Category Archives: Food & Agriculture

FUKUOKA, Dec. 13 – Fukuoka Daido Seika, a fruit and vegetable wholesaler at the Fukuoka City Central Wholesale Fruit and Vegetable Market, demonstrated how to make a “Jewel Cut Fruit Plate,” in which fruits are beautifully cut and arranged like jewels. Japan’s agricultural cooperatives group (JA Group) prepared fruits in season from all over Japan for the event that took place at the market on December 13. The company gave the fruit arrangements to children in the hospital and their families. It also hopes the event will help increase consumers’ spending on domestically-grown fruits. The company used fruits sent from several prefectures, such as apples from Aomori and Nagano, persimmons … Continue reading →

FUKUSHIMA, Nov. 7 – Sweet potato acreage is expanding in Naraha Town, Fukushima Prefecture. The town has expanded the production acreage to approximately 50 hectares and opened one of Japan’s largest storage facilities in cooperation with a private company. The evacuation order due to the Great East Japan Earthquake and the accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima No.1 Nuclear Power Station was lifted seven years ago. Since then, the town has been steadily recovering with its focus on sweet potatoes. On a sunny day in late October, Tomio Ikari, 67, dug for plump sweet potatoes. “Everyone here used to grow them privately in the garden,” recalled the chairman … Continue reading →

SHIZUOKA, Oct. 31 – In late October, a rice harvesting and hanging event was held in tanada (tiered rice paddies) in Kurumeki, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, inviting outside tanada supporters. The participants worked hard, tackling golden ears of rice under the autumn blue sky. Kurumeki Tanada has a long history dating back to the Heian or Muromachi era. In the Sengoku period (the period of civil wars in Japan), the Ii clan supported villagers in cultivating the field. Farmers growing rice with poor water sources and no waterways face difficulties in securing enough water, so they collect rainwater in the rainy season in June to prepare for rice planting. The region … Continue reading →

HYOGO, Oct. 23 – The Hyogo Prefectural Government, which is working to further enhance the quality of Tajima wagyu beef produced in the prefecture, has set on improving the scent of the meat. The Hyogo government plans to establish a technology within 10 years to assess the scent of the meat of each cow using genetic data and utilize it for wagyu beef improvement. The prefectural government has already identified components related to aroma and the ones that are found largely in Tajima beef. It hopes scents will become a new indicator for wagyu beef improvement in addition to the quality of fat which many wagyu beef producing regions are … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Sept. 21 – Convenience stores in Japan are introducing high-priced onigiri rice balls featuring carefully-selected brand rice and domestic agricultural and livestock products. Thanks to the rising need for a modest luxury among people enduring the COVID-19 pandemic, household spending is increasing. Agricultural and livestock producers hope that such rice balls that you can easily buy at nearby stores will be an excellent promotion to increase the consumption of their products. According to a family budget survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan, annual spending on rice balls per household with two or more people was 4,746 yen in 2021, up 5% from the previous … Continue reading →