Category Archives: Cooperatives

JA Fruits Yamanashi debuts “Christmas Shine” Muscat for holy night

YAMANASHI, Dec. 20 – An agricultural cooperative in Yamanashi Prefecture, JA Fruits Yamanashi, has started to sell this year a limited version of a popular grape variant Shine Muscat, “Christmas Shine.” By combining the popular variant and the jolly year-end festivity, it intends to add value to the products. Trademark registration for “Christmas Shine” was obtained on November 9. It will come in a fancy box, only one piece in each box, with a pretty red tag that says “Christmas Shine Muscat” in impressive gold letters. They also put a bell to connect it to Christmas and a white Japanese traditional washi wrapping paper to give it an image of … Continue reading

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Japan’s new “Sugoi” apple: size is not so big, but tastes great

KUROISHI, Nov. 9 ― Apple growers in Aomori prefecture are geared toward exports. The regional farmers cooperatives in Aomori, including the JA Tsugaru Mirai, have reduced prices of Japanese apples by exporting smaller-sized “Sugoi” apples. Sugoi means terrific or excellent in Japanese. Typically, the size of Japanese apples is big, but Aomori apple growers started selling smaller-sized one so the prices is lower, allowing them to tap into new markets in Southeast Asia. The growers named it Sugoi apple, because it tastes great, even though it may not be as big as Fuji apple. The farmers’ groups also have made a special portable package, which has a portrayal of Japanese … Continue reading

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Kenya’s cooperative delegate visits Japan Cooperative Alliance

TOKYO, Nov. 6 ― A delegate of Kenya’s cooperative societies has visited the Japan Cooperative Alliance (JCA), an umbrella organization that seeks to promote inter-cooperative collaborations, to learn how cooperatives work together in Japan. The JCA was officially launched in April this year to lobby for pro-cooperative policies and provide better information and education about cooperatives to the general public. Japan has one of the world’s largest cooperative sectors. That includes the Japan Agriculture (JA) group, the agriculture co-op, the Japanese Consumer Cooperative Union (JCCU), the consumer co-op with more than 28 million-member owners, and Zenkyoren, the mutual insurance co-op. The Kenyan delegate also visited the JCCU, the Japanese Health … Continue reading

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United Nations committee adopts declaration to protect rights of small-scale farmers

NEW YORK, Nov. 22 – The United Nations General Assembly’s Third Committee adopted on Nov. 20 Japan time the Declaration for the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas which recognizes and protects the rights of small-scale and family farmers. It will be formally ratified at the General Assembly in December, helping give a much-needed boost to the recognition of the farmers’ role in strengthening food sovereignty and conservation of biodiversity. The resolution was passed with 119 votes in favor, 49 abstentions and 7 against. Many developing nations voted for the resolution, while countries like the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand voted against it. Japan … Continue reading

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JA group Hokkaido aims to boost local rice exports to China

TOKYO, Sept. 30 ― Japanese farmers’ group in northern Japan is set to ship locally-grown rice to China in early October, after a rice mill and two fumigation warehouses in Hokkaido received the Chinese government’s approval. Beijing requires that imported rice be milled and fumigated at facilities certified by the Chinese government. Previously, Japan had only one rice mill in Kanagawa prefecture, near Tokyo, and two fumigation warehouses, approved by China. But it has changed since Chinese Premier Li Keqiang made a visit to Japan in May and agreed to authorize two new mills and five more fumigation warehouses for exports to China, a key step to access more Japanese … Continue reading

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