Category Archives: Food & Agriculture

Doctors and nurses dispatched by hospitals of Prefectural Welfare Federations of Agricultural Cooperatives (JAs) to Kumamoto prefecture have been striving to provide medical and health care services to people living at evacuation centers in Kumamoto earthquake-stricken areas where aftershocks are still continuously occurring. As of May 6, 18 medical teams of JA welfare federations in the country, consisting of 78 doctors and nurses, have visited disaster-hit towns and villages in Kumamoto prefecture to assume responsibility for health management of the evacuees at a number of public shelters since the powerful earthquake struck the Kumamoto region on April 14. Those medical teams carried out various jobs not only of checking physical … Continue reading →

Prior to the “Mother’s Day,” the second Sunday of May in Japan, a number of new goods have been available in the gift market of the country. They are appealing a collaboration of sweet cakes and edible flowers with a catch phrase such as “How about flower cakes as your Mother’s Day gift?” According to a survey on the most favorable gift on Mother’s Day, conducted by a private company, sweet cakes rank first, followed by flowers. Hibiyakadan Company, based at Minato-ku, Tokyo, one of the largest flower shop chains in Japan, is now selling special sweet cakes containing petals of edible rose flowers and “rose water” which are directly … Continue reading →

Cold rice, including Japanese rice balls, o-nigiri or also known as o-musubi, is now winning popularity among young females considering it is good for a weight loss diet. In February, Zen-NOH (National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations), a business organization of agricultural cooperatives (JAs) in Japan, conducted a campaign named a “rice ball diet program” in collaboration with 90 fitness clubs of Renaissance, Inc. headquartered at Sumida-ku, Tokyo, one of the major fitness business companies with a network of sport and fitness clubs around the country. One of the participants in the diet campaign achieved an amazing success in losing her weight by 4.7 kilograms just in a month. It … Continue reading →

Dressed carcasses of “Kobe Beef,” one of the highest quality Wagyu (Japanese cattle) beefs, recently began to be shipped to the Tokyo market on regular basis. Kobe Beef’s carcasses had been available only at the markets in Hyogo prefecture. SFoods Inc., one of the biggest meat wholesalers in the country, based at Nishinomiya-shi, Hyogo prefecture, began to bring about Kobe Beef carcasses into the Tokyo Central Meat Wholesale Market since late March, which are put at auction at a pace of once per month. People of the SFoods expect that Kobe Beef’s value appraised in Tokyo, the biggest Beef consuming city in the world, will be further reflected upon the … Continue reading →