【News】 Agricultural cooperatives in Hokkaido to offer loyalty program for frequent-shoppers at their farmer’s markets (July 26, 2016)

Hokkaido Prefectural Union of Agricultural Cooperatives made an announcement on July 25 that the Hokkaido agricultural cooperative group (JA group) has started offering its own loyalty program for frequent-shoppers at JA farmer’s markets by using application software (app) designed to run on smartphones. The Hokkaido JA group’s program is to award points to consumers visiting farmer’s markets and other registered places in the prefecture. The consumers will be entitled to participate with their accumulated points in a lottery of gifts such as fresh farm crops and livestock products. The loyalty program is expected to play a role of inviting wide-ranged people to rural areas, which, the JA group hopes, will … Continue reading

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【Opinion】 Robots may take over labor, but not our pride for farming (July 18, 2016)

By Yutaka Une, farmer and philosopher The development of artificial intelligence (AI) is advancing rapidly along a range of fronts, including igo and shogi software. Let us imagine what would happen if farming machines are equipped with the technology. An unmanned tractor programmed with the latest AI suddenly stops before going into a rice field. It judged the rice field is too small and is not worth cultivating in terms of efficiency. AI can’t understand that rural villages would be deteriorated unless farmlands – even those under unfavorable conditions – are cultivated. Love for the home region should be programmed into the robot in order to solve the problem. Then, … Continue reading

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【News】 Amami Oshima Island succeeds in eradicating oriental fruit flies (July 20, 2016)

There was a spreading feeling of relief among citrus farmers of Amami Oshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, as the emergency pest control for oriental fruit flies, a highly destructive pest of citrus plants, ended on Thursday, July 14. For seven months since December, when the farm ministry banned shipments of Tankan oranges outside the island, the farmers had to continue disposing of all fruits in an effort to get rid of the flies altogether. Now they are preparing for next year’s shipments with a strong determination not to let the species enter the island ever again. A severe shock hit the island in November last year, as the farm ministry … Continue reading

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【Editor’s column】 Mourn for Ei, Lyricist of Sukiyaki Song (July 12, 2016)

It was a pleasant surprise during a visit in Tanzania. I was gathering news in the far-away distant land and saw a band playing the famous Japanese song, Ue o Muite Aruko (Look at the Sky) at a local restaurant. It touched my heart deep inside. Receiving the sad news of the passing away of Japanese lyricist Rokusuke Ei on July 7, 2016, I’m recalling profound lyrics and messages he left with us. His iconic works include the Sukiyaki song, Toku e Ikitai (I want to go somewhere so far away alone) and Kuroi Hanabira (Black flower petals). Ei was not just a famous lyricist but one of the pioneering … Continue reading

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【News】 JA Bank’s new project named “Caravan & Mobile Kitchen Car Go to Farmer’s Markets” to begin this August (July 23, 2016)

The Norinchukin Bank (Central Cooperative Bank for Agriculture and Forestry), a national center of the banking business network of agricultural cooperatives (JAs) in the country, plans to sponsor a five-year project of sending a caravan team with a mobile kitchen car to all the farmer’s markets operated by JA and JA’s organizations throughout the country. A chef of a popular TV cooking show “Today’s Cooking for Everyone” broadcasted by the public broadcaster NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) also joins the caravan team. The caravan team kicks off a long journey of the project on August 6 by visiting a farmer’s market of JA Azumi in Nagano prefecture with a new-model kitchen … Continue reading

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