【News】Tatami industry to take action, go global (March 29, 2017)

In Japan, production of tatami matting (a thin upper portion of a tatami, Japanese traditional flooring panel) is on decrease with the westernization of lifestyle of Japanese people. To save and revive the tatami industry, some efforts are underway. Riding on a Japan boom abroad, domestic tatami manufacturers have launched a new project to communicate the attractiveness of tatami to consumers at home and abroad. An agricultural cooperative in Kumamoto Prefecture (JA Yatsushiro) has begun to look into the feasibility of tatami matting export. Others are trying to develop new materials that make use of the superior properties of rush, the main material used to make tatami, while a farm … Continue reading

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【News】Inbound tourists going rural to experience life of Japanese farmers (Apr. 1, 2017)

Farmstay is key to make both farmers and travelers happy Staying at farmers’ house is becoming one of the popular options among inbound travelers to Japan as more and more international travelers choose to experience traditional life of Japanese farmers instead of a stay at a city hotel. On March 29, 2017, five students from London Business School (LBS) sat around a kotatsu (a traditional low table with a built-in heater), enjoying dinner and conversation with their host in their 70s, Kaneyoshi and Katsuko Sekiguchi, at their house in Iida city, Nagano Prefecture. During the day, the rice and vegetable grower took the party to his leek field and taught … Continue reading

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【News】 Fences against wild animals in Japan long enough to wrap around the earth almost 1.5 times (April 12, 2017)

A total length of fences installed to prevent crop damages by wild birds and animals reached to 59 thousand kilometers in fiscal 2015, that is long enough to wrap around the earth almost 1.5 times (estimated circumference of the earth about 40 thousand km), the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) said in its latest report. In a number of mountainous regions in Japan, fences are installed not only around farm lands, but also at boundaries between mountain forests and villages for the purpose of preventing wild animals from entering agricultural fields. MAFF has been counting a total length of the fences installed against wild animals with MAFF’s subsidy … Continue reading

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【News】 Japan record infant botulism death after being fed with honey: Government warning parents not to give honey to younger babies (April 11, 2017)

Officials of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government revealed on April 7 that a six-month old boy in Adachi ward, Tokyo, died due to infant botulism after his family fed him honey. The Government of Japan, Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the honey industry have been renewing their basic statement warning that honey should not be given to babies younger than one year. Japan Apiculture Association organized by about 3000 beekeepers in the country announced a strong message on its website on April 10, urging that consumers should never give honey to babies younger than one year. The Apiculture Association has been guiding its members to put the warning message on the label … Continue reading

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【News】 Japan’s domestic production value of agriculture and food related industries rises by 4.1 percent because of higher prices of livestock products in 2015 (April 11, 2017)

Domestic production value of agriculture and food related industries rose to 111.8479 trillion yen in 2015, 4.1 percent up over the previous year, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) announced. The domestic production value in 2015 was the second largest one since 2001 in recent years. The agricultural production value rose by 5 percent to 10.4009 trillion yen thanks to price hikes of livestock products, which pushed up the whole amount of the domestic production value. More specifically, the value of livestock production reached to 3.5678 trillion yen, 7.1 percent up over the previous year, mainly because price of beef hiked in a tight market, which made a … Continue reading

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