Category Archives: Cooperatives

  Local cooperatives in as many as 10 prefectures have established or plan to create an organization to continue exchange activities between different cooperatives, which became active during the International Year of Cooperatives (IYC) last year, The Japan Agricultural News learned. The IYC was launched by the United Nations to raise public awareness of the contributions of cooperative enterprises. Inspired by the move, many Japanese cooperatives, such as Japan Agricultural Cooperative (JA), Japan Fisheries Cooperative and consumers’ cooperative, jointly implemented various programs including working to set up lecture courses on cooperative studies at local universities and conducting mutual visitation among cooperatives of different industries. Cooperatives in Mie Prefecture were the … Continue reading →

  OIGAWA, Shizuoka Prefecture – An agricultural cooperative in Oigawa, Shizuoka prefecture (JA Oigawa), and EBISTRADE Inc., a Tokyo-based trading firm, will jointly start exporting Shizuoka-grown green tea to Russia, seeing potential in the market with many tea lovers. They will begin with shipping a ton of green tea, and start selling them in Vladivostok through an affiliated firm from the end of July. As green tea is gaining popularity in Russia as a healthy drink, they hope to ship 1,000 ton annually and post annual sales of 15 billion yen by fiscal 2017. Hitoshi Mizoshita, head of JA Oigawa’s Kawane tea industry center, said that since the domestic market … Continue reading →

  JA Minds, an agricultural cooperative in Fuchu, Tokyo, won the Yellow Pencil – equivalent to a gold prize – in this year’s D&AD Awards, an award for design and advertising recognized throughout the world. The award, sponsored by British Design and Art Direction, a London-based design promotion organization, is known as one of the world’s four major design awards. JA Minds won its award in the category of branding schemes, which includes activities to publicize brand values to customers using logos. 6D-K, a Tokyo-based firm headed by graphics designer Shogo Kishino, designed the icon-based logos, which are used in JA Minds’ signboards, in-store maps and wall displays. The new … Continue reading →

  The Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (JA Zenchu) decided at its board meeting on Thursday, July 4, that it will fund five development projects by Asian agricultural groups, using donations collected among the group during fiscal 2012. In order to extend the range of direct support, the board members also amended the organization’s rules to allow unused donations to be carried over to the next year’s account instead of sending them to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. The JA group started collecting donations among the group in fiscal 2005 to be used for supporting Asian agricultural organizations’ projects to increase farmers’ income. The donations collected during fiscal … Continue reading →

  Desserts using cucumbers, asparagus, tomatoes and watermelons are gaining popularity at a farmers’ shop in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. Tanabata, a patisserie of the farmers’ shop run by an agricultural cooperative in Sendai (JA Sendai), offers vegetable-inspired desserts produced under the supervision of Tokyo-based Potager, which is said to be the first shop in the world to specialize in vegetable desserts. 300-yen Cucumber Jelly, a jelly made from cucumbers and grapefruits placed on top of yogurt mousse, offers a refreshing aftertaste. Enjoy the texture of asparagus in 350-yen Asparagus Cheese Tart. Bright-colored, 250-yen Tomato and Watermelon Pudding is pleasant to the eye. The three desserts are available only in the … Continue reading →