Category Archives: Others

TOKYO, Oct. 14 – Many theft cases of agricultural produce and equipment are reported nationwide after April when the government issued a state of emergency to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infections. The stolen items range from pigs, cattle, pears, apples, vegetables grown outdoors and harvested rice to beehives and tractors. Since there are no statistics specifying theft in the farm sector, experts say grasping the scale of damage is indispensable to come up with countermeasures. According to the National Police Agency data, the number of confirmed cases of criminal offenses totaled 278,619 between January and August this year, the lowest in the last five years. Among them, the number … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Oct. 3 – A research team including the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) has released an estimate that if the world’s average temperature rose 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial times due to global warming, it would bring about crop yield losses worth $80 billion, or 8.4 trillion yen, a year. The amount of damage to crop production is equivalent to the total value of the current soybean production in the United States and Brazil. The research shows that the losses could be reduced by 6.4 trillion yen if countermeasures are taken but the rest would remain, and calls for the need to develop and spread technologies to … Continue reading →

SHIMANE, HIROSHIMA, Aug. 13 – The virus pandemic is throwing a dark shadow over one of the Japanese traditional performing arts, kagura. Kagura is a specific type of Shinto ritual ceremonial dance performed at traditional festivals in Japan. Its purpose is praying for productiveness in farming, driving away evil spirits, and thanking for successful harvesting. But now, many of the kagura troupes are forced to stop practicing and performing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some restarted acting in July, but it’s still uncertain for many when they can resume the activities with the second wave hitting the entire country. Some troupes and costume makers see large income drops and difficulties … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Jul. 23 – “We want to celebrate the winners in the rescheduled Summer Olympics and Paralympics with the victory bouquets made of domestic flowers and leaves.” Producers of aspidistra elatior, or haran in Japanese, in the Izu Oshima Island of Tokyo are already determined to move forward. At the 2020 Tokyo, medalist will receive the bouquets of flowers native to Japan, such as lisianthus from Fukushima Prefecture and gentians from Iwate Prefecture. Haran grown in the Tokyo island will be used to wrap and decorate the flowers from the prefectures, which were hit hard by the March 2011 powerful earthquake and tsunami. The island has about 60 haran growers … Continue reading →