Category Archives: Farm Policy

MIYAGI, Feb. 13 – Two special pure rice sake were produced using environmentally sustainable rice grown by three senior students studying crop production in the Agriculture Course of Miyagi Tome General Industry High School. Their ecologically sustainable rice has acquired three stars for Climate (CO2 reduction) and two stars for Biodiversity in Japan’s green sustainable system label program. According to the Tohoku Regional Agricultural Administration Office, they are the first Japanese sake made from rice with the stars. “Please enjoy them, envisioning us working in a rice field,” the students said. The labels are called “Mieru Label” in Japan, which means labels to make it visible. They are given by … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Jan. 25 — As tourists from the Asian region including China are set to increase during the Lunar New Year holidays, the Animal Quarantine Service and the Plant Protection Station of Japan’s agriculture ministry launched a campaign at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Jan. 24 to prevent entries of animal and plant diseases such as African swine fever and fire blight. Officers handed to foreign visitors and others some 550 pocket tissues containing flyers saying that people entering Japan are banned from bringing meat products and that there are plants which cannot be brought in to the country and plants which require a phytosanitary certificate to import. African swine fever … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Jan. 24  – The products featured in the series of Isson Ippin articles in the Japan Agricultural News (in Japanese) are now available at an online farmers market portal run by the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (ZEN-NOH), the JA Town. On January 24, the JA Town opened an event website to market processed agricultural products highlighted in the series to introduce, each time, one excellent product (Ippin) from one village (Isson) in Japan. The shop sells some of the Isson Ippin grand and gold prize winners in 2005 through 2024. The merchandise include the 2022 Grand Prize winner, Takasaki Fresh Pasta from JA Takasaki in Gunma Prefecture, … Continue reading →

Meet this big mama pig and piglets in Tokyo Midtown Hibiya in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. An artist and volunteers, nearly 100 in total, came together to make this gigantic straw sculpture using rice straw supplied by a farmer in Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture. It took 1.5 months for them to complete it. It is part of “Shoku-to-Ikiru (Living with Food),” an event to provoke interest in food-related social issues, such as food waste and vanishing regional food culture. The sculpture, measuring six meters in length, two meters in width, and three meters in height, was created by a 48-year-old artist, Yuma Matsumoto, under the theme of “Mother’s Milk.” It has … Continue reading →

GUNMA, Dec. 31 – The year 2025 is the Year of the Snake in the Chinese zodiac, and in Minakami Town, Gunma Prefecture, a giant snake made of rice straw welcomes visitors again at Michi-no-Eki Takumi-no-Sato, one of Japan’s roadside stations. The straw snake, measuring 7 meters in length and 1.8 meters in height, is built on a bamboo and wooden frame using rice straw grown locally in rice fields of approximately 1,000 square meters. It took approximately 3 weeks for local farmers and carpenters to make and prepare it for the start of display in November. On busy days, the roadside station has approximately 4,000 visitors who enjoy looking … Continue reading →