Category Archives: Others

【Editorial】 Detroit bankruptcy – the fate of an economy where the wealthiest takes away the wealth and the future of the nation (Aug. 2, 2013)

  The city of Detroit, which has thrived as the center of America’s auto industry, filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection in federal court in July. It is said to be the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in the United States history by debt, estimated to amount to roughly 2 trillion yen. The decline of the city triggered by loss of tax revenue indicates the danger of a regional economy depending on a handful of firms. America’s free market economy, in which the strong victimizes the weak and widens the gap between rich and poor, is beginning to collapse beneath its feet. Japan, which is pushing aggressively for deregulation and competitive … Continue reading

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【News】 The Japan Agricultural News and the agricultural ministry announce winners of this year’s poster design contest advocating safety of farmworkers (July 23, 2013)

  Kie Nakauchi, a 31-year-old company employee of Nabari, Mie Prefecture, won the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Prize in the poster design contest for 2013, jointly held by The Japan Agricultural News and the agricultural ministry to promote safe working conditions for agricultural workers.The poster designed by Nakauchi depicts a silhouette of a farmer coming home in the twilight to be welcomed by his daughter, and comes with a phrase “Always keep your mind on working safely. Glad to have you home again safe and sound.” Nakauchi said she created the design by imagining a farmer trying to work safely for his family waiting for him at home … Continue reading

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【News】 Japan’s funding on agricultural research in developing nations is marking a sharp drop, indicating the nation’s declining presence as contributor (June 27, 2013)

  Senior Staff Writer,  Masaru Yamada The Japanese government’s official development assistance on foreign agricultural research institutes has decreased sharply in the last decade, it was learned. ODA for agricultural research topped 4 billion yen every year in the late 1990s, making Japan the second largest contributor in the world after the United States, but the amount dropped to one-tenth of the peak level in the recent years. Japan’s contribution in the field of agricultural research and development is declining, as emerging nations expand their funding. At the Tokyo International Conference on African Development held in Yokohama earlier this month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised to expand assistance in such … Continue reading

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【News】 Kesen-cha green tea devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami is on the verge of restoration (June 27, 2013)

OFUNATO, Iwate Prefecture – Fans of Kesen-cha, grown in Kesen district in Iwate Prefecture hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, are striving to restore its production by providing seedlings and decontaminating tea plantations irradiated by the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant accident. Kawasaki Co., a Shizuoka-based manufacturer of tea processing plants, donated 2,000 seedlings of Yabukita and Sayamakaori green tea breed to an agricultural cooperative in Ofunato, Iwate (JA Ofunato), on Wednesday, June 26, and taught farmers how to grow seedlings before transplantation. “We regret that the number of green tea trees in the Kesen district declined and seedlings were lost by tsunami,” said Yasuo Edamura, president of Kawasaki … Continue reading

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【Editorial】 Listen to the voices from wildlife in rice fields (June 23, 2013)

  I am a frog living in rice paddies. I enjoy looking at young rice seedlings grow bigger every day. At one time, all of us amphibians got into a terrible panic because of a fatal infectious disease called chytridiomycosis, but we somehow managed to survive. Now it is becoming clear that the disease is not as horrifying to Japanese frogs as some thought. Whew! Thank goodness. Still, my fellows are feeling restless. All of us creatures living in rice paddies, including rice fish, pond snails and diving beetles, are worried because we see less and less human beings in the paddies. You may think that we can feel more at … Continue reading

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