[in Japanese]

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This study clarified that organic produce market expansion through retailer leadership has contributed to the growth of organic farming in Italy. In addition to confirming this through statistical data analysis, case studies were undertaken with three retail stores selling organic foods and a producer organization producing fruits and vegetables. The case studies identified the following three factors. First, the Italian organic produce market is growing steadily due to increasing consumption. Second, the organic produce market in Italy, as a market share of hypermarkets and supermarkets, is overwhelmingly high. Third, organic market growth led by the retail side stimulates agricultural producers to switch to organic farming.

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The agricultural wholesale market in China is undergoing a change toward wide-area distribution, with quantitative distribution of agricultural products also increasing. Thus, the purposes of this study were to clarify the changes of vegetable aisles in a large-scale agricultural market and the influencing factors involved. Agricultural wholesale market 'A' is an important market at the national level as shown with the statistical data and a questionnaire survey. Almost all operating incomes derived through vegetable aisles in agricultural wholesale markets are faced with admission fees collected from the whole seller members. Furthermore, the manager of agricultural wholesale market 'A' widened the selling area with emphasis on large-scale wholesalers to maximize the admission fees in the vegetable aisles. In this way, the selling area for vegetables for wide-area distribution was expanded, and local distribution was reduced. The paper concludes that large-scale agricultural wholesale markets in urban areas in China have turned their focus from former local distribution to wide-area distribution.

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A market-driven grain circulation system with various players was introduced into China following a series of grain circulation reforms begun in 1999. Due to an open market environment and consumption needs for high quality processes food, the wheat industries in major grain producing areas in China are facing the problem of how to involve traditional small-scale farmers in this market system. This paper aims at analyzing the wheat market changes and explaining the emergence of the wheat-producing Farmer's Professional Association (FPA). In addition, a case study is shown clarifying the mechanism and role of wheat-producing Farmers Professional Associations for both wheat- processing corporations and small-scale farmers.

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This paper clarifies the directions and difficulties associated with a tourism university established for the purpose of human resources development in agricultural and mountainous areas all over the country. The paper reports on a case study of the Kyushu Tourism University and the Kyushu-Kumano Chiiki-tsukuri Gakko. The main conclusions of this paper summarized as follows. First, the tourism university is considered to have played a large role in the human resources development which led to "learning" and "exchange" tourism in the activation of agricultural and mountainous areas. Second, the biggest problematic area is reservation of operational expenses. The paper concludes that administrative support is required in order to consider the operation of a tourism university as an continuing approach.

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Through a comparison of the employment status of the farmers who lend out their farmland and the farmers who continued engaging in farm work, this paper examined the formational conditions of a stable land supply system. The conclusions are based on questionnaire surveys of farmers in China's Anhui Province, a main grain production area. The results can be summarized as follows. Due to the labor shifting from agricultural activities to non-agricultural activities, land rights movements are increasing sharply. Moreover, land rights policy is playing an important role in approval of the land rights movement. However, the contribution of this policy is not sustainable. The reason is that the land rights movement is depending primarily on the household earning and consumption conditions of rural families. The families that have household members who are elderly or employed in the non-agricultural activity can act as a stable land supplier and enable a stable land supply system. On the other hand, the members who are employed in a short-term circumstance, characterized by movement into and out of farm labor, cannot act as a stable land supplier.

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This paper describes the results of a questionnaire-based survey that explores the impact of the final price strategy on reducing food waste in franchised convenience stores. The questionnaire survey for the franchisees was carried out in December 2010. Responses were received from 78 stores, of which 61 stores (Group 1) were operating final price strategies, and 17 stores (Group 2) were not. To examine the effects of final price strategy on reducing food waste, we compared waste food value per day in both store groups. For Group 1 stores, the average value of food waste per day was 6,240JPY (1.14% of daily total sales). For Group 2 stores, the average value of food waste per day was 15,563JPY (2.92% of daily total sales). Therefore, the final price strategy has a positive effect toward reducing food waste in franchised convenience stores.

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The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the supply and demand of buckwheat, consider the procurement and sales patterns of millers who play important role in the distribution system, and identify the problems of buckwheat distribution. The total consumption of buckwheat in Japan is about 120,000 tons per year, with imported buckwheat accounting for 80 percent of domestic supply. But it is becoming difficult to import under stable conditions inexpensive buckwheat as before. Therefore, production of buckwheat in Japan has been increasing little by little since the second half of the 1970s. However, the unit crop of buckwheat is very low and unstable: therefore, wholesale prices of buckwheat are also very unstable. As for the buckwheat milling industry, while a large share is occupied by a small number of large-scale enterprises, many small-scale enterprises do exist. The market price of buckwheat is decided by the negotiated transaction of sender and miller. In that case, dealings between agricultural cooperatives in Hokkaido and large-scale millers in the rest of Japan yield a national index price. Although the price of buckwheat has been falling sharply recently, millers need to show trading conditions from a mid- and long-term viewpoint.

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