Category Archives: Farm Policy

TOKYO, March 31 — Farmers on tractors and people of consumers’ cooperatives rallied on March 30 in Tokyo, calling on the public to think about how farmers can produce rice in a sustainable way. Some 4,500 people and 33 tractors and agricultural vehicles took part in the rally, dubbed the “peasant uprising in the Reiwa era,” in various parts of central Tokyo including Aoyama, Omotesando and Harajuku. Similar rallies were also held in 13 other prefectures such as Hokkaido, Toyoma and Fukuoka. Farmers led by tractors marched through the streets extending 3.2 kilometers for about an hour, holding banner flags and placards saying “We love rice” and “No villages, no … Continue reading →

HOKKAIDO, March 21 — Farmers in Iwamizawa, Hokkaido, are busy spreading snow-melting agents on their fields to prepare for spring plowing. Wheel ruts created on the snow-covered fields by tractors offer a rare view of a “one-stroke sketch” patterns that can be seen only in early spring. One morning at 6 a.m. when the temperature hit minus 10 degrees Celsius, members of Tap Factory, a company in the city that produces rice and wheat on land totaling some 150 hectares, set out to do the work. Using tractors, they spread over the fields shatter-resistant, snow-melting calcium carbonate fertilizers containing carbon black. Wheel ruts slowly turn black and snow starts melting … Continue reading →

Osaka, Mar. 19 – Before the official opening of the Osaka/Kansai Expo, its Signature Pavilion, “EARTH MART,” unveiled its contents centered on food on March 18. Kundo Koyama, a Japanese radio and television scriptwriter, produces the pavilion. The theme of the pavilion is “Thinking about life through food.” Visitors can experience the food life cycle through exhibits such as art objects made from withered vegetables, a monument crafted from a large number of chicken eggs, and an exhibit showcasing meat packs and livestock birthing scenes. One of the main exhibits is the “Marketplace of Life,” which illustrates the total amount of food a person consumes throughout their lifetime. In a … Continue reading →

A film about Japan’s Local Vitalization Cooperator program is screened in various parts of the country. The movie is named “Hitoshizuku,” which can be translated as “One Drop,” was filmed and directed by Daisuke Yamashita, 32, in Minami Osumi Town, Kagoshima Prefecture. He interviewed more than 200 cooperators in the program nationwide and completed the movie with the cooperation of the women’s division of a local agricultural cooperative, JA Kagoshima Kimotsuki. According to the Regional Power Creation Group of the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, this is Japan’s first movie on the theme of the Local Vitalization Cooperators, as far as it knows. The story is about a woman in … Continue reading →

HOKKAIDO, Feb. 25 — FRP Uchiyama, a firm in Obihiro, Hokkaido, manufactures life-size cow statues displayed at tourism ranches and dairy-related events. It has so far sold more than 100 statues across the country. Some of the statues are also used at livestock farming schools as learning material to practice taking care of cows including milking and calving. The statues, made of fiber reinforced plastics (FRP), are lightweight, strong and highly water-resistant. They come in three breed type designs — Holstein, Wagyu and Jersey. The statue of an adult Holstein cow appears big and powerful, measuring 90 centimeters wide, 245 cm long and 170 cm high. JA Shihoro, an agricultural … Continue reading →