Category Archives: Others

TOKYO and KOCHI, Apr. 11 – The market price of cut flowers is continuing to fall. The daily average of the flower prices at seven primary flower wholesale markets in Japan dropped six yens to 32 yens per one piece, the lowest ever in a decade, according to the daily market index released by the Japan Agricultural News. After Prime Minister Abe declared a state of emergency on April 7, many of large-scale florist chains and individual retailers in big commercial complexes decided to suspend their business, triggering a huge decline in the average price of cut flowers in the index called Nichi-noh INDEX. Offering of the day at the … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Mar. 27 – Japan’s National Mutual Insurance Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives (Zenkyoren) announced on March 26, 2020, that it developed a VR-based farm accident simulator for the first time in Japan. The system uses a virtual reality (VR) headset and a smartphone equipped with glasses exclusively designed for that purpose, and people can simulate five types of agricultural machinery accidents. The mutual insurance co-op will start renting the unit to local agricultural cooperatives in Japan (JA) in April this year, so that JAs can use it for training JA staff and local farmers and eventually prevent future accidents. The five accidents it assumes are those while driving a tractor, … Continue reading →

IWATE, Mar. 11 – “I’m sorry that only I have survived. I’ve always wanted to say thank you.” People come and talk to the phone in a white fancy phone booth that stands alone on the hilltop in Otsuchi Town, Iwate Prefecture. Inside the booth, there are a black phone and a notebook. Though the phone is connected to nowhere, people come and visit this place to mourn the loss of their loved one after the 2011 massive earthquake hit the Tohoku region of Japan. A boy who lost his parents in their wrecked house and a mother who lost her daughter in the enormous tsunami came here to talk … Continue reading →

Nagano, Feb. 21 – Nagano Prefecture Agricultural Experiment Station has successfully developed a new strain of apple called “Apple Choka 34.” It’s a late-maturing variety that features pink flesh, which is sweet-and-sour and rich in taste. Also, it has a pleasant crispy texture. It’s good not only for table fruit but also for various other purposes, for example, as colorful cut fruits for salad or semi-dried products. With Apple Choka 34, the prefecture expects to create a very new demand that cannot be found with existing varieties. Private breeders and universities have also bred the apples with red or pink flesh, but it was the first time for Nagano to … Continue reading →