TOKYO, Dec. 18 ― Japan’s acreage for pineapple plants expanded for the fifth consecutive year in 2018, with growing demand for agro-tourism businesses, government data has shown. The pineapple acreage in Okinawa prefecture, the only region that cultivates the tropical fruit in Japan, rose 4% to 565 hectares in 2018 from a year earlier, according to the agriculture ministry. That exceeded the 560 hectares in 2008. All that is playing into agro-tourism, in which tourists visit pineapple farms, harvest the fruit and taste fresh pineapples, an official from the agriculture ministry explained.

TOKYO, Dec. 22 ― Japan’s cabinet has approved a draft budget of record 101.5 billion yen, or about 900 billion dollars, for fiscal 2019, partly due to economic stimulus measures in response to a planned hike in the consumption tax in October 2019. The next fiscal year’s budget would mark the seventh consecutive year that the Japanese government spending sets a record high. The budget plan, approved at a Dec. 21 cabinet meeting, includes agriculture spending of 2.43 trillion yen, up 5.6% from fiscal 2018. This is an increase in the agriculture sector for the first time in three years. “The agriculture budget was important to implement key measures to … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Dec. 15 ― As more foreign visitors have appreciated Japanese food, the agriculture ministry will soon launch a project that provides them with information on a full range of food experiences in Japan. The idea is, by providing new experiences in rural areas and getting foreign tourists to share their images on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, to encourage repeat visits and generate new revenue in Japan. According to a survey conducted by the agriculture ministry, the top list to do for foreign visitors once they arrive in Japan was: eat Japanese food. In fact, while visiting Japan, foreign tourists spent a record 345.6 billion yen on … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Dec. 11 ― Japan’s agriculture ministry has cut the 2018 rice production outlook by 1 point to 98, the lowest level in eight years, affected by weather conditions. Production outlook for table rice now stands at 7.32 million metric tons, down 2,000 tons from the October intended plantings and larger than a year earlier, the ministry said. The survey-based estimate of 2018 rice planted area was 1.38 million hectares, up 16,000 hectares above a year earlier. However, a drop in sunshine hours seems to have imposed a significant stress throughout some regions, including Niigata, Akita and Hokkaido prefectures, the ministry explained.