Japan News Update #16 (25 Oct - 8 Nov, 2021)
Stay updated on the latest agricultural news in Japan, that we publish every two weeks.
by Yuki Sano
Import and export food
Natural cheese imports in the period April-September of 2021 fell by 1.7% year-on-year to 143,891 tonnes. It is the second consecutive year of decline in the same period, but the rate of decrease in volume is less (by 2.9 percentage points). The increase in the number of products for home delivery pizza and home use has reduced the impact of the decline in the use of products in the out of home market as a result of the covid-19 induced reduction in opening hours of restaurants. The value of imports rose 2.4%, driven by growth in international demand for dairy products.
Source: Cheese imports decline for the second year in a row
The export of meat of wagyu 'mother cows' from Japan is growing. In Japan, wagyu meat usually comes from young cows, preferred in Japan for its delicate flavor. But recently, some producers have been reconsidering if the meat of the mother cows for the production of wagyu beef could not also be marketed as wagyu beef for markets where a more robust flavor is valued, like in Europe. This would create added value, as the mother cows would otherwise end up in the regular meat processing industry, and because of the extra individual attention the older animals require, more care from the livestock farmers would lead to a more ethical production method for the resulting beef. Ginkakuji Onishi exports this Wagyu beef to eight countries, including the Netherlands. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) is working with the private sector to further promote Wagyu exports.
Source: Japan promoting ‘mother cow’ ethical wagyu exports
Tokyo Seika Corporation, Japan's largest fruits and vegetable wholesaler has adopted a new design to export cardboard boxes this year. The boxes are created to give a very distinctive image of Japan and differentiate genuine Japanese products from others. The company started using them initially for sweet potatoes and tangerine orange.
Source: Tokyo-based fruits and vegetable wholesaler adopts very Japanese cardboard boxes for export
Tackle environmental issues
Major rice wholesaler Shinmei Holdings, its subsidiary fruit and vegetable wholesaler Toka Osaka, and the NTT Group have announced the launch of a joint experiment to build a virtual market and improve the efficiency of agricultural product distribution on highly accurate supply and demand forecasts. The project aims to reduce distribution costs, food loss and CO2 emissions.
Source: Building a virtual market for agricultural products
To reduce food waste, three companies in the Chubu region of Japan have jointly installed vending machines to sell food with close to expiry dates at a discount. In addition, the vending machines sell out-of-season sweets, such as Halloween sweets, and products with damaged packages which are still safe to eat but cannot be sold in shops.
Source: New vending machines in Nagoya sell food nearing expiry dates at discount
Numbers of wild Japanese eel have been declining rapidly since the 1970s as a result of increase in consumption further promoted by easy marketing tactics and gastro-tourism. According to MAFF, Japan's official catch of wild eel had fallen from a peak of over 3,300 tons in 1961 to just 65 tons in 2020. In 2014, the Japanese eel was listed as an endangered species. Potential solutions for the future are to improve eel habitats further, and to encourage consumers to eat unagi alternatives.
Source: It will take more than swapping your eel for eggplant to save Japan’s unagi
AI for fruit and cattle breeding
Experiments are in progress to use robots and AI to help ageing fruit farmers with no successors while reducing their dependence on scarce labour. Trials are underway in Chiba Prefecture, a major pear production area, with the prefecture, the agricultural cooperative and NTT Data Management Institute, and in Yamanashi Prefecture, a significant grape production area, with the University of Yamanashi. In Shizuoka JA Mikkabi has completed Japan's first and largest AI citrus fruit sorting plant in Japan.
Source: Experimental AI tech lending a helping hand to fruit producers in Japan, First large-scale AI fruit sorting plant in Japan to go into operation
Farmers Support (Kagoshima, Japan), an agricultural start-up, has developed a system that uses AI cameras to detect when cattle are in heat. The system uses images taken by the camera to recognise estrus behaviour and notifies the farmer's smartphone. It will help to ensure that the timing of artificial insemination is never missed.
Source: AI Camera Improves Cow Fertility
New technology from Japan
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has announced the world's first demonstration of bag-type culture tank technology on the Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo" of the International Space Station (ISS). The goal is to produce food for future long-duration stays in space. It is part of a joint research project started in 2017 by JAXA, Takenaka Corporation, Kirin Holdings, Chiba University and Tokyo University of Science.
Source: Food production in space, the world’s first demonstration of bag-type culture tank technology
A Kyoto-based start-up, Regional Fish Research Institute Ltd., has applied to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for a tiger pufferfish using gene-editing technology. It is the third application for gene-edited food in Japan. The gene-edited tiger puffer fattens up faster and weighs 1.9 times more than conventionally farmed fish.
Source: Kyoto firm puts genome-edited tiger puffer on the table
MAFF launched the New Business and Food Industry Department on 1 July to promote Food tech in Japan. In addition, the FOOD TECH Lab has started to create a database of food tech initiatives of Japanese companies as part of the community activities of the Food Tech Public-Private Council.
Source: MAFF’s Food Tech Promotion Team Launched