Category Archives: Food & Agriculture

GUNMA, Aug. 24 — Despite the continuing heat waves, konjac leaves are growing well in farms in Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture, one of the major producing areas of the plant, whose corms are used to make konnyaku, a high-fiber, jelly-like food valued for its health benefits. The konjac plant, also known as devil’s tongue, grows thick like a jungle, but surprisingly enough, each plant actually has a single leaf divided into numerous leaflets. The summer is when konjac corms underground grow significantly in size, and farms are busy disinfecting the leaves to protect them from disease. Shibukawa, thanks to its pumice soils that drain well, is fit for konjac cultivation. There … Continue reading →

HOKKAIDO, Aug. 14 – JA Yubari City, a local agricultural cooperative in Yubari City, Hokkaido, held an official offline meet-up to interact with its 64K followers of its official account on X (formerly Twitter), which is one of the most popular JA accounts in Japan. From all over the country and from several different industries, 10 people gathered in the city famous for producing Yubari Melon and enjoyed a tour at a Yubari Melon greenhouse and an experience of fruit sorting processes. The event provided the participants with the opportunity to observe how one of the most luxurious and expensive fruits in the world is being grown while deepening connections … Continue reading →

GUNMA, Aug. 17 — Watching 70 Jersey cows strolling on a street is proving popular among tourists visiting Kozu Farm in the town of Shimonita, Gunma Prefecture. Kozu Farm, located on a 380-hectare land at an altitude of 1,060 meters, is Japan’s oldest Western-style mountain ranch with a history of more than 130 years. Cows walk down a mountain road twice a day from a pasture to a milking parlor several hundred meters away, and the marching cows have become the farm’s biggest attraction. There are about 60 grazing lands in the ranch and the cows move from one pasture to another during the grazing season between mid-April and late … Continue reading →

HIROSHIMA, Aug. 7 -August 6 was the day to mark the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing at Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture. On this day, the members of a local agricultural cooperative in Hiroshima (JA Hiroshima) paid tribute to the war victims at the memorial monument built on the ex-site of the Hiroshima branch office of the Hiroshima prefectural agricultural association, which was located near the hypocenter. Approximately 30 people, including JA officials and family members of the victims, offered incense and laid flowers for 83 atomic bomb casualties from the agricultural sector. At 8:15 in the morning, they observed a moment of silence as the Hiroshima Peace Bell rang. … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Aug. 6 — The National Agriculture and Food Research Organization announced that it has developed Sogetsu, a new cultivar of Japanese pear with very early maturity. The pear variety with yellow-green skin can be shipped to markets in the Kanto region before the Bon holidays in mid-August even in outdoor cultivation, meaning the pears can be marketed at high prices to meet the increase in demand for the fruit, as it is typically offered as gifts during that time. Sogetsu can be cultivated in pear producing areas throughout the country. The saplings are expected to be put on sale in the autumn of 2026 or later. The fruit weighs … Continue reading →