【Series】 The Chernobyl disaster, 27 years of building trust: Part 4 – Radiation education nurtures awareness of history and health (Aug. 9, 2013)

  Tomokatsu Sowa Strelichevo junior high school in Khoiniki district of Belarus’ Gomel region was closed after the Chernobyl nuclear accident, but resumed in 2003. Currently, some 150 students between fifth grade of elementary school and third grade of junior high attend the school, revitalizing the area. In 2006, the Belarus government built a radiation culture center inside the school with the support of the private sector. The center has a radiation measuring device which can be used by students to deepen understanding for radioactive substances. The device is used in chemistry and physics classes and in club activities. On Saturdays, students operate the device to measure radiation in food … Continue reading

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【Series】 The Chernobyl disaster, 27 years of building trust: Part 3 – The Belarus government’s supervision of farming based on soil contamination map (Aug. 8, 2013)

  Tomokatsu Sowa Bragin is a district located in Belarus’ Gomel region 40 km north of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. After the nuclear accident, one-third of the district which was located within 30 km of the plant has become an off-limit area and its population dropped to 30 percent of the level before the accident. The area of uncultivated land expanded. Looking at the cattle relaxing in rich, green pastures, 52-year-old Yurij Shpilevsky and his wife Tatiana say the place would have become devastated if nothing had been done. They currently raise 10 Holstein cattle and grow grass on a 20-hectare farmland. Shpilevsky, who used to work in a nuclear … Continue reading

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【Editorial】 Commemorating 50 years of IDACA – enhancing Japan Agricultural Cooperatives’ contribution to the international community (Aug. 8, 2013)

  The Institute for the Development of Agricultural Cooperation in Asia, which performs tasks related to international cooperation in the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives group, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. In a ceremony scheduled on Thursday, August 8, attendants will look back over the 50 years of its history and reaffirm its role of contributing to the global community through fostering manpower. In the era of globalization, cooperatives’ principles of mutual support, and coexistence and mutual prosperity, are of universal value. We hope IDACA will make the 50th anniversary an opportunity for further development. The institute was established on July 8, 1963, following the resolution adopted by the first … Continue reading

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【Series】 The Chernobyl disaster, 27 years of building trust: Part 2 – Multiple inspections serve to ensure food safety in restaurants (Aug. 7, 2013)

  Tomokatsu Sowa Gomel, the second largest region in Belarus where more than 70,000 residents were forced to evacuate after the Chernobyl nuclear plant accident in 1986, has been recovering from the disaster helped by government’s reconstruction projects. In 2008, Europe, a large-scale amusement center with a casino and a dance hall, opened in Gomel, the main city in the region, becoming a popular entertainment spot for young people. In restaurants in the center, waiters serve dishes such as salad sprinkled with grated cheese and neatly dished up pork, and pour berry juice into glasses. In Gomel region, food and drinks served in restaurants also have to go through inspections. … Continue reading

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【News】 Anti-TPP LDP members confirm determination to protect key agricultural products (Aug. 7, 2013)

  The Liberal Democratic Party’s Diet members opposing Japan’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks held a meeting on Tuesday, August 6, to reaffirm their determination to protect five key agricultural products from tariff elimination. Lower House member Hiroshi Moriyama, who heads the group of 256 members, more than half of all the LDP Diet members, said they will definitely keep the promise they made with the Japanese people. Moriyama stressed that defending national interests means sticking to the resolutions adopted by the LDP and the committees of both houses of the Diet. The resolutions state that the government should be ready to pull out of the negotiations if … Continue reading

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