Tanegashima Bananas

Did you know that Japan has really delicious bananas? In the south, as this country reaches down into tropical regions, they grow terrific tasting bananas, sweet and with a slight sour note that adds to the experience. Here is to hoping we can all get more such tropical fruits in the rest of the country.

Slow life... People living down south are trying to tell us something... We can enjoy the fruits of their labour. HAPPY SLOW LIFE has more.



Tanagashima bananas are short and tasty, a real treat. 

Meanwhile, Europe and South America have just concluded a long World Trade Organization battle on bananas... The Telegraph has more.

Banana war ends after 20 years

One of the longest international trade battles - the banana dispute dating back more than two decades - is over

The EU import tariffs had favoured imports from former European colonies, with no duty imposed on bananas from former colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. However, the EU charged duties on bananas from other countries. The banana issue is one of the longest running disputes in the post-World War Two multilateral trading system.

No, yes, oh well. U.S. banana companies are going to rejoice. The EU tried to find a way to help its old colonies. Not popular, in these days and times. If you live in Japan, do ask for bananas from the south, like Tanegashima...

Top photo from Cotan

Tanegashima banana photos from Minshuku Selvi

All we need to do is find alternative ways of procuring the food we eat on a daily basis, supporting farmers we know and trust. What a difference it would make. Seriously. These short and tasty bananas are so much better-tasting.

Or you could go with the "trend" of Dole bananas, supported by Time Magazine,  Postcard from Tokyo Japan Goes Bananas for a New Diet, complete with a photo of a girl that smiles a huge smile all teeth and, yes. no, she really gives Time or Reuters the photo they needed for that story...

Sigh... Whenever you hear the word "trend" you know that someone is paying a lot of money to make that a fact.

That Time/Reuters photographer clearly had no integrity or he would not have let such a bad photo pass.

 According to Ministry of Finance, Japan's banana imports were 970,000 tons in 2007, mostly from Taiwan and the Philippines. "It takes from 10 to 15 months to harvest bananas, so it is not at all easy to meet a sudden increase in demand," says Dole's Ohtaki. Dole Japan is trying to make up the shortfall by negotiating distribution deals with Dole corporations in other countries. Supplying the spike in demand will be lucrative, because banana prices in Japan have risen about 20% as a result of supply shortages that have coincided with the diet fad.

Comments

Pandabonium said…
Good grief. I would happily buy Japan grown bananas if I had known that I had a choice!

I used to grow my own in Hawaii. I love this fruit and have actually looked into finding a variety that might grow in our location - sadly without luck.

I will definitely ask for Tanegashima or other Japan bananas.

Thanks for the information.
9:33 pm, November 10, 2012
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Global Article 9 Conference to Abolish War

Image
A unique three-day international conference is being held at Makuhari near Tokyo, a day after the 61st anniversary of the enforcement of Japan's Constitution. It is organized by nongovernmental groups, including Japan-based Peace Boat . Organizers said the meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss the significance of the constitutional article that endorses demilitarization and what people can do to promote its spirit, notes The Japan Times . While the constitution stipulates that Japan renounces war as a sovereign right and that it will not maintain land, sea and air forces, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been keen to make amendments. "The war in Iraq has shown that even the strongest, biggest army in the world can not keep peace in a single city. It proves that aggression never instates peace," Tatsuya Yoshioka, director of Peace Boat and a representative of the event's organizing committee, said during the opening remarks. "Article 9 is a treasu...
Read more

マーティンの鵜の目鷹の目 -世界の消費者運動の旅から

Image
  My new book has been published! マーティン・フリッド (著)   世界中の消費者が同じ課題を抱え、悩み、たたかっている。スウェーデンに生まれ、ヨーロッパ、そして日本の消費者運動の現場を歩いてきた著者が、人びとの日常によりそいながら軽妙なユーモアを交えて食、環境、エネルギー、社会のあり方、政治、経済を考えます。   https://nishoren.net/new-information/14177 Consumers all over the world are facing similar problems, worries, and struggles. In this book, the author, who was born in Sweden and has walked the frontlines of consumer movements in Europe ...
Read more

Salvador Dali, Hiroshima and Okinawa

Image
Spanish artist Salvador Dali was deeply terrified by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , and his exact, detailed style was very much suited to show the horror of the A-bomb, which America tried to keep a secret by classifying photos and descriptions until the end of the occupation of Japan in 1952. The Bureau of Atomic Tourism has more details if you want to know more about the legacy of nuclear weapons in the U.S. Even today, do people understand the real horror of atomic bombs? If not, then, why not ? Dali's paintings are on display in Fukushima prefecture, where you can view Melancholy Atomic and Uranium Idyll and The Three Sphinxes of Bikini at the Morohashi Museum of Modern Art . Long YouTube video from the Nihon University (Nichidai) channel with an interview featuring Morohashi Eiji, the son of the founder of the unique museum, and scenes from the Morohashi Museum (29:20): #271美術館への誘い ダリの世界 Is there a hidden message in Dali's Bikini hydrogen bomb painting...
Read more