Category Archives: Cooperatives

TOKYO, March. 23 ― Norinchukin Bank, the cooperative financial arms of Japan’s largest farmers’ group, has designated Vietnam’s investment development bank and the Philippines’ BDO Unibank to be its partner banks to address the financing needs in the Southeast Asian region. Norinchukin Bank offers various banking services and providing financial support for the development of Japanese agricultural sector. The two Southeast Asian banks will serve the overall banking requirements of the Japanese bank’s customers who want to invest and establish their business in the region for the first time, Norinchukin Bank said on March 22.

TOKYO, March. 23 ― Japan’s largest farmers’ group has opened an outlet at Shiganaga St., one of Tokyo’s most affluent district, to offer takeaway options such as lunch boxes and other ready-to-go foods that use Japanese-grown farm products. The outlet, called “Minori Minoru Kitchen,” is part of a project launched by JA ZEN-NOH, the National Federation of Agriculture Cooperative Associations, the marketing arm of JA group, to boost an increase in consumer interest in locally produced foods. In 2010, JA ZEN-NOH opened its first restaurant that use Japanese-grown farm products. Since then, its restaurants and café have grown to 15 outlets nationwide. Japan’s takeaway food market has grown to 10 … Continue reading →

FUKUSHIMA, March 28 ― A farmers’ group in Fukushima prefecture has offered retro metal lunch boxes featuring the old imperial era of Showa at its annual meeting this year. In its three-year action plan, JA Fukushima emphasizes the need for implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its relevance in the context of Fukushima, which was hit hard by the 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster. JA Fukushima seized an opportunity to let participants to reflect the SDGs at the annual meeting on March 27 by serving lunch boxes, which were made of aluminum and wrapped with a handkerchief.

TOKYO, March. 15 ―JA-ZENCHU Chairman Toru Nakaya has met Jean-Louis Bancel, vice-president of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) in Tokyo to exchange their views on the cooperative movement at home and abroad. Bancel was visiting Tokyo as one of the French delegation to attend the Business 20 (B20) Tokyo Summit on March 14 and 15. The B20 is the business version of the Group of 20 summit. The B20 is held every year ahead of the G20 summit. The next summit is slated for June in Osaka, Japan. “Japan has an important role in the long history of the cooperative movement,” Bancel said. “It is vital to call for greater … Continue reading →

TOKYO, April 23.  ― JA Group and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) are signing a new partnership agreement on the initiatives to provide agricultural support to developing countries in Asia. The Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (JA-ZENCHU) is going to act as a liaison office for agricultural cooperatives (JAs) all over Japan, while JICA is going to be a liaison office for developing countries. The two will then dispatch JA workers and young farmers to the countries needing agricultural aid. They plan to support the farmers with the creation of local agricultural cooperatives using JA’s expertise. This way, they can help small family-run farmers make more profit and their villages … Continue reading →