【News】 Actors and playwrights express opposition to TPP talks, urging the government to disclose information on negotiations concerning intellectual property rights (Aug. 22, 2013)

  The Japan Playwrights Association, the Japan Theatrical Producers Association and the Japan Theatre Arts Association has jointly issued an appeal, opposing the Japanese government’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks. Referring to the TPP initiative in which the next round of negotiations is scheduled to start in Brunei on Thursday, August 22, the appeal expressed strong concern that controversial issues on intellectual property rights are negotiated without any public debating beforehand in Japan. It asked the government to hold open debate sessions for the public and parties concerned to discuss the issue of extending copyright protection from 50 years to 70 years. It also demanded that the clause … Continue reading

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【News】 Chief cabinet secretary expresses determination to protect key agricultural products in TPP talks (Aug. 21, 2013)

  Protecting five key agricultural products from tariff elimination is the Japanese government’s fundamental policy regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade negotiations, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Tuesday, August 20. In a meeting at the prime minister’s office with Yoshikazu Shimura, head of the agricultural cooperative group in Kanagawa Prefecture, Suga said the government will not allow tariff cuts without exceptions, adding that it will make the utmost effort to exempt the key products – rice, wheat, beef and pork, dairy products and sugar – from tariff elimination. As the TPP participants are scheduled to hold a new round of negotiations in Brunei starting on Thursday, August 22, Shimura asked … Continue reading

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【News】 Chances for domestically produced frozen vegetables increase amid signs of price rise in imports (Aug. 19, 2013)

  Hirobumi Senbongi Japanese producers of frozen vegetables are seeking ways to increase their market share, as rising labor costs in China – the main supplier of frozen vegetables – and the weaker yen are leading to strengthen price competitiveness of domestic products. In order to help stabilize farmers’ incomes, officials of Japanese agricultural cooperatives which produce frozen vegetables say they are looking to increase production if their products, which they say are higher in quality than imported products, prove to be more competitive in the market. According to the Japan Frozen Food Association, consumption of frozen food in 2012 marked a record high of 2.7 million tons in terms … Continue reading

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【News】 Totally tomatoes – a beachside cafe in Kanagawa offers tomato tasting event (Aug. 18, 2013)

Kotaro Yamada Cafe de Rope La Mer, a beachside cafe in Isshiki beach in Hayama, Kanagawa Prefecture, offered a variety of tomatoes and tomato-centric dishes for sea bathers in a tomato-tasting event held on Saturday, August 17. People who are exhausted from swimming visited the cafe to enjoy tasting 11 kinds of red, yellow and green tomatoes to reenergize themselves. The cafe also offered some 20 tomato-inspired menu items, including pickles, curry and rice, pasta and tomato juice. The event was supported by an agricultural cooperative in Hayama (JA Yokosuka Hayama), which provided fresh summer vegetables, and Pioneer Ecoscience, a seed company in Tokyo which offered its tomato brand Mauro’s … Continue reading

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【News】 Japan to join treaty on sustainable use of plant genetic resources in October (Aug. 15, 2013)

  The Japanese government has announced that it will join the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in October, with the aim of facilitating information sharing and technology transfer of genetic resources necessary to develop new or improved varieties. The treaty is intended to ensure conservation and sustainable use of the world’s major agricultural seeds, as well as fair distribution of benefits from their use among member countries including developing nations. 128 countries and the European Union have ratified the treaty, which was approved in Rome in 2001 at the conference of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. The list of plant genetic material subject … Continue reading

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