Author Archives: The Japan Agricultural News

Tea farmer’s daughter in 11th grade selling line of hand-made accessories featuring tea leaves in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture

MIE, Nov. 22 – The line of hand-made accessories featuring tea leaves made by a 17-year-old daughter of a tea farmer in Yokkaichi City, Mie Prefecture, is drawing attention. The daughter, Run Shimizu, is in her second year of high school in Japan. She uses premium kabusecha tea leaves to make her original eye-catching accessories made of transparent resin with floating tea leave and sold more than 60 pieces since April. All her items, including earrings, hairpins, and rings, are sold with a note of the name of the tea variety she used, such as “Sae Akari” or “Sofu.” Shimizu uses tea leaves from her parents’ tea company, Marushige Shimizu … Continue reading

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Japan’s southernmost winery created in Okinawa Prefecture

OKINAWA, Nov. 23 — Japan’s new southernmost winery was set up in the village of Onna in Okinawa Prefecture. Production of grapes is extremely low in Okinawa where there are a lot of hot days, but agriculture production corporation Okinawa Budou cultivates a native grape variety that colors well even under warm climate conditions in order to produce wine. It had been outsourcing wine making but obtained a production license and started producing wine by itself. It hopes the product will take root like beer and awamori distilled liquor as Okinawa’s new alcoholic beverage. Koji Nakata, 58, head of Okinawa Budou, and his wife Tomoko, 48, grows Ryukyu-ganebu, a wild … Continue reading

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UN proclaims 2025 as International Year of Cooperatives to help raise awareness about contribution of cooperatives to SDG implementation

TOKYO, Nov. 18 – The United Nations (UN) decided to proclaim 2025 as the International Year of Cooperatives to share the roles and values of cooperatives and their contributions to socio-economic development and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) internationally and increase public awareness. The UN decision was announced in Japan by the Japan Co-operative Alliance (JCA) on November 17. The UN sets up an “International Year” to highlight critical global themes and encourages its member countries and related parties to strengthen their activities. It’s the second time for the UN to declare the International Year of Cooperatives, following the one in 2012. On November 3, 2023, The … Continue reading

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Japan’s longest windbreak forest turns gold as leaves change color

HOKKAIDO, Nov. 7 — A bright golden line of trees stands out against green wheat fields and brown Chinese yam fields in the town of Memuro, Hokkaido, as larches and Sakhalin spruces which make up Japan’s longest windbreak forest are turning color. The 9.2-kilometer-long, 65-meter-wide forest, located west of Prefectural Route 62, was designated by the central government as a windbreak forest in 1922. The forest helps weaken the strong winds descending the Hidaka Mountain Range and reduce the impact of the winds blowing away or drying the soil. A farmer who conducts crop rotation near the windbreak, growing wheat and beets, says the forest protects the crops from being … Continue reading

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ZEN-NOH completes lineup of Nippon Yell brand gummy candies from Japan’s all 47 prefectures

TOKYO, Nov. 14 – On November 13, 2023, the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (ZEN-NOH) completed the lineup of its Nippon Yell brand gummy candies made with fruits unique to each of all 47 prefectures in Japan. In just over two years, it released a total of 63 kinds, drawing consumers’ attention as the products that offer the fun of choosing. In September 2021, ZEN-NOH released the first line of Nippon Yell Gummy Candies, 28 kinds featuring 21 prefectures. Since then, the all-Japan gummy series sold more than 20 million bags by September this year. On November 13, ZEN-NOH released “Nippon Yell Gummy made of Mio Shizuku Strawberry from … Continue reading

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