This study analyzed the characteristics of procurement and sales behavior of the vendors supplying fruit and vegetables to food service companies in Korea. Fruit and vegetable vendors are classified into dispersion wholesale vendors and assembling wholesale vendors. Dispersion wholesale vendors procure various items from many secondary wholesalers in wholesale markets and sell to many food service companies with functions of a wide assortment, processing and distribution. They distribute the risk of price fluctuations by handling various items. Assembling wholesale vendors procure fruit and vegetables mainly from producers and their associations and divide the quantities with various standards to sell to food service companies and wholesale markets. But, because of the risk for the lack of quantities derived from contract cancellation, vendors take count of large-scale producer associations and alleviate the risk through support to producers and assembling from wider area.
These two types of vendors exist in the distribution process with the separate functions. That is, dispersion wholesale vendors focus on securing a wide assortment and some replacement of central kitchen and delivery center sales through a variety of sales channel food service companies, while assembling wholesale vendors focus on securing a wide assortment and quantities by procurement from many producers and their cooperatives with the quantity adjustment and disposal of unnecessary quantities. With these functions, it is possible for food service companies to procure fruit and vegetables through these vendors more efficiently and at lower risks than direct procurements from wholesale markets and producers, including their associations.

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This paper focuses on the case of Chinese dispatch Company A (Shandong, Qingdao) and Company B (Jiangsu, Nantong), and analyzing the relations between dispatch companies and the local government, the expenses and profit structures of dispatch companies, and the recent decrease of the number of trainees being sent Japan. According to this research, the issue of the decreasing number of trainees from China to Japan is related to the problems of the cost-effectiveness of dispatching trainees. In other words, the amount of income for several years for local farmers was equivalent to the expenses required for various procedures and education before dispatch. The high cost of procedures for trainee dispatch appears to be related to connections between dispatch firms and local governments, expensive deposits to the government, and the monopoly of the dispatch enterprise.

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This paper examines the business expansion and problems with product manufacturing and customer service experienced by a Japanese fertilizer company in China. The case company makes a point of specifying the ratios of each fertilizer component on the packaging. Therefore, in the manufacturing process, the case company demands that factory workers measure and mix the components with strict adherence to the ratios provided. At the sales promotion meeting and technical seminar held at each retail store, the case company explains the new products and demonstrates the effective fertilization method. The product differentiation strategy and an enhancement of the incentives strategy for customers and employees in the case company may help solve the environmental problems identified by the Chinese government.

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This paper clarifies how those involved in the fisheries and related industries in Kyush, Japan, face problems and consider their prospects and future directions. Regardless the type of fisheries and related business, there has been a decline, with fisheries communities and coastal areas suffering from a state of declining economic conditions and a sharp reduction of population. Under such circumstances, the concrete measures considered by stakeholders for revitalizing the fisheries sector is discussed. From the viewpoint of a food system, the authors group the stakeholders into three groups: upper-stream, middle-stream, and down-stream. During the period from 2013 to 2014, 50 selected industry stakeholders representing this groping were interviewed with semi-structure questionnaires and group discussion. From this survey the various problems identified were classified in the up-middle-down stream categories. This paper analyzes the interrelation between up-middle-down streams of the fisheries industry, and proposes future directions for development.

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Governments try to implement sixth sector industrialization (e.g., processing, sales, and other business undertaken integrally by agricultural, forestry, and fishery businesses to increase the added value of products) to promote sustained development of agriculture through increasing agricultural income. In this study, we examine the efforts toward sixth sector industrialization as conducted by agricultural management entities in Ehime Prefecture that have received prefectural government approval for project proposal. The results show that even though there were positive results evident through increased sales, in looking at profitability, there is room for improved management. In the years to come, financing and the associated increased costs such as for labor, capital expenditure, and depreciation as well as a review of the cost structure, will present significant management challenges in continuing to build businesses in a sustainable and stable manner. In this study, after first clarifying those management challenges available to quickly and efficiently push forward the financing that the management entities worked on to expand market size in implementing sixth sector industrialization, we also considered policies for environmental maintenance directed towards the necessary business solutions.

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[in Japanese]

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タイにおける契約農業による日本米生産は精米企業の経営に依存している。精米企業は生産者に対して生産資材や資金をパッケージにして提供するのが一般的だが、生産者は肥料や農薬を別のルートから購入することも可能である。これが生産者の間に収入・費用状況の違いを生み出す。本研究の目的は、契約農業下にあるジャポニカ米生産者の経済的特徴を分析することである。事例の対象は、チェンライ県ウイアング・パオ郡においてサンプリング手法に基づいて抽出したジャポニカ米生産を行う生産者、その内訳は６人の集荷業者（生産者を兼ねる）、30人の農業者である。ジャポニカ米生産を行う集荷業者と農業者との間には経済構造に大きな違いがあった。生産者の所得は生産費（特に肥料）、販売価格、収量によって違ってくる。精米企業の普及サービスによって生産費が上昇することもあるが、収量増によって収入が増えることもある。事例分析によって、ジャポニカ米の契約栽培は生産者の所得を増やすのに有効であることが明らかとなった。

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This paper analyzes selected cases of the guest-house business (minpaku) sector, which is regarded as an experience-based educational tour, and identifies the patterns used by tour operators in the local community. Fields survey were conducted in Iejima (Okinawa prefecture), Ajimu (Oita prefecture), and Akiota and Osakikamijima (Hiroshima prefecture) during the period from July to October 2014. The authors researched the relationship between the organizational operation of minpaku and the social-economic conditions of the selected cases. It was found that socio-economic conditions had a positive impact on the purpose of operation, organizational form of operation, and changes in operation among minpaku tour operators. Findings indicate that tour operators should harmonize with participating farmers, taking into account local conditions and requirements for the sustainable development of minpaku.

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