Japan News Update #9 (20 April - 3 May, 2021)

Reduction of the environmental burden

"It makes it harder to keep livestock waste because there is just too much of it." said Yoshio Naito, CEO of BioBalance Inc. Making the use of livestock waste in agriculture more viable is a probiotic product called BioBalance. Raising healthy livestock with the help of microorganisms will produce high-quality livestock products and good manure compost for growing good vegetables, creating a lean cycle between the livestock and vegetable farms. Source: Biobalance holistic probiotics turn manure to resource

An estimated 6 million tons of still edible food was discarded in Japan in fiscal 2018, down 120,000 tons from the previous year, government data showed. It is the lowest figure since 2012, when comparable data became available. The Ministry of the Environment said this is due to increased awareness of the need to reduce household food waste.
Source: Still-edible food waste in Japan decreased in fiscal 2018

An estimated 6 million tons of still edible food was discarded in Japan in fiscal 2018, down 120,000 tons from the previous year, government data showed. It is the lowest figure since 2012, when comparable data became available. The Ministry of the Environment said this is due to increased awareness of the need to reduce household food waste.
Source: Still-edible food waste in Japan decreased in fiscal 2018

Sustainable trend

DAIZ Inc., a start-up that develops and produces plant-based meat, announced total funding of 1.85 billion yen (14,000,000 Euro) in its Series B round. The underwriters are capital and business partnerships with seven business companies, including Ajinomoto, Marubeni, ENEOS Holdings, and nine financial investors, including Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Norinchukin Bank and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Capital.
Source: Japanese plant-based start-up fundraise 1.85 billion yen for series B funding

More and more farmers in Japan are using flies instead of honeybees to pollinate fruits and vegetables. Due to the dwindling supply of bees and the fact that flies have proven to be excellent pollinators. "Flies for pollination are hygienic and resistant to diseases. We hope that flies will become more widespread as we do not know when the bee shortage will be resolved," said Yuichi Yoshida, a professor of vegetable crop science at Okayama University.
Source: 'Worker flies' all the buzz in Japan agricultural pollination amid honeybee shortage

New technologies

The Osaka Tsurumi Flower Wholesale Market has completed its transition to a "home image auction" where buyers trade online from their workplaces. The market had sealed off its auction floor since January this year to prevent corona infection. “The change was a painful one, but buyers have received the online auction with images for its ease of viewing. More buyers have registered," said Yoshihiko Okuda, president of Naniwa Flower Auction Co.
Source: Flower auction goes online to combat pandemic

i-eat Co., ltd, a venture company from Utsunomiya University, has developed an individual non-contact container for strawberries. The company succeeded to sell strawberries in these containers at a department store in Tokyo for more than 1,500 yen (about 12 euros) each, do not hurt for more than ten days, and export to Thailand this year they are well received.
Source: University-based start-up develops contactless strawberry container

Japanese indoor farms are making technological advances, advanced production efficiencies, and data-driven operations to achieve high productivity and uniformity. At the centre of this effort is the Japan Plant Factory Association (JPFA), a non-profit organization, and its vice president, Eri Hayashi. She and her team are working on the fourth generation of plant factories with artificial light through collaboration between industry, academia, and government.
Source: Indoor Ag Science Cafe Explores Japan Plant Factories With Eri Hayashi

MIJ labo, a Hokkaido-based university venture company, has developed a camera that uses AI to calculate factors such as the density and the colour of marbling. "Fair evaluating high-grade Wagyu beef will be an advantage when selling it overseas,” said Keigo Kuchida, a professor at Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, the developer of the camera and analysis system. The company is striving to promote the use of meat quality evaluation technology to make the grading of Wagyu cattle done by the human eye more accurate.
Source: Hokkaido firm eyes wider use of its AI-based wagyu evaluation tech

Labor shortage in Japan

According to the 2020 Census released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), the number of agricultural workers decreased by 480,000 to 1.6 million from 2.08 million five years ago. MAFF attributes the decline to workforce ageing, which has led to the downsizing and closing of businesses. The ministry expressed its view that it is necessary to strengthen measures to attract and retain young people in agriculture.
Source: Number of farmers decreased by 480,000 from five years ago

Possible Impact of the Taiwan Crisis on Japan

If a Taiwan crisis occurs, it will disrupt the supply chain for fuel and food to Japan and likely throw the Japanese economy into chaos. Commercial ships may not be able to sail freely in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, where the U.S. and Chinese warships face off. Japan's food self-sufficiency rate is less than 40%. It has two to three months' worth of rice and wheat in reserve, but a panic buying spree could lead to a severe supply shortage.

Source: Is Japan ready for a Taiwan crisis? Scenarios warn of food and fuel shortage