Category Archives: Others

  Hiroko Obara, Junichi Miura The number of deaths related to snow has topped 100 for three consecutive years since fiscal 2010, and the situation is getting worse every year. Since lower temperature and more snow are predicted this winter, local governments and experts are calling on people to take accident prevention measures such as avoiding removing snow from rooftops without help from neighbors. Earlier this month, a man in his 70s of Kamo, Niigata Prefecture, died after falling down from a rooftop when he was removing 30-cm-deep snow from a vulnerable tin roof of a work shed all by himself.   According to Tadatsugu Tsurumaki, head of the residents’ … Continue reading →

Takuo Fukumoto As winter deepens, production of salted salmon is at its peak in Murakami, Niigata Prefecture. Agricultural corporation Shinko Nosan is busy preparing salmon, curing them with salt and drying them for fermentation. The company’s main business is rice production, but it also engages in production of salted salmon for year-end gifts as a source of revenue during winter. They dress salmon, carefully removing dark flesh and internal organ membranes, and rub salt into it, leave it for up to a week and then wash away the salt and hang it for drying. It is dried for roughly three weeks to bring out the best flavor. Shinko Nosan dresses … Continue reading →

  Senior Staff Writer, Masaru Yamada Biotechnology companies worldwide have begun stepping up technological assistance to farms in developing nations in addition to supplying agricultural chemicals. The firms set up ambitious goals such as setting a target year to improve productivity of the farms while saving energy. As the agricultural biotechnology market in industrialized countries has become increasingly saturated, firms are looking to emerging markets with the aim of gaining market share by appealing their marketing skills and production technology of agricultural products to farmers and retaining customers. In a major rice-growing region in Indonesia, three-hour drive away from Jakarta, local farmers gathered at a training center to listen to … Continue reading →

Since the middle of this month, AEON Co., Ltd. began selling cut flowers with five-day quality assurance in 270 stores nationwide. It is attracting attention of flower growers and other retailers as the first such attempt by a major nationwide supermarket chain. When selling cut flowers, the stores will offer customers a small bag of quality preserver and explain appropriate ways to take care of them, including keeping water and vases clean. If the flowers wither within five days from purchase, the stores will either pay back the money or replace the flowers. Masahiko Kakitsubata, director of gardening greenery products department at AEON, says they hope to seek new customers … Continue reading →