Week 41-42: The Agricultural News of Japan in English
Fisheries in Urk, tuna catch, agricultural growth, Tsukiji fish market, Japanese food shops in Europe, apps and more.
October 13th, 2017
Japanese fisheries giant casts net in Urk
The Japanese-based fisheries multinational Maruha Nichiro has strengthened its position in the Dutch fish market with the purchase of Weerstand Foods, one of the biggest fish processors in the country and based on the island of Urk in the IJsselmeer.
October 14th, 2017
Tuna catch quota to rise 30%
The annual catch quota for southern bluefin tuna, served at high-end sushi restaurants, will increase 30 percent from 2017 to 6,117 tons for 2018-2020, the Fisheries Agency said Friday.
Read more on The-Japan-News.com
October 16th, 2017
2017 Lower House Election / Reforms key to agricultural growth
How to rebuild Japan’s declining agricultural sector is a subject being debated in the Oct. 22 House of Representatives election. This is because the rice production adjustment system, which has been in place for nearly 50 years, will be abolished in 2018 — marking a major turning point for Japan.
Read more on The-Japan-News.com
October 16th, 2017
How Japan’s service industry is trying to adapt to the worst labor crunch in 25 years
Before Hisashi Kanbe in 2013 introduced BakeryScan, the world’s first image recognition checkout system designed specifically for bread, it was the job of every bakery worker in Japan to memorize the assorted prices of each baked good — from baguettes back to bagels.
October 16th, 2017
Tsukiji fish market to be moved between Sept. and Oct. 2018
The Tokyo metropolitan government said Monday it has set the time for relocating the operations of the Tsukiji fish market to the nearby Toyosu waterfront area at between September and October 2018.
October 18th, 2017
Cool Japan Fund to open Japanese food shops in Europe with first one opening in London in 2018
Cool Japan Fund (CJF), a public-private fund for boosting overseas demand for Japanese products and services, announced on October 3, 2017, a plan to support the opening of a series of Japanese restaurants and grocery stores equipped with open kitchens in Europe. It plans to open the first grocery store in London during the first half of 2018, and possibly, second and third ones in Paris and Milan shortly after. The expansion into Europe will hopefully allow the fund to deliver the Japanese food culture to more consumers, sell groceries from all over Japan in overseas markets, and promote the export of agricultural products from Japan.
October 19th, 2017
App developed to estimate weight of pigs from their images
Livestock feed maker Itochu Feed Mills Co., Ltd. and IT firm NTT TechnoCross Corporation have jointly developed an application which calculates an estimated weight of pigs from their images captured by smartphones and tablet computers.