Japan plans wider pig culls if African swine fever discovered
In the event a pig with African swine fever (ASF) is found at a farm, all pigs at farms within up to 3 kilometers of the affected facility could be culled in order to prevent the highly pathogenic disease from spreading, agriculture ministry sources ...
Japan mulling legislation to ban smuggling of wagyu genetic materials
The agriculture ministry will propose a new law aimed at preventing the smuggling to other countries of genetic materials, such as fertilized eggs and semen, related to wagyu cattle. The envisioned law allows requests for injunctions against improper trading of such genetic materials and, if ...
Planned online system will link food banks with manufacturers, retailers
The farm ministry will launch an online system in fiscal 2020 to link food banks with food donors to support needy people and families while cutting food waste, officials said Saturday. Under the envisaged system, food manufacturers and retailers input information such as type, quantity ...
The Okinawa Prefectural Government plans to cull more than 1,800 pigs at the farm in the city of Uruma and another farm where infection is suspected.
Japan expands swine fever vaccinations to seven more prefectures
The government said Friday it will expand vaccinations of pigs against hog cholera to cover Tokyo and seven prefectures adjacent to the 12 prefectures with confirmed cases of the deadly virus. The vaccinations may start later this month in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Niigata, Kyoto and Nara, ...
Former top ministry official sentenced to six year term for son's murder
Hideaki Kumazawa, 76, had admitted to the slaying, saying his 44-year-old son was a social recluse capable of committing violent acts.
Former defense chief Tokuichiro Tamazawa shot in leg near his home in Morioka
The retired lawmaker is in a stable condition after being shot by a suspect in his 80s, who immediately turned himself into police.
Loss-making Japanese public-private farm fund may be dissolved
The finance and farm ministries will "thoroughly" review the operations of a struggling public-private investment fund aimed at supporting the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries, and may opt to dissolve it, sources with knowledge of the matter said Thursday. They believe it would be difficult ...
In bid to contain swine fever outbreak, Japan's farm ministry announces plan to vaccinate pigs
The ministry saw the move as inevitable after the first outbreak in the country in 26 years was confirmed in September last year.
New farm minister Taku Eto determined to stamp out swine fever
Newly appointed Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Taku Eto has expressed his determination to take decisive action on measures for ending the spread of swine fever in Japan, including whether to administer vaccines to pigs. "We practically only have nine months until we are stripped ...
Government to send officials to disaster-hit Fukushima to expand resumption of farming
The agriculture ministry said Tuesday it will send officials to 12 municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture that were hit by the 2011 nuclear disaster to help farmers there resume agricultural production. From April 2020, one official will be stationed in each of the 12 municipalities near ...
Japan's food self-sufficiency rate hits lowest level in 25 years due to drop in wheat production
The nation's food self-sufficiency rate on a caloric intake basis was 37 percent in fiscal 2018, the lowest level in 25 years, after domestic wheat and soy bean production dropped sharply due to bad weather, the latest data compiled by the farm ministry has ...
