Kurashi - News From Japan

Koa Tasaka, head of Consumers Union of Japan where I work, has a great affection for Bhutan, the small kingdom north of India. He is impressed by their agricultural practices: they have announced that the entire country will become 100% organic. The Guardian : Political parties in the Himalayan kingdom unite to eradicate chemical fertilisers and pesticides as part of its Gross National Happiness programme Agriculture and forests minister Lyonpo Yeshey Dorji and opposition leader Pema Gyamtsho, who held the post in the previous government, say there is a united commitment to rid the country of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. While no formal timeframe has been put in place, both politicians believe that the goal is within sight as long as practical natural solutions can be found to the pest and disease problems still affecting a few crops. In order to speed up the search for these answers, Bhutan recently brought together experts on organic agriculture from across th...

Sunday Nov. 1 - Lots of organic farmers and peace activists and artists meeting up at Hibiya Park in central Tokyo. Music and talk shows plus the chance to support climate change groups and meet anti-TPP experts. All GMO-free. Hope the weather is better than 2 years ago when I participated, and it rained all day. The market and the show and everything started back in 2007, thanks to Tokiko Kato and Yae and many, many others. A great way to celebrate harvest and autumn, and join up with so many wonderful people. This is a Japan that the rest of the world can learn a lot from.  Yae official page (J) Makes me so very happy to live here. And that message comes from Anja (E) This event is the start of Artists for Farm Aid for Japan . Following up from the Love Farmers Conference on September 3-6, 2015 第１回ラブファーマーズカンファレンス Tanemaki official website (J) Talk show website (J)

Just published is the 83rd issue of KJ, as it is known among fans. I have some old print issues that I hope will become really valuable at some point (just kidding) from when I first lived in Japan 1988-1993. This time, KJ is all digital, the topic is food, and what could be more timely? Japan, Asia and the world face a number of huge challenges, including food safety, food security, seed/genetic/biodiversity concerns, not to speak of water and agro-chemical/fertilizer related concerns. Climate change is already causing havoc. Fuel? It will not stay cheap forever, and then how do we keep supermarkets and convenience stores up-to-the-last-minute with the latest "fresh" goods? Fertilizers? Not up for grabs forever, either. Add to that land ownership legal battles, and the fact that in many places, farmers are aging and not enough young people are prepared to take over. Plus trade related issues like WTO/TPP and a "spaghetti bowl" of bilateral trade agreements ...

Care for healthy food and want to join the discussion how to make it better, here in Japan... Busy weekend! How about joining the Japan Organic Agriculture Association conference in Tokyo this weekend? JOAA is the oldest organic group in Japan, founded in 1970. They are known abroad for their work promoting teikei, which is a system to connect farmers and consumers. While similar schemes have evolved in other countries, like the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) trend, teikei is about more - how agriculture can support communities. I will speak in a panel on Sunday March 8, but there is a lot to do and enjoy during the 2 days, including films and seminars by Japanese organic farmers and experts. For more, check out the JOAA website about teikei (E) and details about the conference (J) on March 7-8, 2015 at the Kokugakuin University in Shibuya. Tema: Healthy food and soil for our children. If you are in Kumamoto, you can attend the GMO Free Zone Meeting on Saturday Marc...

Starting on January 31, NHK is airing a Saturday evening drama series about organic farming. I am as surprised as anyone, but yes, the key word is indeed pesticide-free veggie-growing. Who would have thought? Filmed in the lovely mountains of Yamanashi prefecture, it is a story about a small rural village with some 50 souls left, who are wondering how to survive. Farming is easy here, with fertile soil and great weather, but nobody has any ideas how to save the village from disappearing from the map. Miho, the youngest, leaves town to try to get a job in Tokyo, but fails. Meanwhile her grandfather passes away. Her father also appears, after a long stint away, but how will they manage? A consultant, Takigawa Yu appears with lots of ideas. But who is he? His flamboyant manners and fast talking create initial suspicions, but he actually has good ideas for the village. For example, bring in kids and their grandparents on field days, to enjoy learning about vegetables, and getting a t...

I could probably do better, but here are a few links that caught my eye recently. Mother Jones writer Tom Philpott provides a lot of convincing arguments and links that These Ubiquitous Chemicals May Be Making Us Stupid Kids exposed to the highest levels of two common phthalates in the womb had an IQ score, on average, more than six points lower than children exposed at the lowest levels. Do avoid. But do read. The Asahi gives us a hint that should be made more generally available; clearly, this is not advice "to Japanese men" but to all of us. Is this really the level to what newspaper editing has been reduced to? Anyway, important study. Scientists to Japanese men: Eat your veggies, reduce stomach cancer risk January 05, 2015 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN Japanese men can reduce their risk of developing lower stomach cancer simply by eating a lot of vegetables, researchers at the National Cancer Center and other institutions found. ...

Today is Nanakusa Day, when people who like food traditions enjoy a set of seven herbs or 草 (kusa) which also means weeds, including tender greens and turnips that are added to rice. One explanation I heard in the temple way back is that after over eating on the treats during the New Years Holiday, it was time for a simple fare. It is also the first harvest of the year, which is nice to celebrate. I also learnt a new way to preserve veggies. 糠 (nuka) is just rice brans, the left overs after rice is polished. Thus you get classic nukatsuke, a way to keep anything from carrots to leafy greens a little longer. You also need salt, and I added about 100 g sea salt to 1 kg nuka. You can get nuka in most supermarkets, but do avoid the more pricy ones with flavourings and all kinds of bells and whistles... Damien taught me a clever way to do this. Usually, people do nukatsuke in large deep pots, but since you need to move things around once or twice a day, that gets really messy. In a ...

Last days of summer, with a hint of autumn in the air already? I went to the Farmers Market at United Nations University in Tokyo , and here are some photos of that happy event. Very nicely managed with white tents and wooden crates for the produce and preserves. I hear it is rather expensive to have a stall here (12,000 yen per day compared to, for example, Nippori Market at 5,000 yen per day) but many of the vendors come back weekend after weekend, so they must be doing well! Asahi reports that this summer has been tough on veggie farming and that prices are going through the roof: Vegetable prices are soaring due to the summer's heavy rains and a lack of sunshine across the nation, making for poorer growing and harvesting conditions than in usual years. These unusual weather phenomena are causing shortages of vegetables and showing up in higher prices in supermarkets across the nation. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the retail price...

I have been hearing good things about permaculture but I'm less inclined to agree that animal husbandry can be integrated in any such endeavor... Ken sayz… Personally for me permaculture is about just enough and finding contentment, not exerting energy to make money. I like that it’s focused on rebuilding the top soil and growing perennials and growing food and transforming yards into useful spaces, making everything have multiple functions. To me permaculture is not just about making it in the current economy, it’s about planning for a future economy after unsustainable practices fail and leave us with nothing but the more sustainable ones, which is something that I think young adults today will see as they grow old. Which made me come up this story, or parable, or fable, of our times: Once upon a time... there was a city boy in his early thirties who moved to the hills to farm with his young wife. They started small and that all went well for a while. Th...