Tag Archives: News

【News】 Japan’s funding on agricultural research in developing nations is marking a sharp drop, indicating the nation’s declining presence as contributor (June 27, 2013)

  Senior Staff Writer,  Masaru Yamada The Japanese government’s official development assistance on foreign agricultural research institutes has decreased sharply in the last decade, it was learned. ODA for agricultural research topped 4 billion yen every year in the late 1990s, making Japan the second largest contributor in the world after the United States, but the amount dropped to one-tenth of the peak level in the recent years. Japan’s contribution in the field of agricultural research and development is declining, as emerging nations expand their funding. At the Tokyo International Conference on African Development held in Yokohama earlier this month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised to expand assistance in such … Continue reading

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【News】 Kesen-cha green tea devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami is on the verge of restoration (June 27, 2013)

OFUNATO, Iwate Prefecture – Fans of Kesen-cha, grown in Kesen district in Iwate Prefecture hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, are striving to restore its production by providing seedlings and decontaminating tea plantations irradiated by the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant accident. Kawasaki Co., a Shizuoka-based manufacturer of tea processing plants, donated 2,000 seedlings of Yabukita and Sayamakaori green tea breed to an agricultural cooperative in Ofunato, Iwate (JA Ofunato), on Wednesday, June 26, and taught farmers how to grow seedlings before transplantation. “We regret that the number of green tea trees in the Kesen district declined and seedlings were lost by tsunami,” said Yasuo Edamura, president of Kawasaki … Continue reading

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【News】 Enjoy bathing in the scent of Japanese apricots (June 26, 2013)

Takuo Fukumoto A hotel in Wakasa, Fukui Prefecture, is known for offering baths filled with extract of ume (Japanese apricots). Guests at Kojokan Pamco, a hotel facing the Mikata five lakes near the Sea of Japan, soak in the bathwater and enjoy the fresh scent of ume. The ume bath is made by circulating hot water between the bathtub and a glass tank filled with 500 kilograms of ume fruits, so that ume extract in the water flows into the bathtub and produces the refreshing scent. The hotel began offering the ume bath some 20 years ago to appeal Wakasa as an ume-growing district. Kazuhiko Tanabe, a 42-year-old owner of … Continue reading

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【News】 LDP plans to establish prefectural headquarters to give shape to its 10-year initiative of doubling farmers’ income (June 26, 2013)

  The ruling Liberal Democratic Party decided on setting up prefectural-level headquarters to implement specific measures to double farmers’ income in line with its 10-year strategy, LDP officials said Tuesday, June 25. In a meeting held the same day, the LDP’s headquarters to revitalize agriculture and rural communities recognized the need to reflect the characteristics of each prefecture and product to meet the goal of increasing incomes. “Measures to double income should differ across different prefectures which range from Hokkaido to Okinawa,” said Yasuhiro Ozato, director of LDP’s agriculture and forestry division and head of the headquarters’ secretariat. Ozato said the LDP will work closely with agricultural groups in each … Continue reading

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【News】 Japan and Australia unlikely to achieve EPA before fall (June 25, 2013)

  Japan and Australia are unlikely to conclude the ongoing negotiations for an economic partnership agreement before September, sources said Monday, June 24. The two governments have been negotiating to strike a basic deal as early as this month, the remaining issue being whether Japan will agree to imposing lower tariffs for a certain amount of imports of sensitive agricultural products such as beef from Australia in exchange for phased reduction of Australia’s tariffs on Japanese car imports. The governments, however, have decided to put off the discussion until fall, as the Upper House election in Japan is scheduled in July and Australia’s federal election is planned in September, and … Continue reading

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