<As debate within the government and the ruling bloc heats up over reforming agricultural co-operatives, local governments which work together with JAs to revitalize the farm sector and their regions are concerned about how the reform would affect them. Following is an interview with Masahiro Nakahira, mayor of Shimanto in Kochi Prefecture.> People and farmers in Japan’s mountainous areas cannot imagine life without JAs’ services. Private companies expand business in regions with huge population which would generate profits, but in less populated areas, JAs have been and will be the only entities which can offer services. And we should not forget the fact that the agricultural sector has a … Continue reading →

  <As debate heats up over reforming agricultural co-operatives, the Japan agricultural co-op group and Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers close to the agricultural sector are strongly offended by the government’s stance to radically reform the JA group’s auditing system and non-farmer members’ use of JAs’ services. Following is an interview with Shinji Hatta, professor of Aoyama Gakuin University’s Graduate School of Professional Accountancy, regarding the points at issue.> Agricultural co-operatives’ auditing system has become the focus of debate over reforming the JA group, but the issue is being discussed without any input from accounting experts. I totally disagree with government officials who say that auditing by the Central Union of … Continue reading →