Japan’s soy milk production hit record high in 2020, reflecting household consumption growth

TOKYO, Feb. 16 – Soy milk production from January to December 2020 in Japan was record-high 430,534 kiloliters, according to the survey of Japan Soymilk Association. The use of plain soy milk for home-cooked dishes is expanding. However, the production growth slowed down in the October-December period as the number of convenience store shoppers dropped primarily in business districts due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The production volume of soy milk products in 2020 grew 5.3% year-over-year to 430,534 kiloliters. “People today use soy milk quite regularly for cooking hot pots and other dishes and for coffee,” according to the association.

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JA Nansun, Shizuoka, collaborates with “Love Live!” popular local anime to boost online sales of petit vert

SHIZUOKA, Feb. 26 – A local agricultural cooperative in Shizuoka Prefecture (JA Nansun) sold a set of petit vert and an original postcard in collaboration with a TV anime “Love Live! Sunshine !!” whose story is set in Numazu City. The exclusive version of boxed petit vert was available on an online shopping site, “JA Town,” for four days from February 24. That was the first shot of the initiative to support local farmers having difficulty selling products due to the Covid-19 pandemic and started with the cooperation of Sunrise Inc., a Japanese animation studio. Some other plans are to follow to support the sale of other agricultural products, as … Continue reading

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NohTube channel welcomes new members and winning popularity by showing real farmers’ lives

TOKYO, Feb. 16 – A YouTube channel of the Youth Group of the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA Group) welcomed six new members. The NohTube channel, it’s called, is now run by 12 “NohTubers” and posts four videos per month instead of two in 2020. (Noh means farming in Japanese.) As of February 15, 2021, it has 33 movies, some receiving more than 40,000 views. “The more efforts we make, the more we gain. That’s a good part of being a farmer, a cattle grower, and a domestic animal inseminator,” a 45-year-old NohTuber, Iki Fujiyama, said in one of his videos. Fujiyama is a domestic animal inseminator and cattle grower in … Continue reading

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First Japan-grown strawberries to Australia shipped from Gifu Prefecture

TOKYO, Feb. 26 – The Gifu Prefectural Government and agricultural cooperatives in Gifu began shipping strawberries grown in the prefecture to Australia on Feb. 25, becoming the first in Japan to export strawberries to the country. Australia decided last year to allow Japan to ship fresh strawberries to the nation and the prefecture has completed all the necessary procedures for exporting, including registrations of facilities for production, fruit selection and packaging. A ceremony was held on the day in the city of Gifu to export 20 kilograms of Hanakagari brand and 5 kg of Minomusume brand strawberries. In August last year, Australia lifted a ban on imports of Japan-grown strawberries … Continue reading

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Farm work safety week newly launched to fight rise in fatal accidents

TOKYO, Feb. 17 – The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries established the farm work safety promotion week for the first time, starting Feb. 16. During the period up to Feb. 26, the ministry will organize events and forums aimed at reducing farming accidents so that the agriculture industry will reconfirm the significance of measures to secure safety at farms. The number of farm workers who died of work-related accidents in 2019 totaled 281, up seven from the previous year, according to the ministry’s statistics released on Feb. 16. The ministry also plans to set up on Feb. 25 a panel to discuss effective policies to secure farm work safety. … Continue reading

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