Category Archives: Food & Agriculture

This year’s first pick of first flush green tea in Shiga Prefecture is picked by Koga ninja!

SHIGA, Apr 24 – On April 23, 2018, Shiga Prefecture celebrated its first harvest of the first flush spring green tea at GreenTea Tsuchiyama, a tea grower in Koga, the region known for traditionally producing high-quality tea leaves. To draw more attention to the tea leaves from Oumi region (a part of present Shiga Prefecture), the tea leaves were handpicked by the locals dressed in ninja costume. The temperature this year was low until the end of February, but the weather improved from the end of March. So, the tea shrubs grew well and is ready to offer high-quality products. Koga is also known as a home of ninja, traditional … Continue reading

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What is the best way of selling Japanese produce in China?

TOKYO, April 15 — Online purchase of Japanese food is becoming a preferred channel for Chinese consumers, especially young professionals, a survey conducted by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) has found. The Japanese governmental export agency conducted the survey in August 2017 to look for export opportunities of Japanese-grown produce. It questioned 1,224 middle-class Chinese, aged between 20 and 49, who live in six major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai and earn more than 5,000 yuan a month. The survey shows that 83 percent of Chinese respondents said they have bought imported food from e-commerce sites. Moreover, the most popular origin of food imports in the e-commerce market … Continue reading

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Japanese farm goods to be sold at Singapore’s online RedMart

TOKYO, April 15 — Japan’s governmental export agency will set up an online shopping mall at RedMart, Singapore’s e-commerce platform, to help Japanese farmers and food processors to expand their markets. The Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) said it’s in talks with RedMart of pulling the plan together, including delivery and transactions. The move is a part of the Japanese government’s strategy to boost agriculture exports to offset an obvious loss in the domestic market. The government has a target to boost the annual value of agricultural exports to 1 trillion yen by 2020. As Singapore is making rapid advances in e-commerce market, two out of three Singaporeans shop online, … Continue reading

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Japan throws away 6 million tons of food in 2015, figures show

TOKYO, April 18 — Japan’s food waste mountain exceeds the amount of global food aids, latest figures have suggested. Japan threw away an estimated 6.46 million tons of food in 2015 that could have been eaten, according to a report compiled jointly by the agriculture ministry and the environment ministry. Throwing away food means it wastes water, energy and fuel that were required to grow, store and distribute food, while discarded it ends up in landfill where it rots, releasing climate changing gases, experts say. The agriculture ministry pointed out that good progress has been made by food manufacturers to reduce food waste since the ministry started assembling detailed records … Continue reading

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Professional handball players working on the farm and playing in the court: Fresa Fukuoka (Itoshima, Fukuoka Prefecture)

FUKUOKA, April 15 — A handball team of strawberry farmers, Fresa Fukuoka, based at Itoshima, Fukuoka Prefecture, is now drawing attention as a new model for athletes to work on the farm and play in the court. All its members are farmers and players and their goal this year is to win the tournament and join the top league. Established in 2016 as a team of young strawberry growers, Fresa Fukuoka now has a membership in the second-level handball league in Japan. It currently has 15 players, headed by a 25-year-old captain, Akihiro Watanabe, and all of them work hard during the day on weekdays as employees of seven strawberry … Continue reading

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