Category Archives: Farm Policy

Fairyland covered by hanamomo blossoms started with one tree planted by local farmer (Niyodogawa Town, Kochi Prefecture)

KOCHI, Apr. 8 – Spring has come, and the Kuki Region in Niyodogawa Town, Kochi Prefecture, is exploding with white, pink, and red colors of hanamomo peach flowers in full bloom. This fairyland scenery was created from one tree planted by one local farmer. “It’s the best time, and I’m glad you are here at the right time,” said Yuichi Hiura, a 92-year-old farmer who grows Japanese tea leaves locally, while chatting with other visitors. About 50 years ago, Hiura planted the very first Genpei hanamomo peach tree on his tea plantation. After that, he began planting more trees on nearby plantations so that these fields would not be abandoned … Continue reading

Posted in Farm Policy | Comments Off on Fairyland covered by hanamomo blossoms started with one tree planted by local farmer (Niyodogawa Town, Kochi Prefecture)

Japanese manga artist Akira Toriyama, also an advocate for agriculture, dies

TOKYO, March 9 — Akira Toriyama, a manga artist from Nagoya who created world-famous works including “Dr. Slump” and “Dragon Ball,” died of acute subdural hematoma on March 1. He was 68. Toriyama advocated the importance of agriculture and rural villages, and his adventure manga focusing on food education, titled “Oishii Shima no U-sama” (Delicious Island’s Mr. U) and published in 2009, is still loved by many children today. “Oishii Shima no U-sama” is an 18-page, A5-size full-color booklet included in “Agri Guruguru School,” a learning material for fifth-grade elementary school children produced by an agricultural and livestock industries promotion council of Aisai, Aichi Prefecture. The main character of the … Continue reading

Posted in Farm Policy | Comments Off on Japanese manga artist Akira Toriyama, also an advocate for agriculture, dies

Traditional wasabi production in central Japan makes use of plentiful spring water

SHIZUOKA, March 4 — Shizuoka Prefecture is Japan’s top producer of wasabi — the quintessential seasoning of Japanese cuisine that the country boasts to the world. The native Japanese plant, whose lower part of the stems are grated to make spice that stimulates the nose with a sharp flavor, has been grown in a traditional way in Shizuoka, and the wasabi cultivation making use of abundant spring water, geological features and weather conditions has been added to the list of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The Ikadaba wasabi fields in the city of Izu in the central Izu Peninsula are made up … Continue reading

Posted in Farm Policy, Food & Agriculture | Comments Off on Traditional wasabi production in central Japan makes use of plentiful spring water

A group in Ishikawa Prefecture collects more than 10 million yen in crowdfunding to recover quake-hit rice terraces

ISHIKAWA, Feb. 22 — A group working to preserve the Shiroyone Senmaida rice terraces in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, seriously damaged by the Noto Peninsula earthquake in January, launched a crowdfunding campaign to recover the terraces and managed to collect funds topping the initial target amount of 10 million yen. The rice terraces are the collection of 1,004 terraced rice fields and the symbol of Noto’s satoyama and satoumi — traditional landscapes and seascapes where humans live in harmony with the natural environment — which have been added to the list of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The … Continue reading

Posted in Farm Policy, Food & Agriculture | Comments Off on A group in Ishikawa Prefecture collects more than 10 million yen in crowdfunding to recover quake-hit rice terraces

Dairy farmer in Hokkaido develops mine clearing vehicle from grass mower to avoid war casualties in Ukraine

HOKKAIDO, Feb. 24 – A 68-year-old cattle farmer in Hokkaido, Mitsuharu Fukayo, has made a commercially available grass mower into a mine sweeping vehicle for Ukraine. Wheels attached to a remotely controlled vehicle will apply pressure to the ground and let underground mines explode. “I want the war to end soon,” he said, praying for peace. Fukayo raises 600 dairy cows as a representative of United Farm, a dairy farm corporation in Betsukai Town, Hokkaido. As an amateur developer, he decided to do something to help people suffering in the war in Ukraine and came up with the idea to design this mine-sweeping vehicle. The vehicle is made up of … Continue reading

Posted in Farm Policy, Food & Agriculture | Comments Off on Dairy farmer in Hokkaido develops mine clearing vehicle from grass mower to avoid war casualties in Ukraine