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, …
Official IFAJ Congress Blog
There is an official IFAJ Congress Blog. The coordinating organization for the event is the Japanese Agricultural Journalists Association. Make sure you stop by for a visit. IFAJ Congress 2007 Photo Album AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2007 is sponsored by:
Learn About Japanese Agricultural Cooperatives
We started out a very long day of activities here at the IFAJ Congress with a sort of a press conference at the “Imagine” studio of the Japan Broadcasting System, NHK. You can see the title on the glass wall of the studio here with the activities going on inside. I don’t have the information on what the building is …
Sake On My Mind
Have I mentioned sake yet? This is sake country and at one of our receptions in Tokyo I think we had at least 13 companies exhibiting with sake tasting galore. Cindy and Diane Johnson, LPC, were certainly enjoying the sake tasting. A couple of my favorites were the champagne sake and red rice sake. Cindy likes a white zinfandel when …
One Way to Cook Rice
I’m starting to get caught up on my posting here in Japan. As you’ve been able to see, Cindy has certainly found time to do some editing of content from her trip to Germany last week! I posted a picture from our reception in Tokyo the other night and now I’ve got a video clip to go with it. Cindy …
Pioneer Known in Ukraine
Since our sponsor for coverage of this year’s IFAJ Congress is Pioneer I couldn’t help but post a picture of Jurii Mikhailov, Univest Media, Ukraine. Jurii was sporting his Pioneer t-shirt during our first full day of activities. We’ve had a chance to spend some time talking with Jurii and like with all the participants there’s lots we can learn …
IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism
A main sponsor for the IFAJ Congress here in Japan is Alltech. One of their representatives traveling with us is Billy Frey. He was onstage presenting the IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism Awards. Cindy was there while I was working in another location at the time so I’m not sure who is on stage with Billy here. Maybe somebody …