【Opinion】 Japan’s position on the United States and rice (Aug. 9, 2016)

[By Masaru Yamada, The Japan Agricultural News Special Senior Writer] Several Chinese coast guard ships have entered Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands since last week, and Japan’s Foreign Ministry has lodged protests with the Chinese government by summoning Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua. In diplomatic relations, whenever some party makes a false argument or a wrong move, the basic rule is to put forth a counterargument and claim they are factually inaccurate. If it was between individuals, it might be alright to act like an adult and remain silent, but that shouldn’t be the case when it comes to business or diplomacy. If you don’t make counterarguments … Continue reading

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【News】 More than 50 percent of Japanese consumers have functional dairy food, yogurt, in past twelve months for protecting themselves against colds (Aug. 23, 2016)

A private research company revealed a report that 51 percent of consumers ate or drank yogurt or yogurt drinks during past twelve months, expecting their publicized health benefits. The new food labelling system named as “Foods with Function Claims,” which was launched last year, has been giving a push to boosted consumption of the yogurt products. It is expected that product development of yogurt will be further activated in the coming years. ANTERIO Inc., one of the leading companies in the field of marketing researches especially on health-care products, based at Chiyoda-ku Tokyo, conducted a health care survey with postal questionnaires sent to 2300 consumers aged 16-69 in the country. … Continue reading

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【News】 Bakery DONQ begins nation-wide sales of “Dadacha-mame salty bread” in collaboration with ZENNOH Yamagata and JA Tsuruoka (Aug. 25, 2016)

Yamagata Prefectural Headquarter of National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (ZENNOH) and Tsuruoka Agricultural Cooperative (JA) have developed a new item of bread named “Dadacha-mame salty bread” in collaboration with DONQ Co., LTD., one of the major well-established bakeries in Japan, based at Kobe city in Hyogo prefecture. The bread made with an ingredient of “Dadacha-mame,” which is the most famous brand of green soybeans called edamame in Japan, will be put on sale at DONQ’s 166 bakery shops throughout the country during a limited period from August 25 to September 30. “Dadacha-mame salty bread” is the first one baked under DONQ’s project for conveying the appeal of home-grown farm … Continue reading

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【News】 Shinjiro Koizumi, LDP’s young leader, enjoys ice cream made with extremely rare onions called “Sapporo Yellow” harvested in Hokkaido (Aug. 23, 2016)

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) held a tasting event of ice cream made with an ingredient of extremely rare onions called “Sapporo Yellow” at its headquarter in Tokyo on August 22. The production of “Sapporo Yellow” originated at Higashi-ku, Sapporo in Hokkaido. The onions of “Sapporo Yellow” are still produced only by a small number of farmers in the Higashi-ku area of Sapporo city. These farmers have worked together with local store owners in manufacturing special ice cream with the ingredient of “Sapporo Yellow.” The manufacturer of the ice cream made good use of a rich taste and flavor of the onion. Leaders of LDP’s Agriculture and Forestry Division … Continue reading

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【News】 Consumption of rice flour as weaning food increases in Kumamoto prefecture particularly after powerful earthquakes hit the region this April (Aug. 19, 2016)

Rice flour has been increasingly used as weaning food in Kumamoto prefecture, since a number of parenting mothers found out its characteristic features that it is not only an allergy-free food, but also can be easily cooked. The ingredient of rice flour is used for preparing various dishes including a soup or source thickened with the flour and instant rice porridge. At the shelters for earthquake’s victims in the Kumamoto region, the rice flour played an active part as an emergency food for babies and infants. Their lives have been saved with the flour particularly where relief goods were less supplied. An idea of using the rice flour as weaning … Continue reading

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