Category Archives: Others

Farmers of Kumamoto Prefecture are still working to recover, a year after the area was rocked by two powerful earthquakes which marked the highest rating of 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale. In the Tateno district in the village of Minamiaso, where the large Aso Ohashi bridge collapsed, water supply remains cut off and farmers are having difficulty resuming their business. But earlier this month, one dairy farmer managed to take up farming again. In Tateno, farmlands and water pipes were damaged in the earthquake that hit the region in the early morning of April 16 last year, following one on April 14. Nearly a year after, on April … Continue reading →

In Japan, production of tatami matting (a thin upper portion of a tatami, Japanese traditional flooring panel) is on decrease with the westernization of lifestyle of Japanese people. To save and revive the tatami industry, some efforts are underway. Riding on a Japan boom abroad, domestic tatami manufacturers have launched a new project to communicate the attractiveness of tatami to consumers at home and abroad. An agricultural cooperative in Kumamoto Prefecture (JA Yatsushiro) has begun to look into the feasibility of tatami matting export. Others are trying to develop new materials that make use of the superior properties of rush, the main material used to make tatami, while a farm … Continue reading →

Farmstay is key to make both farmers and travelers happy Staying at farmers’ house is becoming one of the popular options among inbound travelers to Japan as more and more international travelers choose to experience traditional life of Japanese farmers instead of a stay at a city hotel. On March 29, 2017, five students from London Business School (LBS) sat around a kotatsu (a traditional low table with a built-in heater), enjoying dinner and conversation with their host in their 70s, Kaneyoshi and Katsuko Sekiguchi, at their house in Iida city, Nagano Prefecture. During the day, the rice and vegetable grower took the party to his leek field and taught … Continue reading →

A number of women in their 30s living at local municipalities designated as “depopulated municipalities” has been increasing, Research Institute for Sustainable Community, based at Masuda City, Shimane Prefecture, finds in its latest study. According to the study of the Research Institute, the population of the young generation also tends to grow even at local municipalities in mountainous areas as well as outer islands located especially in a western part of Japan. The Institute has made a study of population movements at 794 designated “depopulated municipalities” in Japan on the basis of national censuses conducted in 2010 and 2015. Among these depopulated municipalities, a number of female residents aged 30 … Continue reading →