Category Archives: Cooperatives

Global ICA vice-president visits coop welfare facility in Tokyo

TOKYO, March. 17 ― Jean-Louis Bancel, vice-president of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), the apex global cooperatives’ body, has visited a cooperative welfare facility in Tokyo. On March 16, Bancel visited a facility, “Workers Net Rings,” a cooperative of workers with disabilities that provide cleaning services in the local community. Some of workers are former drug addicts, homeless people, or diagnosed with schizophrenia, and they have found themselves very difficult to get a decent job in the Japanese straitjacket society, explained Shiro Kinoshita, head of Workers Net Rings. “This cooperative facility manifests that the business is about collaboration and helping one another,” Bancel said. Bancel was visiting Tokyo as one … Continue reading

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JA Fukushima to build future with SDGs to dispel nuke anxiety

FUKUSHIMA, March 14 ― A farmers’ group in Fukushima prefecture has emphasized the need for implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its relevance in the context of Fukushima, which has been hit hard by the 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster. JA Fukushima Mirai (future) has included the need for the successful implementation of SDGs in its three-year action plan that starts from 2019. It aims to dispel rumors about its safety in the wake of the meltdown at the Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s No.1 power station in the prefecture in 2011. Fukushima has set a target of more than 51 percent of local produce to be certified … Continue reading

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Japan’s JA youth shares motivations during annual meeting

TOKYO, Feb. 20 ― The Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA) Youth group has kicked off an annual meeting in Tokyo, pledging to protect its present as well as future and lay the foundations for the next generation. JA Youth group is an important instrument for rallying direct farmer engagement in the country’s agriculture policy. The annual meeting will continue till Feb. 20.

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Japan’s JA Bank unveils new animal character image

TOKYO, Feb. 23 ― The Norinchukin Bank, the financial arm of Japan’s agricultural cooperatives, also known as JA Bank, has unveiled its new animal character image, Yorizo. Yorizo is merging the two Japanese words of “yorisou” or being considerate of someone’s feelings and “zou” or elephants. It is designed to alight JA Bank’s new business strategy of listening to its clients carefully.

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Agriculture should be taught in primary school: JA group chef

OSAKA, Feb. 16 ― Agriculture should be taught in primary school, Japan’s most powerful farm group chef has said. Toru Nakaya, chairman of the Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (JA-ZENCHU), spoke in Osaka on Feb. 15 with Masaru Sato, a former Japanese diplomat and now noted commentator, over the future state of agriculture. “Even teachers in school nowadays have no clue about agriculture, no understanding,” Nakaya said. “They consider farm products as same as industrial goods. “I think that agriculture should be an essential subject at school,” he added. Nakaya emphasized that school going children can visit local farms to learn and appreciate where their food comes from. Sato agrees … Continue reading

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