TOTTORI, Jul. 4 – Tottori Prefecture has begun an online beef auction in Taiwan using social media in an effort to promote the local specialty Tottori wagyu beef. The prefecture hopes to maintain and expand beef exports which have recently been declining amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Blocks of sirloin steaks and fillets are put on sale on a Facebook page of a meat wholesaler in Taiwan and buyers write down their bid prices in the comment section. The first auction, held on May 29 on the page specially created for Tottori beef, attracted 76,000 views, as a meat wholesaler live streamed the event, showing different beef cuts and explaining their … Continue reading →

KUMAMOTO, July 6 – Farmers in Kumamoto Prefecture in the southern Kyushu region, hit hard by floods and mudslides caused by torrential rain, are finding their lives changed drastically, with their farmlands and facilities severely damaged. A 78-year-old rice farmer of the Tagawa district in the town of Ashikita, Kumamoto, was at a loss what to do with his rice paddies filled with mud. On July 5, the Self-Defense Forces completed rescue works at a site in Tagawa where a landslide occurred and local residents began restoring the roads. “The whole place looked like an ocean,” the farmer said, recalling the rainfall that became heavier than ever in the early … Continue reading →