【News】 Ruling Liberal Democratic Party adopts measures to support farmer (Nov. 18, 2015)

  The Ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday, Nov. 17, released a package of measures to assist farmers who are expected to be hit hard by market liberalization under the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. At a joint meeting of the party’s two committees dealing with agriculture, the party decided to call on the government to expand measures to help farmers, especially those who produce five key agricultural products such as rice, beef and pork. The package also includes cost-cutting and export-boosting measures to strengthen farming and make the sector a growth industry. The committees will discuss medium- to long-term strategies for a year. On the same day, LDP’s coalition partner Komeito … Continue reading

Posted in Food & Agriculture, Trade Talks | Tagged | Comments Off on 【News】 Ruling Liberal Democratic Party adopts measures to support farmer (Nov. 18, 2015)

【Editorial】 Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement poses risk of triggering chain of market liberalization (Nov. 17, 2015)

  A number of multinational summit meetings are scheduled this week. We should pay particular attention to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ meeting and the Trans-Pacific Partnership summit meeting which will be held on the sidelines of the APEC meeting. The two summit meetings will be the first to be held after the TPP member nations reached an agreement, and the meetings should be the place to discuss realistic trade liberalization on the premise of the diversity of the Asia-Pacific region. The agricultural market liberalization policies adopted under the TPP scheme are too extreme, and could lead to a large drop in the nation’s food self-sufficiency rate. The Group of … Continue reading

Posted in Food & Agriculture, Trade Talks | Tagged | Comments Off on 【Editorial】 Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement poses risk of triggering chain of market liberalization (Nov. 17, 2015)

【News】 Shining pot still with continuing promise for rich powerful whisky production (Nov. 17, 2015)

Kazuhiro Eguchi A pot still at Nikka Whisky Yoichi Distillery got a brand new shining copper body for the first time in a quarter-century. The old distillery in Yoichi-shi, Hokkaido, has seven pot stills. One of them got a new body which is approximately 8 meters wide in diameter. The replacement last time took place in 1990. According to Yoshikazu Koyano, Nikka’s general affairs manager, “The pot stills are rarely replaced and having a spanking new pot still in site is something very unusual.” The first distillery in Japan was built in 1934 by Masataka Taketsuru who established Nikka Whisky and found Yoichi a perfect place to build his first … Continue reading

Posted in Food & Agriculture, Photos | Tagged | Comments Off on 【News】 Shining pot still with continuing promise for rich powerful whisky production (Nov. 17, 2015)

【News】 International Co-operative Alliance to hold a worldwide campaign on the International Day of Co-operatives in July (Nov. 17, 2015)

  Members of the International Co-operative Alliance agreed at a general assembly to hold a worldwide campaign on the International Day of Co-operatives set on the first Saturday of July. At the meeting held with some 1,000 attendants on Friday, Nov. 13, in Antalya, Turkey, Monique Leroux, President and Chief Executive Officer of Desjardins Group, the leading co-operative financial group in Canada, was elected as ICA’s new president, succeeding Pauline Green. According to the officials of the Central Union of Agricultural Co-operatives (JA-Zenchu), various countries have been using the International Day of Co-operatives as an opportunity to increase public awareness of co-operatives and their activities, but no worldwide united efforts … Continue reading

Posted in Cooperatives, Food & Agriculture | Tagged | Comments Off on 【News】 International Co-operative Alliance to hold a worldwide campaign on the International Day of Co-operatives in July (Nov. 17, 2015)

【News】 Come and feel change in season and colors of nature (Nov. 15, 2015)

Kotaro Yamada – “Flower is home of color” exhibition (Gifu-shi, Gifu Prefecture)  – The Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu, in Gifu Prefecture is now becoming a popular venue for enjoying close contact with plants and flowers as well as their various shades. The museum currently holds a special exhibition called “Art-maru-ket – Flower is home of color.” It allows visitors to have close contact with nature and enjoy seasonal change of flowers and plants arranged in a gigantic three-dimensional artwork directed by Katsuhiko Hibino, a 57-year-old well-known artist and curator of the museum. The artwork actually sits in the garden where people can come and enjoy walking free of charge. … Continue reading

Posted in Food & Agriculture, Others, Photos | Tagged | Comments Off on 【News】 Come and feel change in season and colors of nature (Nov. 15, 2015)