Japan’s Abe gets cabinet approval for more foreign workers

TOKYO, Nov. 3 ― Japan’s cabinet on Nov. 2 approved a draft bill to accept more foreign blue-collar workers from April next year, a controversial move for the country that is known for its strict immigration rules. The draft legislation, which the parliament is set to deliberate at the current extraordinary session, is designed to tackle the labor shortage in agriculture and some other industries in the face of the country’s aging population. Yet, the bill has been under attack from the opposition parties as well as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s own party, the governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), because it may eventually lead to overhaul the country’s immigration policy. … Continue reading

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Japan to relax US poultry import bans over bird flu concerns

TOKYO, Nov. 6 ― Japan’s agriculture ministry has approved a draft report to amend restrictions to the importation of poultry from the United States in the event of deadly avian influenza outbreaks. From June 2012, Japan has a system that suspends poultry imports from the U.S. states that detect strains of the avian flu virus, and the ban will be lifted 90 days after all affected US poultry farms finish culling their birds and concludes necessary sanitary procedures. Avian flu, commonly referred to as bird flu, is an infectious viral disease that mainly effects birds, but can potentially cause serious illness in humans. This is a worldwide problem. The agriculture … Continue reading

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Public believes Japan’s farming sector is hard & tough: survey

TOKYO, Nov. 3 ― A recent survey has revealed that the Japanese public is considering farmers, along with fishers and forestry workers, have heavy workloads and unstable incomes. The Japanese government carried out the survey, involving 1743 interviews between late August and early September. The findings showed that more than 80 percent of respondents cited workload intensity and unstable financial situations in the agricultural sector. The agriculture ministry needs to overcome the stigma attached to the farming sector and technology and machinery developments are also far more advanced than most of the general public realize. “We need to appeal to the public that agriculture is a unique way of life … Continue reading

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United Nations committee adopts declaration to protect rights of small-scale farmers

NEW YORK, Nov. 22 – The United Nations General Assembly’s Third Committee adopted on Nov. 20 Japan time the Declaration for the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas which recognizes and protects the rights of small-scale and family farmers. It will be formally ratified at the General Assembly in December, helping give a much-needed boost to the recognition of the farmers’ role in strengthening food sovereignty and conservation of biodiversity. The resolution was passed with 119 votes in favor, 49 abstentions and 7 against. Many developing nations voted for the resolution, while countries like the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand voted against it. Japan … Continue reading

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【Opinion】 Cooperatives should work to raise public awareness of Sustainable Development Goals (Nov. 19, 2018)

[By Yuichiro Nakagawa, professor emeritus of Meiji University] In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” which states the member countries’ “unwavering commitment” to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals “to stimulate action over the next 15 years in areas of critical importance for humanity and the planet.” Hiroko Kuniya, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s National Goodwill Ambassador for Japan, discusses in a round-table talk published in a cooperative studies quarterly magazine “Niji” three reasons why the SDGs were created and how they differ from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the U.N. member states … Continue reading

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