Kurashi - News From Japan

Trying to buy vegetable seeds and starting to grow your own food? Dream on, or try Tane no Mori ("Seed Forest") in Saitama. They have carefully selected the best organic seeds and heirloom varieties that are suitable for Japan's climate and soil. They aim for sustainable agricultural practices, without chemicals. You can download their catalogue from their website or they will send it to you by mail. Nothing beats the winter blues like reading a good seed catalogue, planning ahead! Happy farming! Link: たねの森 (Japanese only, but most vegetables are written with hiragana or katakana) Photo of Kami-kun and his wife Ai-chan from a nice article in Asahi Shimbun about their "blue-sky market" event in Koma, Saitama, called the smallest market in Japan. If you live elsewhere, try Fork & Bottle for a good list of companies that sell organic, heritage seeds. The Kitasawa Seed Company in Oakland, CA has a large variety of Japanese seeds (but also some hybrids that ...

Tonight I arrived home late and checked the website NHK World to see if there were any updates about prime minister Taro Aso's visit to the United States. Yes, there was a headline, but they made some terrible editing mistake, see the attached screen save. This is Japan's official media, something similar to BBC in the UK. And the editors in Shibuya cannot get their main story right? On a night like this? I worked for NHK World for three years, but that was for short wave radio. To see NHK make this kind of stupid mistake is just too embarrasing. I might as well read First, Cake! . Please. NHK: Get your main story right. Meanwhile, BBC does have the story: Japan's PM first to visit Obama "The alliance that we have is the cornerstone of security in East Asia, it is one that my administration wants to strengthen," said Mr Obama "It is for that reason that the prime minister is the first foreign dignitary to visit me here in the Oval Office." "I think...

Water shortages in California will be severe this year. Not good news at all for Japan, that imports a lot of food from the state-previously-known-as-golden. Over at Treehugger, John Laumer writes, "Non-Californians: If you have been thinking about planting your own vegetable garden for the first time, now would be a good time to order seed and buy a shovel and pick." For years, Japan has been strongly encouraged to stop protecting its farmers, and import more food from abroad. Cheap imports have then made it virtually impossible to make a living as a farmer here. Add to this the climate problems in China and Australia, and you have every reason to be worried: Food prices throughout North American, and even parts of Asia, which import produce from California, will be affected in the short-term. Long-term water shortage prospects point to an either-or scenario: social disorganization on a large scale or, alternatively, to massive, government-funded water project expansions, pl...

For thousands of years, farmers in Japan grew hemp . But in 1948, US authorities decided to make it illegal. Some say chemical companies like DuPont wanted to control the synthetic fiber market: I would not be surprised. Hemp is going through a revival with lots of young people promoting this environmentally friendly crop. Over at Treehugger , I take a look at hemp, noting that legal farming in Tochigi and Gunma Prefecture is thriving. Hemp ropes can be seen at hundreds of thousands of places of worship, called kamidama . They are usually decorated with white paper. I like the way people in Japan used local, sustainable resources like hemp, rice, mulberry (for paper) and seasonal fruits and vegetables. The Japan Times says Hidetaro Funayama, 58, represents a group involved in a city development project aimed at growing hemp for the production of construction materials and washi paper: The Tochigi Prefectural Government has developed its own variety of hemp for cultivation called ...

Saab Automobile AB on Friday filed for court protection from creditors, becoming the first GM unit to fail: The move came after the Swedish government rejected GM's request for financial aid to Saab. Saab hopes to complete its rehabilitation into a company independent from GM through a court process in three months. Saab became a GM subsidiary in 2000 and has remained plagued with losses. Amid the global economic downturn, its auto sales in 2008 plunged 25 percent from the year before. Breitbart Lots of comments over at General Motors Inside News

On February 10, Japan’s Kaguya lunar explorer shot these photos, and high resolution video (actually a NHK HDTV camera) of the Sun hidden by the Moon - or is it Earth? This effect is called Baily's beads, in honour of Francis Baily , who first provided an exact explanation of the phenomenon in 1836. Found on Pink Tentacle

Brutus used to be a upscale fashion/lifestyle magazin for men. I guess the trend these days is farming and listening to the radio (and You Tube). Fishing got a special issue too last year, and Rimpa , the lovely, decorative school of painting. Times - and priorities - change. Read more about farming, Brutus-style (Japanese)