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Japan's new farm minister Koizumi

TOKYO, Japan, May 26 Kyodo - Japan's new Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shinjiro Koizumi holds a press conference at his ministry on May 26, 2025, as Japan began sales of government rice stockpiles via direct contracts, aiming to slash soaring prices after he pledged to bring them down to about 2,000 yen ($14) per 5 kilograms by early June. (Kyodo)

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Japan's new farm minister

TOKYO, Japan, May 22 Kyodo - Japan's new Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shinjiro Koizumi attends his first press conference at his ministry in Tokyo on May 21, 2025. (Kyodo)

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Volume of young eel in aquaculture ponds to be limited

TOKYO, Japan - Masanori Miyahara, adviser to the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, attends a press conference at the ministry in Tokyo on Sept. 17, 2014, after Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan agreed on conserving the endangered Japanese eel by cutting the volume of young eels put into aquaculture ponds by 20 percent from recent levels.

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Cafeterias at gov't offices

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken March 6, 2012, shows a set menu having tomato-simmered deer meat as the main dish, served at Teshigotoya Sakura, one of the cafeterias at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki district.

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Japanese official visits near Chernobyl nuclear plant

TOKYO, Japan - Handout photo shows Takashi Shinohara (R), Japanese senior vice minister of agriculture, visiting a site near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine on April 22, 2011, to learn about a soil decontamination method through growth of rapeseed crops. The ministry plans to launch an experiment of absorbing radioactive substances through growth of sunflower and rapeseed crops around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture. (Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries)

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Fish ambassador

TOKYO, Japan - Fish expert, illustrator and TV personality Sakana-kun (fish guy) speaks during a press conference in Tokyo in December 2010. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Feb. 17, 2011, that it has appointed Sakana-kun, also a visiting associate professor at Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, a ''fish ambassador'' to expand fish consumption.

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Japan firms pitch food products in Vladivostok

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia - Toru Iwasa (2nd from L), an executive of the Zen natural food seller in Minamiuonuma, Niigata Prefecture, talks with a local trader in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok on Dec. 14, 2010, during a business event to promote Japanese food products there hosted by the country's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

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Japan firms pitch food products in Vladivostok

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia - Kenzo Takemoto (R), president of Kobe-based Takemoto Trading Co., pitches his company's products to local traders in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok on Dec. 14, 2010, during a business event to promote Japanese food products overseas hosted by the country's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

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Japan firms pitch food products in Vladivostok

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia - Hidefumi Kimura (R), president of Kimura Drink Co., pitches his company's products to local traders in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok on Dec. 14, 2010, during a business event to promote Japanese food products overseas hosted by the country's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

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Japan eyes increasing rice exports to China

BEIJING, China - Nobutaka Tsutsui (C), senior vice minister of the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and Liu Shenli (L), chairman of China National Agricultural Development Group Corp., shake hands after signing a memorandum in Beijing on Dec. 9, 2010. The agricultural entities agreed China will expand imports of Japanese farm products such as rice and vegetables.

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Fishermen demand the opening of Isahaya Bay dike

TOKYO, Japan - Protestors, mostly from the fishing industry, sit in front of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry in Tokyo on Dec. 7, 2010, demanding that the government swiftly open the Isahaya Bay dike in Nagasaki Prefecture. The Fukuoka High Court ordered the state to open the dike's drainage gates the previous day, in support of the fishermen, acknowledging the closure of the gate has damaged the local fisheries industry.

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49 Miyazaki stud bulls to be slaughtered

TOKYO, Japan - Masahiko Yamada, senior vice minister at the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, speaks during a news conference at the farm ministry in Tokyo on May 24, 2010, about the government's decision to slaughter 49 stud bulls in Miyazaki Prefecture amid the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.

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49 Miyazaki stud bulls to be slaughtered

TOKYO, Japan - Masahiko Yamada, senior vice minister at the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, speaks during a news conference at the farm ministry in Tokyo on May 24, 2010, about the government's decision to slaughter 49 stud bulls in Miyazaki Prefecture amid the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.

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Japan, U.S. agree to resume beef talks

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese farm minister Hirotaka Akamatsu speaks to reporters after talks with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Tokyo on April 8, 2010. The two countries agreed the same day to resume dialogue over the lingering dispute on Japan's restrictions on U.S. beef imports.

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Japan, U.S. agree to resume beef talks

TOKYO, Japan - U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack leaves the room after wrapping up talks with his Japanese counterpart Hirotaka Akamatsu at the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Tokyo on April 8, 2010. The two countries agreed the same day to resume dialogue over the lingering dispute on Japan's restrictions on U.S. beef imports.

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Japan, U.S. agree to resume beef talks

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese farm minister Hirotaka Akamatsu (R) and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack shake hands at the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Tokyo on April, 8, 2010. The two countries agreed the same day to resume dialogue over the lingering dispute on Japan's restrictions on U.S. beef imports.

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Japan, U.S. agree to resume beef talks

TOKYO, Japan - A meeting between Japanese farm minister Hirotaka Akamatsu and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is held at the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Tokyo on April, 8, 2010. The two countries agreed the same day to resume dialogue over the lingering dispute on Japan's restrictions on U.S. beef imports.

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Gov't releases English guide to Japanese local cuisines

TOKYO, Japan - This photo shows an English guidebook on local cuisines the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries released June 9. The ministry prepared 10,000 copies of the book ''Japan's Tasty Secrets'' to give out at locations such as Narita, Chubu and Kansai international airports.

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Gov't releases English guide to Japanese local cuisines

TOKYO, Japan - Adam Fulford show off two copies of the English guidebook on local cuisines ''Japan's Tasty Secrets'' that he translated and edited at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Tokyo on June 9.

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Bird flu virus detected on another Aichi farm

NAGOYA, Japan - Senior officials at the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of the Aichi prefectural government hold a press conference in Nagoya on March 2 to announce that quails at another Aichi Prefecture farm have tested positive for a form of bird flu virus.

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H7 bird flu strain detected in Aichi

TOYOHASHI, Japan - An official of the Aichi prefectural government inspects a quail farm in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, on Feb. 27, where the H7 bird flu virus has been detected. The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry and the local government said this is the first reported detection of the strain in Japan since 1925. However, they added that the virus ''may be of attenuated virulence,'' as the infected quails have not died, suggesting the infection is unlikely to spread further.

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H7 bird flu strain detected in Aichi

TOYOHASHI, Japan - Officials of the Aichi prefectural government inspect a quail farm in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, on Feb. 27, where the H7 bird flu virus has been detected. The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry and the local government said this is the first reported detection of the strain in Japan since 1925. However, they added that the virus ''may be of attenuated virulence,'' as the infected quails have not died, suggesting the infection is unlikely to spread further.

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Ministers show fresh resolve to revive Japan's farming

TOKYO, Japan - Industry minister Toshihiro Nikai (L) and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shigeru Ishiba, inspect strawberries produced by a so-called ''plant factory'' employing artificial lighting in the industry ministry's lobby, showing their resolve to work closer together to revive the country's farming industry.

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Agriculture minister Ota resigns over tainted-rice scandal

TOKYO, Japan - Agriculture minister Seiichi Ota receives a bouquet from employees at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries after he resigned Sept. 19 over the sale of tainted imported rice that had been bought from the ministry.

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Vice farm minister offers to resign over tainted-rice scandal

TOKYO, Japan - File photo of Toshiro Shirasu, the top bureaucrat at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Shirasu has offered to resign in connection with his handling of a tainted-rice scandal, informed sources said.

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Sweets maker Akafuku ordered to suspend operations

TSU, Japan - Inspectors from the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry and the Mie prefectural government visit the premises of sweets maker Akafuku Co. in Ise, Mie Prefecture on Oct. 19. Mie Prefecture suspended its business operations for violating the food sanitation law by collecting unsold products from retail outlets, refrigerating them and reselling them under a new expiry date.

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Ex-farm minister Matsuoka's body taken to his home

TOKYO, Japan - Staffers at the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry see off a hearse (L) May 29 carrying the body of the deceased farm minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka before his body is brought back to his home in the city of Aso, Kumamoto Prefecture for a wake. Matsuoka committed suicide on May 28.

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Japan formally decides to lift import ban on U.S. beef

TOKYO, Japan - The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries gives the green light to resuming beef imports from the United States in a meeting in Tokyo on July 27, lifting the beef embargo reinstated in January over fears of mad cow disease.

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U.S. envoy optimistic about lifting of Tokyo's beef import ban

TOKYO, Japan - U.S. Ambassador to Japan Howard Baker (L) and Japan's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoshiyuki Kamei (R) shake hands at the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry in Tokyo on June 23 as they meet to discuss Japan's ban on U.S. beef imports.

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Japan, EU say consideration needed for farm products

TOKYO, Japan - European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy (L) and Japan's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoshiyuki Kamei shake hands prior to their talks at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Tokyo on June 22.

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Sen. Baucus discusses beef ban with Japan ministers

TOKYO, Japan - Visiting U.S. Senator Max Baucus (L) shakes hands with Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoshiyuki Kamei at the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry in Tokyo on March 15 prior to their talks. Baucus separately met with Kamei, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda and Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Shoichi Nakagawa to discuss a Japanese ban on beef imports from the United States.

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Thailand hopes for resumption of poultry imports in Feb.

TOKYO, Japan - Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak (L) and Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoshiyuki Kamei shake hands at the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry in Tokyo on Feb. 17 prior to their talks.

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Bird flu suspected in Oita Pref.

TOKYO, Japan - Masako Kurimoto, health administration section chief, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, speaks at a press conference on Feb. 17. She said that a case of bird flu is suspected in the town of Kokonoe in Oita Prefecture .

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Japan gives conditional OK to Chinese heat-treated poultry

TOKYO, Japan - Representatives of the Chinese government (R) meet with Japanese farm officials at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Tokyo on Feb. 13 to discuss Chinese exports of poultry products to Japan. Japan agreed to the restart of imports of heat-treated poultry products from China on condition that Chinese processing plants clear hygiene norms to be specified by Japan.

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(2) Japan, U.S. fail to narrow gaps on U.S. beef import ban

TOKYO, Japan - Hiroshi Nakagawa, head of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry's Food Safety and Consumer Affairs Bureau, speaks at a news conference Jan. 23 after Japan and the United States ended one day of talks without reaching an agreement on whether to lift Tokyo's import ban on U.S. beef.

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Japan, U.S. begin discussing safety steps on BSE

TOKYO, Japan - Hiroshi Nakagawa (L), head of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry's Food Safety and Consumer Affairs Bureau, and J.B. Penn, undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, shake hands at the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry in Tokyo on Jan. 23 before they start talks on safety measures the United States is taking for its beef following the outbreak of mad cow disease there.

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Farm ministry begins investigation at Nippon Meat offices

OSAKA, Japan - Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries officials walk into the office of the Nippon Meat Packers Inc. head office in Osaka on Aug. 21 for an on-site investigation for the first time since the company's beef-labeling scam came to light. The investigation is intended to ensure that a series of remedial measures announced Tuesday by the company will be duly implemented, ministry officials said.

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Gov't asks Nippon Meat group to limit business

TOKYO, Japan - Hiroji Okoso, president of Nippon Meat Packers Inc., is surrounded by reporters at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Tokyo on Aug. 14 after being asked by the ministry to limit the beef-related business activities of Nippon Food Inc., Nippon Meat's subsidiary.

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Ham processors assn. searched over beef-labeling scam

TOKYO, Japan - Officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries enter the building of the Japan Ham & Sausage Processors Cooperative Association in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Aug. 13 to search the trade organization in connection with beef-labeling fraud committed by a subsidiary of Nippon Meat Packers Inc.

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Fukuoka fisheries group protests Isahaya Bay project

TOKYO, Japan - About 260 members of a Fukuoka fisheries cooperative association stage a demonstration around the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on July 1 to protest the ministry's rejection of their request to cancel a land reclamation project in Isahaya Bay, southwestern Japan.

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Takebe says he will not resign

TOKYO, Japan - Farm minister Tsutomu Takebe attends the House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on April 3. He said he has no intention of quitting the post in spite of calls for his resignation for his alleged responsibility for last fall's outbreak of mad cow disease.

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Farm ministry raids Marubeni unit over labeling fraud

SENDAI, Japan - Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries officials enter the Sendai branch office of Marubeni Chikusan Corp., a subsidiary of major trading house Marubeni Corp., to inspect the office. On March 15, it admitted it passed off chicken imported from Brazil as higher-priced domestic chicken between 1999 and 2001.

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Starzen mislabeled pork products

TOKYO, Japan - Seiichi Uzurahashi, president of Starzen Co., Japan's largest dealer of domestic and imported meat, bows at a news conference in the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry in Tokyo on Feb. 27. Uzurahashi admitted his company sold pork from inexpensive white pigs as that of black pigs in violation of the Japanese agricultural standard law.

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Farmers demand gov't compensation over mad cow

TOKYO, Japan - Some 120 farmers and breeders from around the country, leading six dairy cows, gather in front of the building of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, in central Tokyo on Feb. 22 to demand compensation from the government over losses incurred as a result of the outbreak of mad cow disease.

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Farm ministry starts random checks of beef in buyback scheme

TOKYO, Japan - Officials from the Agriculture and Livestock Indusries Corp affiliated with the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry check beef in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Feb. 8. The farm ministry launched random inspections of some 12,000 tons of beef, which the ministry purchased under the buyback scheme implemented after mad cow disease was found in Japan.

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Snow Brand chieff suggests he may quit

TOKYO, Japan - Snow Brand Food Co. President Shozo Yoshida arrives at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on Jan. 25 for talks on the role his firm played in a new scandal related to mad cow disease. Yoshida indicated later he may resign to take responsibility for the company's fraudulent actions.

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Inspection confirms plant used no feed causing mad cow disease

MITO, Japan - Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries officials conduct an inspection of a feed factory in Ibaraki Prefecture on Sept. 12. They said later they have confirmed the factory used no animal-based ''meat and bone meal (MBM)'' that may have caused Japan's first suspected case of mad cow disease.

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(2)Mad cow scare in Japan

TOKYO, Japan - Food industry officials who attended a government-arranged briefing session on mad cow disease queue for handouts at the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry on Sept. 11.

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(1)Mad cow scare in Japan

TOKYO, Japan - Food industry officials crowd a briefing session hurriedly called Sept. 11 by the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry to explain about government probes into the suspected case of Japan's first mad cow disease in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo.

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1st suspected case of mad cow disease found in Chiba Pref.

TOKYO, Japan - Takemi Nagamura, head of the livestock industry department at the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, speaks at a press conference at the ministry in Tokyo on Sept. 10 about Japan's first suspected case of mad cow disease.