Author Archives: The Japan Agricultural News

Daikon radishes hung up to dry in the cold in a snowy mountainous district in central Japan

GIFU, Jan. 13 — Farmers in the Yamanomura district of Kamioka in Hida, Gifu Prefecture, are busy working on producing Okuhida Yamanomura Kanboshi Daikon, a local specialty made by drying daikon radishes. It is a traditional preserved food handed down in the district, an area with heavy snowfall located at an altitude of around 1,000 meters. Thick, boiled slices of radish are hung up outside where temperatures go down below minus 10 degrees Celsius and are dehydrated by going through the repeated cycles of being frozen at nights and thawed during daytime, developing their unique chewiness and sweetness. “It is a local winter task that has continued for over 100 … Continue reading

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Ibaraki Prefecture names January 10th “Dried Sweet Potato Day”

TOKYO, Jan. 11 –Japan’s top producer of hoshi imo (a specialty snack made of steamed, dried sweet potatoes)-Ibaraki Prefecture-named January 10th “the day of dried sweet potatoes,” or “Hoshi Imo no Hi” in Japanese. On January 10 this year, the prefecture held a press conference in Tokyo to celebrate the newly-established anniversary. Ibaraki Prefectural Governor Kazuhiko Oigawa explained to the press how the prefecture created the anniversary. The conference was attended by Maria Tani, a Japanese model and actress who became an ambassador for dried sweet potatoes from Ibaraki Prefecture in December last year, and she described the allure of hoshi imo. There are three reasons to call January 10th, … Continue reading

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Farmers take pride in return of Tokyo University of Agriculture’s runners, cheering squad, and radish dance to Hakone Ekiden

KANAGAWA, Jan. 5 – Tokyo University of Agriculture returned to this year’s Hakone Ekiden (Tokyo-Hakone Round Trip University Ekiden Race) for the first time in ten years in the year of the 100th anniversary of the annual athletic event. So did the iconic dancing of the university’s cheering squad. The dance is called Aoyama Hotori or more commonly, Daikon Odori (Japanese radish dance). A farmer who provided the radishes for the dance and a teacher who helped the cheering group members grow radishes praised the runners for completing the race and the cheering group for supporting the runners, saying they were proud of them. The farmer in Kokubunji City, Tokyo, … Continue reading

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500 grams of premium Sato Nishiki cherries fetch record-breaking 1.4 million yen at the first auction of the year

TOKYO — The first auction of the year was held on Jan. 5 at Tokyo’s Ota wholesale market, with a number of Takarabune treasure boats decorated with colorful vegetables put on sale. The largest 3-meter-long boat was sold for 500,000 yen, the same price as last year. Dealers at the auction hoped for the earliest possible recovery of the areas in the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture hit by a powerful earthquake on New Year’s Day. In addition to two largest boats, four large boats were sold at 150,000 yen each. An official of Maruni Co., an intermediate wholesaler which bought the boat, said, “We are worried as there are … Continue reading

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Is it really a toy or genuine?

TOKYO, Dec. 23 – A series of capsule toys featuring Japanese local milk brands is making a big hit in Japan. The gacha toys created under the supervision of the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (ZEN-NOH) are as small as a little finger but look precisely like a 1-liter milk carton or a 200-ml milk bottle, which you see every day everywhere in Japan. Having a retro feel that attracts mostly young people and a lineup that allures collectors, they are helping to create milk fans. You turn a lever of the gacha vending machine to get one of the six miniature milk cartons and bin, like that famous … Continue reading

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