Author Archives: The Japan Agricultural News

Cases of travelers illegally bringing meat products into Japan reach record 110,000 in 2019

TOKYO, June 12 – The number of cases of overseas travelers illegally bringing in meat products to Japan reached a record high of roughly 110,000 in 2019, up 17 percent from a year before, according to the agriculture ministry’s preliminary data. The increase was higher than the 2 percent year-on-year rise in the number of visitors from abroad. The number of cases this year has been low because of a decline in foreign visitors amid the COVID-19 outbreak, but the ministry’s Animal Quarantine Service plans to strengthen measures at ports of entry to prevent livestock infection. Among the total of 110,058 cases reported last year, nearly half, or 50,456, involved … Continue reading

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Restrictions on beef exports bound for Macao lifted

TOKYO, June 3 – Restrictions for beef which can be exported to Macao will be lifted from June 8, the agriculture ministry announced on June 2. The government hopes the lifting of the restrictions, which limits exports of beef to Macao to boneless meat from cattle aged less than 30 months, will help further boost beef exports to the city which has recently been on the rise in terms of value. Meanwhile, despite Japan’s strong hopes to export beef to China, negotiations on conditions for shipments to the country have not been progressing although China decided in December to resume beef imports from Japan. Macao conditionally lifted its ban on … Continue reading

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[Letters with Noh no Ikebana in season] Colorful landscape of early summer

HIROSHIMA, May 8 – Noh no Ikebana is one form of flower arrangements. It’s mainly for farmers and arranges agricultural products as materials and farm instruments as containers. It often features the joy people find in different seasons and everyday lives in their hometowns. The new quarterly series of articles, “Letters with Noh no Ikebana in season,” has now begun to share a heart of hospitality (o-mo-te-na-shi in Japanese) that the lovers of Noh no Ikebana put in their works. We want to share our love for vegetables in season: Noh no Ikebana Club at Matsunagakita Branch of JA Fukuyama-shi (Hiroshima Prefecture) <Containers & Tools> A jag, a wood bucket, … Continue reading

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Norinchukin Bank invests ¥150 billion in World Bank bonds to support sustainable development projects

TOKYO, June 1 – The Norinchukin Bank, a national-level financial institution for agricultural, forestry and fisheries cooperatives in Japan, announced that it has invested $1.4 billion (¥150 billion) in World Bank bonds to support financing of sustainable development projects in developing countries. Sustainable Development Bonds issued by the World Bank for Norinchukin will finance projects that are designed to help achieve four of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including “zero hunger,” the goals that the Norinchukin Bank considers important. It is the first time for the World Bank to launch bonds solely for an institutional investor in Japan. The other goals chosen to be addressed are “climate … Continue reading

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Foreign people with new specified skills visa less than tenth of government target in first year

TOKYO, May 30 – The number of foreign nationals with a new visa for specified skills totaled 3,987 as of the end of March, a year after the system was launched, according to data released by the Immigration Services Agency on May 29. This is less than 10 percent of the government’s initial goal set for the first year. Among them, those working for the agriculture sector reached 686, also less than a tenth of the government target for the sector. The low numbers are attributable to the complicated procedures for obtaining the visa and the slow approval process, as well as travel restrictions imposed amid the spread of COVID-19 … Continue reading

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