Category Archives: Photos

TOKYO, Jun. 29 – Iriya Asagao Matsuri (Morning Glory Festival) will take place for the first time in four years. It’s one of Tokyo’s summer features which had been canceled for the last three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Yoshiyuki Hanya is extremely busy preparing for the flower shipment at his greenhouse in Edogawa Ward, Tokyo.   The 66-year-old flower grower produced 1,500 pots of morning glories this year. He planted seeds in mid-April so that they bloom in mid-June. To ensure the flowers bloom beautifully in June, he’s been watching them very carefully, avoiding their exposure to low temperatures and street lights at night. Hanya’s products are in … Continue reading →

MIYAZAKI, May. 10 – In Iwaigawa Nakao Village in Hinokage Town, Miyazaki Prefecture, you can see a rare sight of cows marching along the village road every morning. A 72-year-old breeding cow grower, Atsunori Iwata, opens his barn door at 9 a.m. every morning, and 20 breeding cows start walking to a pasture about 100 meters away from the barn. The cows arrive at the range in about 15 minutes, spend the day on the 10-hectare grassland, and return to the barn by themselves in the evening. Iwata took over the family business of livestock farming after being involved in the livestock farming management guidance at a local agricultural cooperative … Continue reading →

Agriculture journalist Ayumi Kotani visits sites in Japan designated as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). One region in Shizuoka Prefecture maintaining its GIAHS-recognized Chagusaba Farming Method is now busy plucking the first flush tea leaves. It’s also one of the most active seasons for the fresh green tea gardens to welcome many tourists. ■ ■ Kawanehon Town is located in a mountainous area near the upper Oi River. Tetsuro Tsuchiya (83) and his eldest daughter Yuko (59) were busy covering their Yabukita tea trees at the Tsuchiya Tea Farm, which is known as the “tea garden in the sky.” They plan to enter the carefully-grown tea leaves in this … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Apr. 15 – At “Hana Biyori,” a flower park in Inagi City, Tokyo, an aerial display of carnations wrapped in balloon-like packaging attracts attention. The display of floating flowers that can last about two weeks without adding is intended to boost the sale of flowers toward this year’s “Mother’s Day” on May 14th. The aerial display will continue until April 19th. A flower wholesaler at Kasai Metropolitan Wholesale Market, Tokyo Flower Port, developed the product using a commercially available packaging material called “Air Fleur,” which is an inflatable plastic bags designed to protect flowers. The company adopted unique technologies to make flowers last long, such as raising the humidity … Continue reading →

WAKAYAMA, April 3 — Agriculture journalist Ayumi Kotani visits sites in Japan designated as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) to gain insights into revitalizing agriculture and farming villages for a sustainable future. Visitors to the Minabe and Tanabe districts in Wakayama Prefecture in early spring are impressed by ume Japanese apricot trees in full bloom turning mountain slopes here and there all white. In particular, Nanbu ume groves in the town of Minabe offer a superb view overlooking the ocean, with some 30,000 people visiting the area during the ume blossom season. “Visitors are surprised by how steep the slopes are and ask us how the harvesting is done, … Continue reading →