Category Archives: Farm Policy

TOKYO, Jul. 24 – Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (MAFF) has launched a new project to boost the number of Japanese food lovers worldwide and expand Japan’s export of agricultural and food products. It aims at providing international travelers with unique experiences that focus on the coupling between Japanese food and culture or health-conscious local attractions while creating an environment for them to continue to enjoy Japanese food back home. MAFF will gather successful cases and develop models for nationwide introduction. The initiative is called “Shoku Kakeru Project.” Literary, it means crossing (kake-awaseru) food (shoku) and other sectors and encouraging Japanese food fans crisscross (kake-meguru) the country. According … Continue reading →

TOKYO, July. 29 – The number of agriculture management entities in Japan has gone below 1.2 million, the lowest in the past ten years, according to the data released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan. The number of family management entities, which account for more than 90%, dipped 2.7% to 1,152,800. These figures underline a weakening production base in Japan due to a severe labor shortage and an aging population. The acreage of large-scale agriculture management entities has also started to decline. The decrease in the number of the entities who had been covering the loss of small-scale family-run entities is making it difficult for Japan to … Continue reading →

TOKYO, July 24 – While the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito won a majority in the Upper House election, many younger candidates with close ties to the agricultural industry were defeated. Meanwhile, veteran candidates of the ruling parties well-acquainted with farm policies fared well in the proportional representation segment. Few candidates of the opposition parties focused on agricultural policies in their campaigns. LDP’s Yoshimasa Hayashi, former agriculture minister, won his fifth term. Touching on the issue of depopulation in regional areas, Hayashi said: “We have to work on strengthening not only the agriculture sector, but also other industries.” Ryosuke Kozuki of LDP, a senior member of … Continue reading →

TOKYO, June 7 – Hiroshi Moriyama, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s Diet affairs chief, said on June 6 that it is difficult for Japan and the United States to reach agreement in trade talks in August. According to attendants of a meeting of heads of agricultural coop’s prefectural unions held in Tokyo, Moriyama, in charge of economic agreements as the chairman of the party’s headquarters for the TPP, Japan-EU EPA and the Japan-U.S. TAG, said in a speech that it will still take time to conduct working-level negotiations. “We can’t possibly (reach a deal) in August,” he said. In May during his visit to Tokyo, U.S. President Donald Trump said: … Continue reading →