Category Archives: Others

TOKYO, June 9 — Air Do, a regional carrier based in Hokkaido, offers a local specialty drink for free: Yubari melon soda. Yubari city in the northern island of Hokkaido is famous for its melons and the name is in Japan’s geographical indication systems. The drink was jointly developed by Pokka Sapporo Food & Beverage, a Nagoya-based beverage maker, and the country’s largest farmers’ co-operative JA group. Yubari melon soda was released in 2009.

KUSHIRO, June 4 — Japanese sheep farmers have launched a project with New Zealand to rebuild their sustainable sheep production base in the northern island of Hokkaido. Hokkaido has a local specialty: “Genghis Khan” lamb, a shareable hot platter of lamb medallions surrounded by grilled vegetables. As domestic demand for sheep meat has grown, Japanese lamb imports reached more than 20,000 tons in 2017. On the other hand, the country’s lamb production was merely 152 tons in 2014. Hokkaido was once home to sheep farming, but a flood of imports forced sheep farmers out of the industry, and today it has only 200 farmers with 11,529 sheep. That’s why Hokkaido … Continue reading →

SENDAI, April 23 — Cheers went up once again at the sight of Japanese figure-skating gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu in his hometown parade. Prior to the parade, Hanyu received a 4-year supply of locally-grown rice, or about 240 kg of rice, from Miyagi Governor Yoshihiro Murai on April 22. So, what does the four years of rice mean? It means rice from Miyagi, the region of his country, will keep him going to prepare for the 2022 Beijing Games. Hanyu, 23, successfully defended his gold medal at the PyeongChang Games in February, after injuring ligaments in his ankle during a practice in November. The organizer said the April 22 event … Continue reading →

TOKYO, April 19 – Tomoiki BIO, a firm in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture which develops seeds and plants, announced on April 18 that it has created banana plants which can be cultivated outdoors even in temperate regions, paving the way for production of bananas throughout Japan. The cultivation of the new seedlings, said to be resistant to cold weather and pests, has already started in Kagoshima Prefecture. The firm plans to conduct limited sales of Tomoiki Banana, the pesticide-free bananas with high sugar levels, under the slogan “bananas with edible skin.” Cultivation of bananas in Japan had been restricted to warm climate regions such as Okinawa Prefecture. Meanwhile, the seedlings, developed … Continue reading →