Category Archives: Farm Policy

TOKYO, April 15 – The transport ministry has been working on spreading services to allow foreign tourists travel without having to carry their luggage. By setting up counters at roadside rest areas and farmers’ markets to offer temporary storage and delivery services for luggage, the government hopes tourists will be encouraged to purchase more farm produce and local specialties, thus expanding business opportunities for farm coops and agricultural corporations which operate markets and tourism farms. The ministry began designating operators of “hands-free travel” services in 2015 and the number of such operators reached 222 as of the end of March. Counters are being set up not only in major airports … Continue reading →

TOKYO, April 11 — Japan’s agricultural exports dropped 4% year-on-year in February, a fall in eight months, hit by fewer working days due to a long Chinese new year holiday in exporting markets. The exports of products such as agri-food, meat and seafood totaled 66.6 billion yen in February, data from the agriculture ministry showed. The 4% decline in February exports was a disappointing performance, compared with a 35% jump in January. Still, combining January and February, the nation’s agricultural exports rose 12% to 129 billion yen from the same period a year earlier. Japan has set a target of 1 trillion yen in agricultural exports by 2020, and it … Continue reading →

TOKYO, April 7 — Falling demand from farmers has pushed farmland prices down for the 23rd consecutive year in Japan, according to a survey conducted by the National Chamber of Agriculture. Prices of rice fields in Japan dropped 1.2% t0 an average of 1.2 million yen per 10 acres in 2017 from a year earlier, and those of crop fields dipped 1.1% to 891,000 yen. Rice fields have declined 40 percent since they peaked in 1994 (2.2 million yen), and crop fields have dropped 35 percent since the peak of 1994 (1.37 million yen). The chamber attributed the falling prices to trade liberalization, allowing more imports of cheaper food from … Continue reading →

TOKYO, March 24 — Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been drawing up a package of proposals to meet the government’s target of 1 trillion yen in annual agricultural exports by 2020. The LDP’s committee that deals with agricultural exports held a meeting on March 23. It brought stakeholders interested in exporting to the table to help the committee focus on the issues. That included Mitoku Co., a trading company specializing in bio products, and Maruyama Tea Products Corp., a Shizuoka-based tea maker. During the meeting, agriculture ministry officials pointed out several key issues: ensuring that Japanese products are recognized for high safety standards; making supply chains work for … Continue reading →