Category Archives: Photos

An agricultural cooperative in Saito, Miyazaki Prefecture (JA Saito), started selling message-printed mangoes in a trial at a fruit store in Tokyo. The mangoes, intended as gifts for Father’s Day, are available in a gift box containing two, one with a message “Thanks Dad” and the other with “Happy Father’s Day” printed on the surface in Japanese. The messages are printed on mangoes by jetting white ink made from titanium oxide used in food additives. JA Saito borrowed a printing machine from Kishu Giken Kogyo, a Wakayama-based manufacturer of industrial inkjet printers, and prints messages at the production area after receiving purchase orders. The mangoes are available in two types … Continue reading →

Takuo Fukumoto Saving electricity during the hot and humid summer is a difficult task, but here is something you can hang on your window to help you feel just a little bit cooler. Tsuri-shinobu, or hanging squirrel’s-foot ferns planted on moss balls, is now in high season. Tsuri-shinobu En, a plant nursery in Takarazuka, Hyogo, will offer them until the end of July. The nursery grows tsuri-shinobu by hanging them – looking like planets floating in space – for a year on to arrays of ropes in a facility constructed with iron pipes. They become ready for sale after some 20 leaves come out. The nursery grows 10,000 plants annually. … Continue reading →

In an effort to teach children the benefits of drinking milk and dairy farmers’ efforts to produce high-quality milk, the Japan Dairy Association (J-milk) organized a school visit by dairy farmers on Friday, May 31. The program, held in Tsurumaki Elementary School in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward, was planned along with the World Milk Day set on Saturday, June 1, to provide an opportunity for children in large cities to focus attention on milk. Some 130 children enjoyed taking care of cows and listened to the farmers’ explanations. In the program, aimed at making children realize the importance of drinking milk every day in school, Yasuhiro Yoshida who runs Yoshida Stock … Continue reading →

14 women, including “maids,” or waitresses working at costume play restaurants and cafes in Akihabara, Tokyo, and animation voice actors, experienced farming on the roof of The Japan Agriucltural News building in Akihabara on Thursday, May 30. The event, the fifth of its kind, is named Akihabara Vegetable Garden Project and was held by an environmental NPO group Licolita under the theme of Zero Food Miles to encourage people to grow what they eat. The participants planted rice which will be sold as “moe rice” in bags with cute anime characters printed on them. “Moe,” popularly used by anime freaks in Akihabara, is a slang word with many shifting definitions, … Continue reading →

Five third-year girl students of Kochi Prefectural Agricultural High School transformed into magical girls are actively campaigning to liven up the local Gotenmachi shopping area of Nangoku, Kochi Prefecture. Veggie’s Farm Girls, dressed in cute outfits and blond wigs resembling characters in a popular anime “Pretty Cure,” are becoming popular among girls in the area. The pioneer local hero in the Gomenmachi shopping area is a super hero group named “Gomenger,” who enjoy overwhelming popularity among children. Meanwhile, the students came up with the idea of performing as magical girls to offer something which appeals to young girls. As students of an agricultural high school, they say they hope to … Continue reading →