Category Archives: Cooperatives

TOKYO, June 1 – The Norinchukin Bank, a national-level financial institution for agricultural, forestry and fisheries cooperatives in Japan, announced that it has invested $1.4 billion (¥150 billion) in World Bank bonds to support financing of sustainable development projects in developing countries. Sustainable Development Bonds issued by the World Bank for Norinchukin will finance projects that are designed to help achieve four of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including “zero hunger,” the goals that the Norinchukin Bank considers important. It is the first time for the World Bank to launch bonds solely for an institutional investor in Japan. The other goals chosen to be addressed are “climate … Continue reading →

FUKUOKA, Apr. 25 – How about a special treat of a flower for people having pizza delivery at home? A new collaboration between an agricultural cooperative in Fukuoka Prefecture (JA Fukuokashi) and a local pizza delivery chain has begun, and if you order a pizza for home delivery, you are also receiving a flower as a gift from the JA. The coronavirus outbreak hit flower demand in Japan, but on the contrary, the use of food delivery services is increasing as more people stay home. So, JA Fukuokashi decided to combine them to encourage more people to enjoy flowers at home and create new flower fans. The local co-ops have … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Mar. 26 – Japan Co-operative Alliance (JCA) released its first official statistics on co-op business in Japan on March 26, 2020. According to the statistics, the total amount of the value added by the cooperatives in Japan was approximately 5.6 trillion yen. It accounts for 1.9% of the sum of the value added by all domestic industries. The total number of cooperative association members is 15.61 million, and each household is estimated to have memberships in 1.8 associations. JCA will continue releasing the statistics in the future as one of the means to exhibit the broad presence of cooperative associations in Japan. The base figures for the statistics are … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Dec. 12 – ZEN-NOH International Corporation has started to export “Sakura Rice,” a rinse-free rice brand created exclusively for food business operators. On the back of the growing popularity of Japanese food in the world, the subsidiary of the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (ZEN-NOH) aims at exploring new opportunities in the export market with the new business-use rice brand. The primary advantages of Sakura Rice are “made in Japan” and effectiveness in cooking processes, and multiple foodservice chains in Singapore, the country with many Japanese restaurants, have already started to use Sakura Rice. So, the ZEN-NOH affiliate thinks it has a high chance of expanding the market … Continue reading →