Author Archives: The Japan Agricultural News

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 →

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 →

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 →

  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 →