Japan’s beef imports in Jan-Aug rise highest level since 2001

TOKYO, Sept. 28 ― Japan’s beef imports from January to August increased to the highest level since 2001, when beef imports soared after the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, in a Tokyo suburb. The increase in imports this year came as higher tariffs on U.S. frozen beef imports expired in March and Australian beef tries to gain market share through a free trade agreement with Japan. According to the finance ministry, beef imports in the eight months through August rose 6% to 404,490 metric tons from the same period a year ago. Australian and the U.S. beef account for 90 percent of total imports. Imports … Continue reading

Posted in Farm Policy, Food & Agriculture | Comments Off on Japan’s beef imports in Jan-Aug rise highest level since 2001

Young Japanese farmer creates icosahedron with rice bundles

FUKUSHIMA, Oct. 21 ― Autumn is the season when rice is hung to dry. So Naoshi Tsuchiya used golden rice bundles to create an icosahedron, like a giant soccer ball, in the rice paddy fields. “Bundles of rice stalks hung out to dry is a symbol of co-existence between humans and rice,” says the 34-year old Japanese rice farmer. Tsuchiya manages 18 hectares of rice paddy fields. A harvested rice field at the end of growing season is symbolically centered in Inawashiro, Fukushima prefecture. Tsuchiya stresses that rice to be hung to dry is a unique cultural scenery in rural areas in Japan and said with a big smile, “I … Continue reading

Posted in Food & Agriculture, Photos | Comments Off on Young Japanese farmer creates icosahedron with rice bundles

TPP-11 trade deal likely take effect in earlier Jan 2019: minister

TOKYO, Oct. 20 ― Japan’s Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi has said the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) without the United States, also known as TPP-11, will likely come into force in earlier January 2019. “The TPP-11 should take effect in earlier January next year,” Motegi said at an Oct. 19 press conference, pointing out the TPP-11 legislation passed through the Australian parliament on Oct. 18 and New Zealand’s parliament will soon pass its legislation. “I hope that we could well see other signatories in a position to follow Australia and New Zealand over the coming weeks and months,” he added. The TPP-11 had been signed by Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, … Continue reading

Posted in Farm Policy, Trade Talks | Comments Off on TPP-11 trade deal likely take effect in earlier Jan 2019: minister

[Our Noh no Ikebana] “I love looking at plants swaying in the breeze,” says Setsuko Tanakadate, 71, from Yahaba town, Iwate Prefecture (October 16, 2018)

“It’s been nearly 30 years since I started Noh no Ikebana. We can find materials at home and our vegetable gardens and arrange them freely regardless of schools or styles, and that’s why I’m doing it for such a long time with friends from a local Noh no Ikebana club. When we participate in prefecture exhibitions or local events, we share the materials and tools. Showing the arrangements with each other is fun. I always place importance on the sense of seasons. I enjoy using dead plants as well, in addition to fresh vegetables and plants. This way, I can express the passing of the seasons. Dried hydrangea is one … Continue reading

Posted in Noh no Ikebana, Photos | Comments Off on [Our Noh no Ikebana] “I love looking at plants swaying in the breeze,” says Setsuko Tanakadate, 71, from Yahaba town, Iwate Prefecture (October 16, 2018)

Japan is haunted by chaos of storm as Typhoon Trami hits

MIYAZAKI, Oct. 2 ― Typhoon Trami hammered Japan’s southern islands, including Kyushu, before making high winds and heavy rain in mainland Japan during the final weekend of September. As a result of Trami, there have been widespread power failures in Kyushu and Okinawa islands, local utility companies said. The storm has moved out of the area, leaving behind massive destruction, including the region’s agriculture industry. Yoshiufmi Inoue, an 80-year-old farmer in Miyazaki prefecture, found some of his dairy barn’s roof disappeared and a falling utility pole crashed into another part of the roof. “I was very worried if my cows would be electrocuted,” until the local utility cut the power … Continue reading

Posted in Food & Agriculture, Others | Comments Off on Japan is haunted by chaos of storm as Typhoon Trami hits