【News】 Japan agricultural co-ops group delegation to make last-minute call on TPP talks (Sept. 26, 2015)

  The Japan agricultural co-operatives (JA) group plans to send a delegation to Atlanta, where member nations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade initiative are scheduled to hold a ministerial meeting starting Wednesday, Sept. 30. The delegation, to be headed by Choe Okuno, president of the Central Union of Agricultural Co-operatives (JA-Zenchu), will call on the Japanese government to protect key farm items in line with the Diet resolutions. The group made the decision at a committee meeting on Friday, Sept. 25, along with its policy to also lobby lawmakers domestically in each prefecture. JA-Zenchu officials pointed out that the prospects of the TPP negotiations remain unclear, as there have been … Continue reading

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【Editorial】 After security laws comes TPP (Sept. 26, 2015)

  Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a press conference on Friday, Sept. 25, ahead of the closing of the Diet session two days after, and reaffirmed the significance of the security legislation which was passed in the Diet after heated arguments. Various challenges for the future were left in the Diet session, where many important bills were passed, including the one to revise the Agricultural Co-operative Society Law. Abe is scheduled to visit the United States starting Saturday, Sept. 26. Farmers are worried that his next target after the security laws would be to forcibly conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks. We strongly call on the government to follow the … Continue reading

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【News】 Farmer of Joso struggles to recover from floods (Sept. 17, 2015)

Daishi Harajiri A farmer of Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture, severely hit by the heavy rain and floods which occurred a week ago, is at a loss of how to recover his business. His rice paddies, farming equipment and harvested rice had all been submerged in muddy water, making it impossible to deliver the produce to customers. Isamu Wada, 64, grows rice on a 60-hectare land in the city’s Ono district, out of which 55 is rented. 35 hectares were yet to be harvested when the banks of the Kinugawa River collapsed on Thursday, Sept. 10. Muddy streams flew into the district located east of the river, damaging all the rice paddies. … Continue reading

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【News】 Rice gaining popularity as return gifts for baby birth celebration (Sept. 16, 2015)

Joe Ichiki and Shigeko Suzuki Increasing number of new parents are sending rice as return gifts to those who celebrated their baby’s birth. Rice dealers are adopting new ideas, such as offering a rice package weighing the same as a newborn baby with the baby’s photo and name printed. The dealers are selling the products mainly online to seek new demand amid decline in rice consumption. Suzunobu, a rice dealer of Tokyo’s Meguro Ward, sells a package of rice whose weight can be adjusted by grams to match the weight of a newborn baby. The shop used to receive an order for the product only once every three months, but … Continue reading

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【News】 Rice gel with flexible texture possessing potential for wide application (Sept. 13, 2015)

Kazuhiro Eguchi New rice-derived foodstuff is drawing attentions as a new ingredient with a potential for a wide variety of applications. The new ingredient is made from rice of high amylose content and called “rice gel” from how it has a jelly-like consistency. You cook the rice and chop it up using a special high-speed mixer. The thickness of the texture is controllable from soft jelly to gumlike by changing the amount of water to cook rice and the mixing speed. The rice gel was developed by National Food Research Institute (NFRI), which is one of the research institutions within the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), in cooperation … Continue reading

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