【News】 Small-size potted bamboos are gaining popularity before Tanabata star festival (June 20, 2013)

  The Osaka Flower Gardening Wholesale Market and a flower farmer in Itami, Hyogo Prefecture, are marketing potted short bamboos to be displayed with strips of paper hanged to write wishes for the traditional Tanabata star festival on July 7. They plan to sell about 300 pots this year, ten times as many as five years ago when they first began selling such bamboos. They hope the bamboos, as well as being used for shop decorations, will become more popular as displays at homes, as they can be displayed even in a limited space. The plants, developed jointly by the Osaka market and flower farm Baika-en, come in pots sized … Continue reading

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【News】 Chinese distributor margin for Japanese rice amounts to 60% of retail price – Japanese government blames the high margin for Japan’s sluggish rice exports (June 19, 2013)

Japanese rice is sold in China at 1,300 yen per kilogram, out of which 720 yen is granted to Chinese distributors as margins, according to a survey by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries submitted to the Liberal Democratic Party’s committee on agricultural trade on Tuesday, June 18. An agricultural ministry official said that distributors are receiving too much margin, adding it is one of the factors which hinder Japan’s rice exports to China. According to the survey conducted in fiscal 2011, the retail price range of Japanese rice in Chinese markets was between 1,100 yen and 1,300 yen. Based on the data, the ministry estimated that the distributor … Continue reading

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【News】 Funeral displays using foreign flowers are gaining popularity with the increase of personalized funerals (June 19, 2013)

  Flower shops and producers suggested new flower displays in line with changing funeral styles in a funeral business fair held in Pacifico Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Monday, June 17, and Tuesday, June 18. Participants at the fair held by Sogo Unicom, publisher of Monthly Funeral Business, said funeral displays are diversifyi ng, as more people are choosing new forms of send-offs for the deceased, such as holding private funerals or skipping funeral services. Besides traditional funeral flower arrangements using chrysanthemums, many exhibition booths showed altar displays and sympathy flower arrangements using foreign flowers such as roses and orchids. “Flower imports are increasing along with the rising demand for foreign … Continue reading

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【News】 Premium Densuke watermelons a little small but sweet this year (June 18, 2013)

Densuke watermelon, a premium watermelon brand grown exclusively in Toma, Hokkaido, was sold for 300,000 yen at the highest on the first day of seasonal bidding in Sapporo on Monday, June 17. The price, marked for a 10-kilogram, 5L-size Densuke watermelon, was the same as last year, according to the Sapporo Central Wholesale Market. Unseasonably cold weather in the spring delayed the growth of the 2013 watermelons, and the first bidding was delayed five days compared with last year, but producers say this year’s Densuke watermelons are sweet enough, although a little small in size. 73 from the first harvest of the season were sold that day. The solidly black … Continue reading

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【Feature】 Tackling crop damage by wildlife – ripped fences are a headache for farmers (June 18, 2013)

  Farmers’ efforts to prevent crop raiding by wild animals have often ended in vain despite a large amount of public funds and manpower put into them. The Japan Agricultural News reports on farmers in Hokkaido troubled by wild deer. Thousands of kilometers of deer prevention fences, dubbed the “Great Wall of China,” are stretched around farmlands in the eastern part of Hokkaido. In Watenbetsu district of Shiranuka, Kazushi Ishiguro, a 58-year-old dairy farmer, is busy repairing the fences. “If you drive at night, you can see a herd of 20 to 30 deer lit up by headlights,” Ishiguro says. The deer enter farmlands through broken-down fences and settle down. … Continue reading

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