Category Archives: Farm Policy

HYOGO, Apr. 20 – The cherry blossoms were in full bloom on April 13, 2020, in Shiso City, Hyogo Prefecture, in the upper reach of the Ibo River, the origin of hand-made Ibo-no-ito somen noodles. “The flowers are the same, but they look totally different from two years ago,” said Takahiro Taniguchi, a 58-year-old owner of Taniguchi Cattle Farm, which has been in business in Shiso for 29 years. Then, he turned his eyes to a piece of paper in his hand. It was the list of the bid prices of the meat sold by his colleagues today, and the numbers in the note are all in the upper 1,000-yen … Continue reading →

NAGANO/AOMORI, Apr. 12 – As the agriculture industry continues to face severe labor shortage, moves are seen in some areas to dispatch workers from the tourism and restaurant sectors hit by the new coronavirus outbreak to work at farms. Because of the decrease in the number of foreign visitors and requests by authorities to refrain from making nonessential outings, it is getting increasingly difficult for firms in the tourism industry to maintain employment of their workers. On the other hand, farms are struggling to obtain workers, as the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented foreign trainees, mainly from China, whom they have relied on for labor, from coming to Japan. <JA Sakuasama … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Mar. 7 – Japan has set a new target for exports of agricultural, forestry and fishery products and foods at a council of Ministers on March 6, 2020. According to the announcement after the council, the country now plans to increase agricultural, forestry, and fishery exports to 5 trillion yen by 2030. It includes 3,510 billion yen for farm products, including processed food. As a midterm goal, the country is also committed to boost the export of agricultural, forestry, and fishery products to 2 trillion yen by 2025. Yoshihide Suga, Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, instructed each minister “to have concrete discussions as soon as possible and work together … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Mar. 11 – The number of inbound tourists who stayed at inns and hotels in six prefectures in Tohoku district of Japan in 2019 was about 1,558,000, up 21% compared to last year, the Reconstruction Agency said. Efforts to boost local tourism, including agricultural tours at fruit orchards, have been successful in supporting a steady rise in the number of the inbound tourists since 2011, the year the Great East Japan Earthquake hit the north-eastern part of Japan harshly. The figure exceeded 1.5 million for the first time in 2019. However, the figure is expected to decline in the first half of 2020, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, … Continue reading →

FUKUSHIMA, Mar. 11 – The export of agricultural products from Fukushima Prefecture is increasing. According to the prefecture, its shipping of farm products in the first ten months of the fiscal year 2019 (from April 2019 to January 2020) was record-high 265 tons, 40% higher than the same period last year. Rice has been a driving force, while the export of peaches and apples grew dramatically. Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, some countries and regions have kept import restrictions on food from the prefecture hit hard in the 2011 earthquake. However, the prefecture has been successful in promoting the sales overseas by exploring new markets primarily in Southeast Asia. … Continue reading →