【News】One year on – Kumamoto farmers struggle to recover from earthquakes (April 14, 2017)

Farmers of Kumamoto Prefecture are still working to recover, a year after the area was rocked by two powerful earthquakes which marked the highest rating of 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale. In the Tateno district in the village of Minamiaso, where the large Aso Ohashi bridge collapsed, water supply remains cut off and farmers are having difficulty resuming their business. But earlier this month, one dairy farmer managed to take up farming again. In Tateno, farmlands and water pipes were damaged in the earthquake that hit the region in the early morning of April 16 last year, following one on April 14. Nearly a year after, on April … Continue reading

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【News】Scarecrow of the future – Akita Prefectural University develops a robot to drive away wildlife from crops (April 11, 2017)

Akita Prefectural University is working on developing a robotic scarecrow to move around the fields and scare off wild animals which cause damage to crops. Takashi Saito, 47, associate professor at the university’s Department of Machine Intelligence and Systems Engineering specializing in robots, has created three eight-legged and four-legged prototype models, with an aim to complete the robot next year. Saito began developing the prototypes last year based on radio-controlled fighting robots. He said he plans to make practical models equipped with artificial intelligence, adopting moves and designs that wild animals dislike. The robots will be placed on paths running between crop fields in rural villages and make the rounds … Continue reading

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【News】Otaue Matsuri to pray for good harvest of rice (in Katori city, Chiba Prefecture) (Apr. 9, 2017)

Katori Jingu, a shrine located in the Tone-riverside rice production district in Katori city, Chiba Prefecture, holds “otaue matsuri,” or rice-planting festival annually in early April to pray for a good harvest in fall. Several rituals are conducted by local farmers and children including a group of women wearing decorated traditional farmers’ hats to gorgeously announce that the rice planting season is approaching. The festival is held on the first Saturday and Sunday of April every year. This year’s plowing ceremony was held on April 1 in the shrine and the planting ceremony on April 2 at the shrine rice paddy. On April 1, the plowing ceremony began at 1:00 … Continue reading

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【News】 Japanese government issues first guideline on fair trade of foods to put the brakes on “tofu” discount sales (April 16, 2017)

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) has recently drew up guidelines to promote fair trades of “tofu (bean curd)” and fried bean curd, which are popular food items sold at supermarkets and other retail shops. MAFF plans to improve unfair trade of those products so that the manufacturers will be able to make a reasonable profit, which will possibly help to secure the income of soybean producers. Tofu does not keep for a long time. It is apt to be sold as bargain items at the retail market, where a number of problems are occurring between manufacturers and retailers frequently abusing their superior power. MAFF conducted researches on sales … Continue reading

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【News】 Watermelon producers of JA Kamimashiki pledge to rebuild agriculture commemorating first anniversary of Kumamoto quake (April 14, 2017)

Kumamoto prefecture in Japan marked one-year anniversary of massive earthquakes, including ones of 6.5 and 7.3 magnitude, on April 14, when a watermelon producers group of Kamimashiki Agricultural Cooperative (JA) held a watermelon shipment ceremony at JA’s grading center at Mashiki town in the prefecture. The ceremony was organized just prior to a peak season of shipping watermelon, which is one of the major products in the town. A number of farmers and JA’s representatives gathered to express their condolences on victims of the quakes and pledged to accelerate their efforts to revitalize agricultural production in the JA’s territory. The strong earthquakes claimed 37 lives in Mashiki town, whom the … Continue reading

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