NIIGATA, April 22 – Moves are seen in Niigata Prefecture, the top rice producing region in the country, to expand cultivation of extremely early-maturing rice varieties. On April 21, farmers in Niigata started planting Hazuki Minori, a rice cultivar that can be harvested as early as in August. As consumers continue to feel a supply shortage of the staple grain, growers hope to deliver newly harvested rice to consumers as quickly as possible. JA Echigo Chuetsu, a local agricultural cooperative, has been encouraging rice farmers to cultivate early-season rice to make the district a major producing area of such rice varieties. It plans to complete sales of Hazuki Minori during … Continue reading →

OSAKA, April 14 ‐ The 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo opened on April 13 on the artificial island of Yumeshima in the city of Osaka, with Japan hosting a World Expo for the first time in 20 years since the 2005 Aichi Expo. This is the second time for Osaka to host the event, 55 years after the first was held in 1970. Themed “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” the exposition lets visitors experience future lifestyles by showcasing next-generation technologies from various perspectives including food and agriculture, health and environment, robots and artificial intelligence. From June 5 through June 16, a number of exhibitions and programs are planned on the theme … Continue reading →

CHIBA, Apr. 10 – Let’s play video games and learn about global warming. Chiba Prefecture has developed a new educational platform based on Minecraft, a popular game worldwide to build structures and items and enjoy adventures within the virtual world. The new content is designed to be used at primary and junior high schools in educational settings or events in Chiba as a tool to provide a chance to learn about global warming in a fun way. In its policy to promote the achievement of carbon-neutrality, the prefecture committed to changing the awareness of the prefecture’s residents. It came to the idea of creating a new game to build a … Continue reading →

HYOGO, March 31 – A small plant factory is created inside a Japanese sake brewery. Hakutsuru Sake Brewing Co., a major sake brewer in Kobe, launched a pilot project on March 2 together with Spice Cube, an Osaka-based indoor cultivation equipment maker, to grow herbs using carbon dioxide produced during the brewing process. The harvested herbs will be used as ingredients to make gin and other products at the brewer. Hakutsuru is aiming at realizing sustainable brewing through adopting such recycling initiatives. The project will run through the end of June at Hakutsuru Sake Craft, a microbrewery that opened in September last year inside Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum in Kobe. … Continue reading →

TOKUSHIMA, Apr. 4 – Approximately 500 weeping sakura cherry blossom trees are in full bloom in Kamiyama Town, Tokushima Prefecture. The flowers are smaller than usual this year due to a lack of rainfall, but they began to bloom on March 28. Kinichi Sasaki, a 92-year-old sudachi citrus grower, planted the cherry blossom trees covering an approximately 1.5-hectare site. (Sudachi is a small, round, green citrus fruit of Japanese origin and a specialty product of Tokushima Prefecture.) He started planting the trees 18 years ago with only three seedlings of Kamiyama Weeping Cherry Blossoms he received from his friend. Even after he gave up farming due to old age, he … Continue reading →