Japan’s Ibaraki farmers push sweet potato exports to Canada

NAMEGATA, Jan. 17 — A Japanese farmers’ group in Ibaraki prefecture has shipped its sweet potatoes to Canada for the first time, aiming to transform themselves from tobacco leaf growers to the new crop exporters. JA Namegata, an agriculture cooperative in Ibaraki prefecture, plans to export 8 metric tons of its sweet potatoes, Beniyuka, to Canada this year. Due to the reduction of tobacco-price supports, farmers in Namegata city have been turning from tobacco to sweet potatoes. They nearly doubled production to 700 acres and more than doubled revenue to 3.7 billion yen in the last 10 years. Last year, they exported their sweet potatoes to Thailand and Malaysia for … Continue reading

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Japan’s flower wholesaler to boost exports with new logistics

OSAKA, Jan. 13 — An Osaka-based wholesaler of cut flowers is to boost exports on the back of a new logistics “cold chain” that ensures quick and efficient transportation to preserve the freshness of high-quality Japanese flowers. Naniwa Flower Auction Co. invested 550 million yen with government support to build the special facility, named Hanako, at 2,335 square meters of space, next to Osaka’s cut flower wholesale market. Hanako is designed to control temperature throughout the logistics for the transport of cut flowers and the duration of delivery. It started operating on Jan. 12. The company exported 1.96 million of stems of flowers in 2017. The exports valued at 240 … Continue reading

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Mochi culture connecting past and future in Ichinoseki, Iwate Prefecture

IWATE, Jan. 7 – Mochi is indispensable for the new year’s day in Japan, but in Ichinoseki city, Iwate Prefecture, it’s not just for new year’s day. Ichinoseki has its own mochi culture and it’s trying to bring more people from all over Japan, year-round, by focusing on this local heritage. People in Ichinoseki eat mochi all around the year. They boast over 300 different ways of serving mochi, some with traditional toppings like “zunda (sweet crushed edamame green soybeans),” “shoga (sweet ginger sauce),” “ebi (fresh-water shrimps),” and “natto (fermented soybeans)” and others with contemporary ideas The people also serve “mochi honzen (full-course mochi dinner)” at weddings, funerals and other … Continue reading

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Japan ‘underestimates’ farm product impacts from trade deals

TOKYO, Jan. 17 — The Japanese government has expanded estimates of the impact on agricultural products from recently-sealed free trade agreements with the EU and with 10 Pacific Rim countries, from 176 billion yen to 179 billion yen. The estimates were corrected due to an error in the calculations of dairy products, the agriculture ministry said on Jan. 16, about a month after announcing the estimates. The agriculture ministry explained it had traced the error, while explaining the estimates at a series of meeting with local government officials. The Japan-EU trade deal is now likely to impact by between 39.7 billion and 68.6 billion yen, while the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) … Continue reading

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Austrian filmmaker to shoot a film in Japan to tackle food waste

TOKYO, Jan. 7 – David Gross, an Austrian filmmaker and activist, will start shooting a film “Mottainai Kitchen” in Japan this year as part of his longtime efforts in raising awareness for food waste. In the movie, Gross himself will travel around Japan in a kitchen car which runs on waste oil and prepare creative meals from foods discarded at farms and households. He plans to release the film in 2019, a year before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, to draw global attention to the concept of mottainai, a Japanese term meaning having respect for resources and not wasting them. Gross has been suggesting ways to tackle the problem … Continue reading

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