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July 12, 2026
 

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AGRICULTURE

Gentaro Yui, a 51-year-old executive of Moriumius's operator, in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, in December
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2026
Farm experiences in disaster-hit Japanese area attracting children
Since opening 11 years ago, the Moriumius facility has received a total of some 15,000 elementary and junior high school students, with many becoming repeat visitors.
Representatives of organizations behind products newly registered as geographical indications (GI), including Japanese tea, pose with Vice Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yuhei Yamashita (second from right) at the ministry on Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2026
Government registers ‘Japanese tea’ under brand protection system
The agriculture ministry aims to combat intellectual property infringement by imitation products amid a global boom in matcha.
Fully sealed units are stacked on top of each other at Plantx's vertical-farming facility in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 9, 2026
World’s first fully sealed vertical-farming facility opens in Tokyo
At Plantx’s facility, light, air and water are controlled in each unit allowing the system to tailor the nutritional values and sugar content of agricultural products.
Bags of rice at a supermarket in Aichi Prefecture. A bill designed to stabilize rice supply and demand has been passed by the parliament.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2026
Diet enacts bill to stabilize rice supply and demand
Various businesses will now have to report inventory, shipments and sales volumes in order to help improve the accuracy of forecasts.
Workers harvest coffee cherries at a farm in Buon Ma Thuot, Vietnam.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2026
Coffee trader seeks to shield more Vietnam growers from weather
ECOM Agroindustrial piloted the insurance program five years ago, under which payouts are triggered if it rains too much or too little and farmers don’t have to prove crop losses.
The diffusion index for Japan’s three-month rice price outlook fell 4 points to 19 in June, matching the record low set in August 2014 and staying below 50 for a ninth straight month, according to an agricultural group.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2026
Japan’s rice prices likely to fall in coming months
An index for the outlook on rice prices over the next three months has shown stronger expectations for lower prices.
Afghan farmers Habiba (left) and her sister Bibi Jan work in a wheat field in the Eshtiwi village of Afghanistan's Parun district June 8.
WORLD
Jul 6, 2026
The Afghan women farmers keeping their village alive
In Afghanistan, women are generally allowed to farm despite being banned by the Taliban government from most employment.
Bears killed 18 people and seriously injured more than 200 in Romania and Slovakia over the past five years.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Jun 23, 2026
EU nations want reduced protection for bears
Bears killed 18 people and seriously injured more than 200 in the two countries over the past five years.
A man harvests sugarcane in a field in the Kolhapur district in the western state of Maharashtra, India, on Feb. 17.
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2026
India likely won’t export sugar for years as El Nino and ethanol squeeze supply
The two challenges could keep millions of tons of sugar off the world market, tightening supplies for importers across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
Japanese agriculture minister Norikazu Suzuki promotes Japanese rice at a supermarket near Paris on Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2026
Japan’s farm minister promotes Japanese rice in France
Agriculture minister Norikazu Suzuki handed out rice balls made from Japanese rice to shoppers during a Japanese food fair.
The national average price of a packet of 10 eggs stood at ¥309, matching the highest level marked in March and May.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 17, 2026
Prices of chicken and eggs in Japan hit record highs
The national average price of chicken rose has risen to ¥155 per 100 grams while that of a packet of 10 eggs is now at ¥309.
Urea, ammonium phosphate, and potassium chloride — raw materials for chemical fertilizers — are almost entirely imported in Japan.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Jun 15, 2026
Fertilizer prices rise in Japan due to Strait of Hormuz squeeze
While shortages like those for naphtha have yet to emerge, warnings of an international shortage have been issued amid uncertainties in the Middle East.
Anthony Gallegos, 43, stands in a pasture with cattle on his ranch, three days after the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed that New World screwworm was detected in a Texas calf in Zavala County, near La Pryor, Texas, on June 6.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 9, 2026
Deadly screwworm pest spreads in U.S. with three new cases
The fly has been detected in a calf in La Salle County, Texas, a goat in Gillespie County, Texas, and a dog in New Mexico, according to the the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
A herd of cattle roam a pasture in La Pryor, Texas, on Thursday. The New World screwworm has been detected in the U.S. for the first time in nearly a decade, posing a major threat to the cattle industry.
WORLD
Jun 5, 2026
U.S. races to contain deadly screwworm threatening cattle supply
The flesh-eating parasite has been confirmed on in a 3-week-old calf in south Texas, marking the first detection in the U.S. in nearly a decade.
A rice paddy field on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian Kashmir, this month.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 5, 2026
Hot weather hurts Asian crops as powerful El Nino takes shape
Dry weather is disrupting crop planting across the world’s most populous region, and an expected severe El Nino weather pattern could inflict more damage.
Rising global temperatures, worsened by climate change, war, trade disruptions and a looming El Nino, are increasingly threatening global food production.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2026
The world’s food supply is under a quadruple attack
Heat makes it much harder to effectively grow crops, raise livestock and harvest fish, as detailed in an extensive new United Nations climate change report.
The Japanese government's fiscal 2025 white paper on food, agriculture and rural areas noted that private-sector rice imports surged after retail prices of the grain in May 2025 roughly doubled from a year before.
JAPAN
May 29, 2026
Japan voices concern over rice imports in white paper
Private-sector rice imports experienced a sharp increase after retail prices roughly doubled year on year in May 2025.
Despite government efforts to lower the price of rice by tapping into the nation’s emergency stockpile, the cost of Japan’s staple grain remains at an all-time high.
JAPAN / Society
May 27, 2026
Rice consumption in fiscal 2025 the lowest in seven years
The drop coincided with last summer’s “Reiwa rice riots” when the staple disappeared from supermarket shelves and prices surged nationwide.
"Kōsen" technical colleges are five-year institutions offering higher education to students who have graduated from junior high school, with the aim of nurturing practical and creative engineers.
JAPAN
May 24, 2026
Japan may add farming and anime courses to technical colleges
In response to many local governments aiming to establish new “kōsen” technical colleges, the ministry hopes to develop talent in a wide range of areas.
A box of two Yubari melons sold for a record-high ¥5.8 million at the season’s first auction in Sapporo on Friday.
BUSINESS
May 22, 2026
Yubari melons fetch record ¥5.8 million at first auction of season
The melons will go on display at Keio Store’s Sakuragaoka supermarket in western Tokyo before tasting events begin next week.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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