A project launched in Kobe to grow herbs using carbon dioxide produced during sake brewing

HYOGO, March 31 – A small plant factory is created inside a Japanese sake brewery. Hakutsuru Sake Brewing Co., a major sake brewer in Kobe, launched a pilot project on March 2 together with Spice Cube, an Osaka-based indoor cultivation equipment maker, to grow herbs using carbon dioxide produced during the brewing process. The harvested herbs will be used as ingredients to make gin and other products at the brewer. Hakutsuru is aiming at realizing sustainable brewing through adopting such recycling initiatives. The project will run through the end of June at Hakutsuru Sake Craft, a microbrewery that opened in September last year inside Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum in Kobe. … Continue reading

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Sudachi citrus farmer plants 500 cherry blossom trees

TOKUSHIMA, Apr. 4 – Approximately 500 weeping sakura cherry blossom trees are in full bloom in Kamiyama Town, Tokushima Prefecture. The flowers are smaller than usual this year due to a lack of rainfall, but they began to bloom on March 28. Kinichi Sasaki, a 92-year-old sudachi citrus grower, planted the cherry blossom trees covering an approximately 1.5-hectare site. (Sudachi is a small, round, green citrus fruit of Japanese origin and a specialty product of Tokushima Prefecture.) He started planting the trees 18 years ago with only three seedlings of Kamiyama Weeping Cherry Blossoms he received from his friend. Even after he gave up farming due to old age, he … Continue reading

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Farmers rally with tractors calling for sustainable rice production

TOKYO, March 31 — Farmers on tractors and people of consumers’ cooperatives rallied on March 30 in Tokyo, calling on the public to think about how farmers can produce rice in a sustainable way. Some 4,500 people and 33 tractors and agricultural vehicles took part in the rally, dubbed the “peasant uprising in the Reiwa era,” in various parts of central Tokyo including Aoyama, Omotesando and Harajuku. Similar rallies were also held in 13 other prefectures such as Hokkaido, Toyoma and Fukuoka. Farmers led by tractors marched through the streets extending 3.2 kilometers for about an hour, holding banner flags and placards saying “We love rice” and “No villages, no … Continue reading

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ZEN-NOH Akita to sell Sachihokore finest-quality rice in bags designed by popular illustrator from Akita

AKITA, Mar. 29 – The Akita branch of the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (ZEN-NOH Akita) will sell a limited number of Sachihokore finest-quality rice produced in Akita Prefecture in 2-kilogram bags featuring an original illustration by popular illustrator Nagi from Yuzawa City in the prefecture. The rice bag has an illustration of the side face of a young woman and cherry blossoms in full bloom. A person from ZEN-NOH Akita in charge of the unique rice project hopes that consumers will enjoy both Nagi’s illustration and Akita rice. Nagi is popular among young women for her style of drawing many facets of women adorably. So far, she has … Continue reading

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Hokkaido farmers spread snow-melting agents on fields ahead of spring plowing

HOKKAIDO, March 21 — Farmers in Iwamizawa, Hokkaido, are busy spreading snow-melting agents on their fields to prepare for spring plowing. Wheel ruts created on the snow-covered fields by tractors offer a rare view of a “one-stroke sketch” patterns that can be seen only in early spring. One morning at 6 a.m. when the temperature hit minus 10 degrees Celsius, members of Tap Factory, a company in the city that produces rice and wheat on land totaling some 150 hectares, set out to do the work. Using tractors, they spread over the fields shatter-resistant, snow-melting calcium carbonate fertilizers containing carbon black. Wheel ruts slowly turn black and snow starts melting … Continue reading

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