Japan

Under the name of “Tokyo Salad,” the Japanese subway operator Tokyo Metro is growing lettuce, salad greens, and herbs in a hydroponic warehouse under an elevated section of its Tozai Line, said the Mainichi newspaper.

With salmon prices rising around the world, Japan and Norway are using state-of-the-art technology for two huge offshore aquaculture projects in a effort to boost salmon supply while avoiding the problems that plague coastal fish farms, reports Japan Times.  

With the Trump administration pursuing a re-negotiation of NAFTA, Mexico is scaling back its purchases of U.S. corn, which has allowed Japan to become the top market for U.S. corn exports, said Bloomberg. Mexico has looked into corn imports from South America after President Trump made Mexico his chief NAFTA target and drove down the value of the peso.

Already down to 2 percent of their historic high, Pacific Bluefin tuna are struggling to rebuild their population as Japanese fishermen reach their annual quota two months early — with no plans to slow down the catch, reports The Guardian.

President Trump's nominee for U.S. trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, said at his confirmation hearing that he will follow Trump's "America first" policy. Reminded by farm-state senators of the importance of exports to the agricultural economy, Lighthizer responded, "I assure you we will prioritize agriculture," reported DTN.

In FERN’s latest story, with KQED’s California Report, reporter Lisa Morehouse returned with some of the survivors of Japanese-American internment camps and their relatives to the Lake Tule camp in Northern California, where 15,000 Japanese-Americans, many of them farmers, were forced to grow food for the U.S. government. Understandably, many Japanese-Americans were deeply troubled by President Trump’s announcements of a refugee ban and suggestion of a Muslim registry.

With Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to meet President Trump on Friday, the two largest U.S. livestock groups suggested the president "initiate free-trade agreement negotiations with nations in the Asia-Pacific region beginning with Japan." Separately, 87 farm and trade groups and agribusinesses wrote Trump in support of expanded access to Asia-Pacific markets, the region involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

With the rise in imports of GMO crops and foods, Japan is considering an expansion of mandatory labeling, which now applies to 33 food items, sources in the Consumer Affairs Agency told the Kyodo news agency. The food industry and consumer groups "are expected to engage in a tug of war over where to draw the line," said the news agency.

The president of the California Farm Bureau says he's optimistic President-elect Donald Trump will see the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a good deal despite campaigning against it, reports Capital Public Radio in Sacramento. Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is to meet Trump on Thursday, says there will be an Asian pivot to a Chinese-led trade pact that would exclude the United States if TPP founders.

Although Japan, South Korea, China, the United States and other countries agreed in 2013 to catch less big-eye tuna in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, U.S. long-line fishermen are raising their catch quotas through side agreements with Pacific island territories, says Civil Beat. Many …

Countries must start figuring out how much food they waste if they’re going to meet the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goal of halving global food waste and lowering food loss by 2030, says a report out by Champions 12.3, a coalition of government, business, and research organizations.

The world's largest pork producer and consumer, China, has soared into the lead as the world's largest pork importer, accounting for one-fourth of the world market. China will import 2.4 million tons of pork this year, a million tons more than Japan, the previous leader, says a semiannual USDA report.

Japan bought 2.13 million bushels of U.S. Western White wheat on Thursday, ending a one-month interruption in purchases caused by the discovery of 22 stalks of unapproved GMO wheat in a fallow field in Washington State. U.S. Wheat Associates said trade disruptions related to the rogue wheat were minimal "because every stakeholder approached it in a reasonable way."

Japanese convenience stores are stocking their shelves with extra products for the elderly now that almost 27 percent of the country is 65 or older, says NPR. For example, Lawson, a popular convenience-store chain, carries food packages labeled 1-5 for how hard the food is to chew. "The higher the level, the less need for you to chew. In the end it's porridge," says the store's manager, Masahiko Terada.

Japan's internal affairs ministry will launch a so-called working holiday project in 2017, designed to bring students and young employees into rural areas to work in factories, on farms and in the tourism sector, says the Nikkei news agency. The goal is to stimulate consumption in rural areas while addressing labor shortages.

In Japan, the season’s first fruits are prized possessions, bought by the rich as status symbols. Last week, a grocery store owner broke world records, when he bid 1.1 million yen at an auction—nearly $11,000—for a cluster of 30 grapes that took 14 years to grow, The Guardian reports.

Tea plants around the world are getting too much rain, says Eater. The excessive precipitation is lowering the number of secondary metabolites they produce—the chemicals responsible for caffeine, antioxidants and flavor .

Beginning on Jan. 1, Japan will lower or eliminate tariffs on $7.2 billion worth of U.S. farm exports under a “mini” trade pact that received final approval in Japan’s parliament on Wednesday.