【News】 Opposition parties criticize Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocating “TPP 11” without U.S. (May 9, 2017)

The Budget Committee of the House of Representatives held a meeting for extensive deliberation on “Abe Cabinet’s fundamental policy” on May 8. At the meeting, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his policy on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that Japan will play a leading role in having the TPP free trade pact take effect without the participation of the United States, saying “We will further promote close collaboration among eleven member countries of the TPP by exercising Japan’s leadership in the Pacific Region. I do not rule out any option. I would like to discuss the best way for the TPP with leaders of its member countries.” Prime Minister Abe also … Continue reading

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【News】Grrrr! Wolf-like animal scarer to have sharp eye on uninvited visitors to farms (May 3, 2017)

A new uniquely-shaped animal scarer with gleaming eyes and terrifying roars is now being tested in a fruit farmer in Sapporo city, Hokkaido. The scarer looks so much like a wolf and is named “Monster Wolf.” The “wolf” was developed by Ota Seiki Co., Ltd., a machine parts manufacturer in Naie town, Hokkaido, in order to keep animals like deer and bears away from the farms especially at night. The wolf-like scarer measures 60 centimeters in length. The gleaming eyes are made of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and the sounds are provided by a speaker embedded in its head. It turns on and produces approximately 40 different roaring sounds to scare … Continue reading

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【News】 Japan’s import of Australian dairy cattle rapidly increasing in 2017 (May 9, 2017)

The number of dairy cows imported from Australia and other countries are very likely to hit the highest level in the past ten years. Japan Dairy Association or J-milk based at Chuo ward, Tokyo decided to import 960 heads of dairy cattle at most this year, while the Japanese dairy industry is facing a serious shortage of milk cows on dairy farms. Some of prefectural dairy farmers’ organizations and large-sized dairy farms are also planning to import cows from Australia. According to the Animal Quarantine Service of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, imports of dairy cattle per year fluctuated in number from 300 to 1,000 heads over the … Continue reading

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【News】 Japanese government to introduce “positive list” system for food-contact materials in 2018 (May 7, 2017)

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) decided to adopt a new “positive list” system for food-contact materials in order to impose restriction on substances that may be used in raw materials of food containers and packaging materials such as cooking utensils and lunch boxes contacting directly with foods. The existing “negative list” system that bans uses of certain substances for food packaging materials is not regulating uses of materials except these substances. MHLW plans to replace the “negative list” system with the “positive list” system by revising the Food Sanitation Law in 2018. The revision of the Law aims at reducing risk that hazardous substances are mixed into … Continue reading

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【News】Possible success reported in artificial culture of phytoplasma (May 7, 2017)

Artificial culture of phytoplasma – a pathogenic microorganism that causes a wide variety of symptoms in plants ranging from dwarfing and yellowing to withering – may have become a reality. It has been said that phytoplasmas cannot be grown in axenic culture. But in late April, plant pathologist Kunihei Kishi, 90, presented in the meeting of the Phytopathological Society of Japan that he has succeeded in culturing the microbe in vitro. If the genetic sequence analysis proves the presence of phytoplasmas in the culture fluid, it will be the world’s first successful culture of the organism. Kishi extracted from mulberry trees microorganisms which appear to have caused a phytoplasma-associated disease, … Continue reading

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