Category Archives: Others

FUKUSHIMA/MIYAGI, March 9 – Eight years have passed since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and women engaging in agriculture in the disaster-hit Tohoku region are trying to hand down their experiences to future generations to raise awareness toward disaster prevention. Storytelling with picture boards Yoko Oka, 58, who evacuated to the city of Fukushima from Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, following the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant accident, tells her stories as a disaster victim using kamishibai paper picture boards. Her storytelling spread through word of mouth and now she travels nationwide half the month. She even performed in France in March 2017. “It is my role to convey the grief … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Feb. 6 ― Japan’s major dairy makers will raise prices for their products for the first time in four years, with effect from April 1, due to a planned increase in prices for raw milk purchased from dairy farmers, as raw milk output has continued to drop. The dairy product makers also attributed the price hikes to rising costs for packaging materials and labor. Morinaga Milk Industry Co. announced on Feb. 5 that it will introduce new prices in 45 products such as milk, yogurt and other dairy products, in which the retail prices will rise between 3 and 8.3 percent. Meiji Co. also said it will raise prices, … Continue reading →

CHIBA, Jan 19 ― Japanese college students are working to gain a foothold of Japanese sweet potato in Malaysia. Four students from the Chiba Prefecture Agricultural College, accompanied by two teachers, held a two-day promotional sales event, meeting with consumers at department stores on Jan. 12 and 13 in Kuala Lumpur. They showed and served various dishes using sweet potato locally grown in Chiba prefecture. For example, they demonstrated how to make steamed cakes; mixing cake flour with small chunks of sweet potato and cooking them in a rice cooker.