Category Archives: Cooperatives

ASAKURA, Oct. 11 — A Japanese agriculture cooperative in the southern island of Kyushu has teamed up with the fast food tempura chain, Tendon Tenya, using a locally-produced fruit: Fig tempura. The Japanese tempura bowl operator has a typical menu that consists of a bowl of rice topped with tempura. Toiling with six months of trial and error, the food chain developed the new product, using “Toyomitsu-hime” figs produced by JA Chikuzen Asakura, the agricultural cooperative in Asakura city, Fukuoka prefecture. The new fruit tempura is now on the menu at Tendon Tenya until Oct. 30. A portion of the sales will be donated to northern Kyushu areas that were … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Sept. 8 – United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO) Office for Japan co-organized a public seminar on September 7 at Nagata-cho in Tokyo with Japan Joint Committee of Cooperatives (JJC), an apex body of an organizational network of various cooperatives in Japan. The seminar was held to learn about roles to be played by cooperatives in achieving “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” that were adopted at the UN Sustainable Development Summit 2015 to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all as part of the 2030 New Sustainable Development Agenda. Simel Esim, Head of the Cooperatives Unit at the ILO Headquarters in Geneva, made a presentation on expected … Continue reading →

SHIZUOKA, Sept. 2 – Leaders of cooperative organizations in African countries had a study trip at Shimizu Agricultural Cooperative, called as JA Shimizu, to observe activities carried out by Japanese farmers at their cooperative. They came to Tokyo to learn about the Japanese cooperative movement by participating in a seminar that is being held from August 28 to September 6 jointly by Japan Consumers’ Co-operative Union and United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO) in collaboration with Japan Joint Committee of Cooperatives (JJC) heading an organizational network of various cooperatives in the country. Their field trip to the JA Shimizu was organized as a part of the seminar program, providing them … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Sept. 16 — A grocery store specialized in Japanese agricultural products and processed food opened on September 22, 2017, at one of the largest international airports in Asia, Changi Airport in Singapore. Its products are supplied by Zen-Noh International, a leading exporter of Japanese agriproducts and a subsidiary of National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (ZEN-NOH). The store sells beef, fruits, and Japanese sake as well as ready-to-eat boxed lunch, called bento, with side dishes cooked using Japanese agriproducts. The shop is expected to give a boost to the expansion of the export of agricultural products from Japan. The store opening was announced on September 15 by Zen-Noh International and … Continue reading →