【News】 Kumquat peel activates natural killer cells, research in Miyazaki finds (March 24, 2015)

  Masahito Suiko, professor at University of Miyazaki’s Faculty of Agriculture in Miyazaki, and Miyazaki JA Food Research & Development Inc. have scientifically proven through a joint research that kumquat peel can activate natural killer (NK) cells, a component of the innate immune system. NK cells defend the body from infection by recognizing and destroying such cells as tumor cells and virus-infected cells. The research team said they believe beta-cryptoxanthin, a type of carotenoid contained in kumquat peel, has the effect of activating NK cells. The results of the research are expected to appear in the May issue of Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, an English magazine published by Japan Society … Continue reading

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【News】 Boys be strong and generous like great samurai worriers (March 23, 2015)

  Tetsuya Onda The entire wall is covered by Samurai warriors who vibrantly stare at you. Don’t worry. This is pretty much the norm for Musha-e-no-Sato studio at this time of the year and the warriors are printed on Musha-e Nobori, which are Japanese banners with paintings of armed Samurai worriers or Shoki (a traditional Chinese deity said to prevent plagues and ward off evil beings). Musha-e-no-Sato literally means “home to worrier prints.” The shop in Ichikai-cho, Tochigi Prefecture, is specialized in Musha-e artworks and runs through generations to generations from the Meiji Era. With the Boy’s Day several weeks away, its third generation owner and artisan of the studio, … Continue reading

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【News】 Dedicating new green Tatami mats for prayers (March 15, 2015)

-Re-covering tatami mats of Church’ (Amakusa-shi, Kumamoto Prefecture)- Tetsuya Onda Sakitsu Catholic Church in Amakusa-shi, Kumamoto Prefecture, is one of a few churches with Tatami flooring inside in Japan. In late February, there were 13 Tatami mat craftsmen working in the church, renewing the Tatami facings as volunteers in what they call “Tatami Dedication” activity. The members of Tatamiya Dojo, a group of Tatami mat craftmen, spent 3 days to renew all 60 Tatami facings. Tatamiya Dojo was established in 2007, headed by Yoshiaki Kagami, a 43-year-old Tatami artisan from Sagae-shi, Yamagata Prefecture, and joined by 15 Tatami manufacturers nationwide that decided to use only domestic straw matting, particularly those … Continue reading

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【Opinion】 Feeding a warmer, riskier world – José Graziano da Silva, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (March 14, 2014)

  <Dr. José Graziano da Silva, the Director-General of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), contributed this article to The Japan Agricultural News ahead of the U.N. World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction to be held in Sendai, Japan.> Artificial meat. Indoor aquaculture. Vertical farms. Irrigation drones. Once the realm of science fiction, these things are now fact.  Food production is going high tech ? at least, in some places. But the vast majority of the world’s farmers still face that old and fundamental fact: their crops, their very livelihoods, depend on how mother nature treats them. Over 80 percent of world agriculture today remains dependent on … Continue reading

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【Editorial】 Politics must back up farm co-ops’ self-reform efforts to revitalize regions (March 13, 2015)

  The Central Union of Agricultural Co-operatives (JA-Zenchu) will start full-scale discussions on the JA group’s self-reform plan based on the government and ruling parties’ outline for agricultural co-ops reform. The group holds its national convention once every three years, and the resolution to be adopted at this year’s convention will set the policies for the coming three years. Let us put our heads together for the future of regional agriculture and the society, and politics should support such efforts. Regarding discussions on agricultural reform, the JA group has strongly called for the need to maintain co-operatives rooted in local communities focusing on food and agriculture, in order to increase … Continue reading

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