Chie Nishimura's business, Farm Canning, uses around 1,000 kilograms of organic "ugly vegetables" per year, turning them into canned preserves and healthy catered meals.

After a transformative bread-tasting experience in California, Lee Utsumi knew she wanted to become a baker and now runs her own natural bakery, Lee's Bread, in Oiso, Kanagawa Prefecture.

With the average age of farmers in Japan over 65 and predicted to decline in the next decade, Takako Yoshino hopes to inspire a new generation of younger farmers.

Through its farmer's market, cafe-supermarket and community events, Eat Local Kobe is building a sustainable and robust network to support the region's small organic farmers.

For his food truck, Sameya, owner-chef Takumi Takase has developed a delicious menu of dishes using shark meat from Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, providing a stable income for local fishermen.

Hidehito Komaki pulls a dried pod from the flowering stem of a cabbage plant and carefully splits it. Both sides are lined with tiny brown beads. "Each of these is a seed," Komaki explains to those clustered around him. "A single cabbage plant produces ...