Yoshiaki Tateishi, 71, from Toyohashi city, Aichi Prefecture, has developed meat-free sausages which are made from only vegetables, grains and other non-meat ingredients jointly with Katsuhide Murata, a technical advisor of the Toyohashi Chamber of Commerce and Industry. According to his recipe, the sausages are made mainly from steamed and chopped/impasted vegetables. Tateishi expects to drive the demand from those who can’t eat meat, including Muslims. The man who was involved in a vegetable processing business until 2014 had a chance to visit supermarkets in the U.S. on business. He saw so many types of sausages including some which were featuring locally-grown ingredients. He was so inspired and came to … Continue reading →

Japan’s exports of agricultural, forestry, fishery and food products increased 0.7 percent from a year earlier to 75.03 billion yen (preliminary figure) in 2016 to hit a fresh record for a fourth straight year, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) announced on February 10. Export values of agricultural products including processed foods and candy totaled 45.95 billion yen in 2016, 4 percent up over the previous year. Sales of Japanese rice and beef in overseas markets increased more than 20 percent from a year earlier respectively to 2.7 billion yen and 13.5 billion yen. Exports of forestry products such as plywood were also lifted to the record high … Continue reading →

A breeding farm of British Berkshire pigs’ great-grandprogency (GGP) was born at Sakaki town in Nagano prefecture. The farm was started for the first time in Japan by “BB (British Berkshire) Farm” of a limited company Kurobuta-Shinko Agency (Black Swine Promotion Agency) based at Kagoshima prefecture. BB Farm plans to begin sales of Berkshire pig’s semen in this month. At the farm, some sows have been conceived, which will enable the company to ship piglets to the market next July. Berkshire is one of pig breeds originating from the county of Berkshire in Britain, which is characterized by its better quality of meat, although its size is not so big. … Continue reading →