Tag Archives: News

【News】 Revitalizing pine tree forest to protect younger generation (March 8, 2015)

Kotaro Yamada -Coastal forest restoration project (Natori-shi, Miyagi Prefecture)- Four years ago when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck Japan, 400-year-old coastal forest in the Tohoku region was lost to a massive Tsunami. And now, farmers of Natori-shi, Miyagi Prefecture, are trying to reforest the coast, pursing a long-term project that aims at restoring the 100 hectares coastal forest in Natori-shi, Miyagi Prefecture, by 2020, using locally-grown black pine trees. The revitalized forest will become a natural shield from destructive sand storms and salty winds, so Natori farmers are strongly determined to complete the task that will take several decades. “These pine trees are vital to farmers here,” said a … Continue reading

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【News】 Students in Aomori fight against culling of abandoned pets by using their bones as manure to grow flowers (March 4, 2015)

Hiroko Obara Students of Aomori Prefectural Sambongi Agriculture High School in Towada, Aomori Prefecture, are working on a project to use powdered bones of culled pets as manure to grow flowers. The students have grown some 1,500 pots of flowers in three years under the “flowers of life” project, aimed at conveying the preciousness of life and life cycle. The project was started in 2012 by the pet research laboratory of the school’s zoological science division. Students of the laboratory, who visited the prefecture’s animal shelter in the city of Aomori during a field trip, were told that more than 2,000 pet dogs and cats abandoned by their owners are … Continue reading

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【News】 Progress in TPP ignores struggle by beef cattle farmers – report from Shihoro, Hokkaido (March 4, 2015)

  Shingo Oka Shogo Kamata, 43, who raises 1,700 Holstein steers in Shihoro, Hokkaido, is increasingly worried that the Japanese government might compromise with the United States in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks, despite the Diet resolutions which pledge to protect key farm products. Kamata is concerned because of reports that Japan is considering gradually reducing beef tariff to 9 percent from 38.5 percent in response to the U.S. demand in the bilateral negotiations. Holstein steers will be hit hardest if such tariff cut is implemented, as they compete with imported beef in terms of quality grade. Many fear that the accelerating trend of market liberalization, following the Japan-Australia Economic … Continue reading

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【News】 Japan to allow betting on foreign horse races (Feb. 28, 2015)

  The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, which oversees horse racing, presented to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito on Friday, Feb. 27 a draft outline of a bill to permit sales of betting tickets for overseas races. Recently, Japanese horse racing fans’ interest in overseas races are increasing, as more Japanese horses are taking part in high-profile foreign races, including the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in France, and winning prizes. The ministry plans to submit the bill to revise the horse racing law to the current ordinary Diet session, hoping it would lead to a rise in betting revenues, part of which are used to boost … Continue reading

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【News】 Fashion college students suggest mod way to solve deer problem in Hokkaido (Feb. 22, 2015)

Hokkaido Bunka Fashion College in Sapporo, Hokkaido, presented its new line of clothes made of nothing else but Yezo deer leather at a fashion show it held on February 21, 2015, in Sapporo, Hokkaido. It was the first time for the college to make clothes only out of Yezo deer leather. The collection was composed of five different clothes created by five third-year students who spent five months to complete the mission. The idea of using the deer leather for clothing came out as the wild deer actually are causing over JPY6 billion of damages to agriculture and forestry annually in Hokkaido. In September 2014, the school launched “Hokkaido Project” … Continue reading

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