【News】 Enjoy the feeling of coolness under the “green planet” (June 12, 2013)

Takuo Fukumoto Saving electricity during the hot and humid summer is a difficult task, but here is something you can hang on your window to help you feel just a little bit cooler. Tsuri-shinobu, or hanging squirrel’s-foot ferns planted on moss balls, is now in high season. Tsuri-shinobu En, a plant nursery in Takarazuka, Hyogo, will offer them until the end of July. The nursery grows tsuri-shinobu by hanging them – looking like planets floating in space – for a year on to arrays of ropes in a facility constructed with iron pipes. They become ready for sale after some 20 leaves come out. The nursery grows 10,000 plants annually. … Continue reading

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【News】 U.S. industries demand tariff cuts on sensitive agricultural products and deregulation in food safety measures in Japan (June 11, 2013)

  Takanori Okabe, Satomi Tamai The United States government on Sunday, June 9 (Monday, June 10 Japan time), closed a request for comments from the public on issues related to Japan’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks. Regarding the agricultural sector, the comments, made open to the public through the U.S. government’s website, listed heaps of requests for Japan to eliminate tariffs including ones on “sensitive” products such as beef, pork and dairy products. Since the U.S. government also sought comments regarding bilateral negotiations on non-tariff measures which will be held between Japan and the U.S. in parallel with the TPP talks, many groups asked for reviewing of non-tariff … Continue reading

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【News】 Japanese agricultural group head submits comment to USTR, urging TPP members to treat agriculture as an exception (June 8, 2013)

  The Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (JA-Zenchu) submitted a written comment to the United States Trade Representative on Friday, June 7, concerning Japan’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks. The statement said it “is regrettable” that the Japanese government expressed its intention to join the TPP talks and that the 11 TPP negotiating countries including the U.S. approved Japan’s entry. It stressed that agriculture, which is essential to sustaining people’s lives and health, should be handled differently from other industrial sectors in the TPP negotiations. It also referred to the resolutions adopted by the agriculture, forestry and fisheries committees of both the Upper and Lower Houses of the … Continue reading

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【Editorial】 Aging society with fewer children – Chance to reevaluate the cooperatives movement (June 6, 2013)

  Japan is in the midst of population aging and falling birth rates, with the trend envisaged to accelerate. This not only indicates a decline in the number of consumers but also a drastic change in consumption patterns. Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA) should also restructure its business – not just production and sales but in every aspect – in line with the social changes. Their competition with private companies will intensify, but at the same time, cooperatives movement will face higher expectations to strengthen its cohesive power with clear-eyed perception for the future. According to the population projections for prefectures released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s National … Continue reading

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【News】 Elementary school children in Tokyo experience dairy farming on World Milk Day (June 1, 2013)

In an effort to teach children the benefits of drinking milk and dairy farmers’ efforts to produce high-quality milk, the Japan Dairy Association (J-milk) organized a school visit by dairy farmers on Friday, May 31. The program, held in Tsurumaki Elementary School in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward, was planned along with the World Milk Day set on Saturday, June 1, to provide an opportunity for children in large cities to focus attention on milk. Some 130 children enjoyed taking care of cows and listened to the farmers’ explanations. In the program, aimed at making children realize the importance of drinking milk every day in school, Yasuhiro Yoshida who runs Yoshida Stock … Continue reading

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