The IFAJ Congress is over and we’re about to head on out for the long trek home. Here’s the ceremonial passing of the IFAJ flag from the Japanese to the Austrians. Our events yesterday were held in different locations without me being able to get online again. So, I’ll be working up some posts with interviews and some video clips …
Final Day in Sendai
Today we had a free morning to shop or just plain relax here in Sendai. Our IFAJ Congress is coming to a close with tonight’s final reception. I’ll have some more posting to do which might have to wait until I’m home. Tomorrow is a travel day. The photo album is up to date though. This afternoon we were bussed …
Sendai Shopping
Cindy and I have had a very relaxing stay in Sendai the past two days. We’ve wandered around town, including the Sun Mall Ichibancho. It’s a big shopping mall that goes on for blocks in every direction. This big clock plays music on the hour and the doors open and things move. I don’t know what it meant but it …
The Rice Man
This is one of the workers at the Furukawa Agricultural Research Center. He was posing for us ag journalists so I’ve got to post him for you. Cindy and I both like rice and we’ve noticed that people do eat it for breakfast as well as other meals during the day. It mostly seems to be white rice and not …
Precision Agriculture in Rice Planting
Precision agriculture is hitting the rice industry in Japan. At least it’s in R&D now at the Furukawa Agricultural Research Station. I interviewed Yoshisada Nogasaka, Research Team for Farm Machinery and Systems for NARC, the National Agricultural Research Center. He’s the guy who’s developing the software to run the prototype Autonomous Rice Transplanter we saw on demonstration at the Furukawa …
Japan Ministry of Agriculture Press Conference
During our visit to the Tokyo University of Agriculture we attended a press conference with Mr. Masanori Sato, Director General in charge of International Affairs, Japan Ministry of Agriculture. I’ve got a video of his presentation so you can see him make a statement and then listen to the interpreter. In this segment he talks about the dietary policy and …
Planting in a Rice Paddy
This is the way people have transplanted rice into paddies for who knows how long. That’s changed a lot now that machinery has been built to make the task much easier and faster. When I interviewed one of the officials with the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization he asked me why man invented machines. I was stumped so he …
Leaving Tokyo Station
We moved on from Tokyo to Sendai via Furukawa on Wednesday. Moving a couple hundred people through a crowded train station is not an easy task. The Japanese journalists helped out though by stationing themselves at various places with signs pointing us to the right track. Our train ride was very nice. Somehow the beverage cart only made it halfway …
Gohan (Rice) Museum in Tokyo
To help demonstrate how import rice is to the Japanese culture we visited the Gohan Museum in Tokyo. Cindy and I got our picture taken thanks to Kurt Lawton. Inside the museum they had a video presentation that ran continuously showing rice production. There were displays showing various ways rice is cooked and presented. And of course there was the …
Defending Japanese Ag Trade Policies
When you attend these IFAJ conventions it’s interesting to hear from the policy leaders on the program. I’ve found that it’s very normal to have someone on the program to defend policy practices, especially when it comes to foreign trade and the WTO. This was certainly the case here when we heard from Nobuhiro Suzuki, Department of Global Agricultural Sciences, …