Author Archives: The Japan Agricultural News

Season for arare colorful, tasteful crackers made from glutinous rice starts in Japan

The production of arare, a type of Japanese cracker made from glutinous rice, is now at its peak in Miyako Town, Fukuoka Prefecture. A 54-year-old farmer, Miyuki Tominaga, was drying colorful bite-sized rice crackers in her workspace. She uses home-grown Hiyoku Mochi glutinous rice and about 10 different ingredients, including ginger, red perilla, and green laver, to add colors and flavors. Arare is everyone’s favorite winter snack, which is eaten baked and fried. It takes about a month to dry and then ship. Her arare is sold primarily at a farmers’ market run by a local agricultural cooperative in Fukuoka, JA Fukuoka Keichiku. Tominaga began full-scale production of arare five … Continue reading

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High school students in Miyagi Prefecture make first Japanese sake from green-certified rice

MIYAGI, Feb. 13 – Two special pure rice sake were produced using environmentally sustainable rice grown by three senior students studying crop production in the Agriculture Course of Miyagi Tome General Industry High School. Their ecologically sustainable rice has acquired three stars for Climate (CO2 reduction) and two stars for Biodiversity in Japan’s green sustainable system label program. According to the Tohoku Regional Agricultural Administration Office, they are the first Japanese sake made from rice with the stars. “Please enjoy them, envisioning us working in a rice field,” the students said. The labels are called “Mieru Label” in Japan, which means labels to make it visible. They are given by … Continue reading

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New citrus fruit variety Beni Princess debuts in Ehime

EHIME, Feb. 12 — Full-scale sales of Beni Princess, a new citrus fruit variety developed by Ehime Prefecture, will start in March. The Ehime Prefectural Government hopes to promote the variety as the Beni collection, together with the highly popular citrus varieties Beni Madonna and Beni Kanpei. Beni Princess was created by combining Ehime-grown Beni Madonna and Kanpei. It took Ehime Prefecture 20 years to develop the new variety from cross-breeding to full-scale sales. It is characterized by the jelly-like texture of Beni Madonna and the rich sweetness of Kanpei. At a debut event held in Tokyo on Feb. 11, Ehime Governor Tokihiro Nakamura said, “Beni Princess has all the … Continue reading

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Eat or buy more wagyu beef on Japan’s Meat Day on February 9

TOKYO, Feb. 8 – February 9 is the day of meat in Japan as the pronunciation of meat (niku in Japanese) sounds similar to the Japanese numbers 2 (ni) and 9 (ku). Some restaurant chains in Japan had discounted offerings of wagyu beef dishes or sold an additional volume pack of wagyu at their online retail shops. Due to continuing price hikes, consumers are becoming increasingly budget-minded, creating a harsh environment for sellers of wagyu beef, one of Japan’s high-priced foods. So, these unique schemes are expected to boost consumption. A leading shabu-shabu traditional hot pod dish restaurant chain, Shabushabu Onyasai, held a campaign to offer a special discount of … Continue reading

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Japan’s farm coop and FamilyMart develop new konjac products to support growers

  TOKYO, Feb. 5 — In an effort to support konjac farmers hit by sluggish demand, JA ZEN-NOH, the marketing arm of the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives group, and major convenience store chain FamilyMart Co. together developed new products using konjac grown in Gunma Prefecture. Katsuo Konnyaku, simmered konjac mixed with dried bonito flakes, and Konnyaku Miso Dengaku, konjac with sweet miso sauce, will be put on sale for a limited period at FamilyMart stores nationwide excluding Okinawa Prefecture, starting on Feb. 18. Konjac is produced mainly in Gunma. The prices of konjac plant corms, an ingredient to make konjac, have been on a declining trend due to slumping consumption and … Continue reading

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