Category Archives: Food & Agriculture

AKITA, Aug. 23 – A Japanese local agricultural cooperative in Akita Prefecture, JA Akita Shinsei, began selling a box of assorted local agricultural products on August 20 to support local farmers hit by heavy rain that caused significant agricultural damages in July. The JA will use 10% of the revenue to support regional farmers. “We’d like to ask consumers to eat more agricultural products to support affected farmers,” a JA staff said. The box contains four packs of precooked Akitakomachi rice (200g), four packs of precooked Hitomebore rice (200g), three servings of Akita Yuri Beef curry sauce, and three bags of Inaniwa Udon noodles made of rice powder (180g). One … Continue reading →

NIGATA, Aug. 8 — A café run by a farm in the city of Niigata, a major rice growing region, is proving popular due to a picturesque view of rice fields spreading out of its large windows. Roughly 55,000 people a year visit Farmer’s Kitchen Blackbird operated by Kurotori Edamame Laboratory, a farm that cultivates a hectare of wheat and 2.5 hectares of edamame young soybeans. The café has large windows where visitors can enjoy a view of the countryside. “Even the landscapes you see everyday offer different impressions depending on how the views are cropped,” said an official of Kurotori Edamame Laboratory. “Farming is a continuation of unglamorous work, … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Jul. 30 – The National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (ZEN-NOH) announced on July 29 that it developed a new line of protein powder featuring domestic ingredients. The products made with domestic milk whey, azuki red beans, and hojicha roasted tea powder as protein sources and flavorings are the first protein powder products sold under ZEN-NOH’s Nippon-Yell brand. The association thinks they will help expand the use of domestic ingredients in the growing protein market. The new Nippon-Yell protein items were developed with Takeuchi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo) and as collaboration products with the company’s popular protein brand, “THE PROTEIN. Of the protein ingredients, 7% is whey … Continue reading →

KUMAMOTO, Jul. 23 – A local agricultural cooperative in Ashikita Town in Kumamoto Prefecture (JA Ashikita) started to sell green tea leaves in special packages featuring characters of a manga series called Houkago Teibo Nisshi (Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater). Minamata Tea is grown taking advantage of the climate and natural environment of the Ashikita Town, Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, at altitudes of 100 to 600 meters, and has excellent aroma and flavor. Houkago Teibo Nisshi is a cartoon series about high school students enjoying fishing in the town of Ashikita, Kumamoto Prefecture, an area with a strong fishing industry within the jurisdiction of the JA Ashikita. The JA … Continue reading →

TOKYO, July 29 — Many companies in Japan are eagerly promoting food items and agricultural produce associated with France, inspired by the ongoing Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. They hope to capitalize on the event to boost sales through such products as rice balls with French taste fillings and bouquets depicting the French national flag. The Mitsuhashi Inc., a rice wholesaler in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, started selling “Parisian Onigiri” rice balls at supermarkets in the Kanto eastern Japan region on July 26. The rice balls, which are meant to be eaten with a knife and fork, come in two types — truffle-flavored beef with ginger butter and basil-flavored salmon and … Continue reading →