An agricultural high school in Hokkaido — its survival once at stake due to a shortage of students — has bounced back by earning fame through the delicious lamb produced by its pupils.
The Hokkaido Embetsu Agricultural High School, the sole high school in the town of Embetsu in north of the island, has about 60 students and owns about 25 hectares of land. It keeps about 20 to 40 Suffolk sheep, a breed from Britain, with students mainly handling the breeding of animals and processing of meat.
"This is the only high school in the country specialized in lamb production and processing," said Uriel Ishikawa, 28, who teaches students how to raise sheep.