Category Archives: Food & Agriculture

Japanese apple exports recover in 2017 to near record levels

TOKYO, Oct. 14 ― Japan’s exports of apples in 2017 climbed 20 percent in volume year over year, representing the second-largest on record, as traders have been trying to reach new markets such as Southeast Asia. Fresh apple exports from September 2017 to August 2018 reached 33,150 metric tons, but not as much as the 36,304 metric tons achieved in the record year 2015, according to data from the finance ministry. Apples, in fact, have become a star on the Japanese fresh fruit exporting stage, as Taiwanese and Chinese consumers have enjoyed the big-size fruit as the Lunar New Year’s gifts. The increases slowed only when Japan had a short … Continue reading

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Japan food exports rise in August, led by wagyu beef and fruits

TOKYO, Oct. 12 ― Japan’s food exports rose for the sixth consecutive month in August, thanks to largely to appetite for wagyu beef and fruits in neighboring Asian countries, official data has showed. But the data also showed the export growth of some agricultural products such as rice and Japanese green tea slowed on sluggish demand. Growers need to tap into middle-class households, not only wealthy consumers, experts said. Total shipments of agriculture products, processed foods and seafood soared 14% to 68.8 billion yen in August, which was 8.3 billion yen higher in the same month a year earlier, according to the agriculture ministry. The primary agricultural products, which constitute … Continue reading

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Japan’s beef imports in Jan-Aug rise highest level since 2001

TOKYO, Sept. 28 ― Japan’s beef imports from January to August increased to the highest level since 2001, when beef imports soared after the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, in a Tokyo suburb. The increase in imports this year came as higher tariffs on U.S. frozen beef imports expired in March and Australian beef tries to gain market share through a free trade agreement with Japan. According to the finance ministry, beef imports in the eight months through August rose 6% to 404,490 metric tons from the same period a year ago. Australian and the U.S. beef account for 90 percent of total imports. Imports … Continue reading

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Young Japanese farmer creates icosahedron with rice bundles

FUKUSHIMA, Oct. 21 ― Autumn is the season when rice is hung to dry. So Naoshi Tsuchiya used golden rice bundles to create an icosahedron, like a giant soccer ball, in the rice paddy fields. “Bundles of rice stalks hung out to dry is a symbol of co-existence between humans and rice,” says the 34-year old Japanese rice farmer. Tsuchiya manages 18 hectares of rice paddy fields. A harvested rice field at the end of growing season is symbolically centered in Inawashiro, Fukushima prefecture. Tsuchiya stresses that rice to be hung to dry is a unique cultural scenery in rural areas in Japan and said with a big smile, “I … Continue reading

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Japan is haunted by chaos of storm as Typhoon Trami hits

MIYAZAKI, Oct. 2 ― Typhoon Trami hammered Japan’s southern islands, including Kyushu, before making high winds and heavy rain in mainland Japan during the final weekend of September. As a result of Trami, there have been widespread power failures in Kyushu and Okinawa islands, local utility companies said. The storm has moved out of the area, leaving behind massive destruction, including the region’s agriculture industry. Yoshiufmi Inoue, an 80-year-old farmer in Miyazaki prefecture, found some of his dairy barn’s roof disappeared and a falling utility pole crashed into another part of the roof. “I was very worried if my cows would be electrocuted,” until the local utility cut the power … Continue reading

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