic chives, the specialty of the Makiishi district in the city of Okayama, are reaching peak levels, they are seen dried under sunlight at farms as a final touch after harvesting. Yellow chives are grown from regular green chive plants under what is known as “light shielding cultivation.” After the plants’ green leaves are trimmed, leaving a small base of stubby leaves, they are kept in darkness to regrow with chlorophyll synthesis being inhibited, thus turning yellow. At this time of the year, yellow chives are sundried for about an hour immediately before being shipped to make the yellow leaves brighter. Unlike … Continue reading

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