To cope with the financial crises of agricultural cooperatives, the merger of small agricultural cooperative primary societies has been promoted in Japan. Moreover, huge amalgamation of primary societies to one organizational unit at the prefectural level has been increasing since 1992. This means that the traditional three-tiered structure of Japanese agricultural cooperatives is going to change into a two-tiered structure. We investigated three spearhead cases; the JA Nara, the JA Kagawa and the JA Tottori in the western part of Japan, to clarify the features and problems facing two-tiered agricultural cooperatives. We then chose a primary society of an agricultural cooperative primary society in Tottori Prefecture to examine the affect of amalgamation. The results of our research are summarized as follows: One of the important points is how the functions of former prefectural level cooperative are reorganized in the new amalgamated agricultural cooperative. In the case of Nara Prefecture, the JA Nara became a huge agricultural cooperative primary society absorbing full functions of prefectural cooperatives covering the whole of Nara prefecture. In the case of Kagawa prefecture, on the other hand, the organizations and functions of the former prefectural federations of cooperatives remain despite the prefectural level amalgamation has accomplished in 2000; this because two agricultural cooperative primary societies have not joined the prefectural cooperative yet. We observed the functions and agricultural cooperative in Tottori Prefecture after the merger of small cooperative have not been reorganized and rearranged sufficiently to meet the demand of individual member farmers. The reason is that the linkage between former prefectural cooperatives and the primary societies were too complicated to reallocate. More time will be required to solve these problems.

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Zen-Noh (National Federation of Agricultural Co-operative Associations) is Japan's federation of agricultural co-operatives. The aim of the Zen-Noh safety system concerns not only development of a means of sales of agri- products but also development of a new infrastructure in agricultural production, processing, marketing and consumption. The Zen-Noh system represents a new way by which domestic farmers can gain the trust of domestic consumers. There are three aims of the Zen-Noh safety system: The first aim concerns gaining the trust of consumers. We guarantee the safety of domestic agricultural products through inspection and certification of the agricultural production process. Recently, concerns over food quality has become a common theme. The Zen-Noh safety system is just like the upcoming French trace-ability system. We will disclose all information about agricultural production, processing, and marketing to consumers. If consumers want information about vegetables available in a shopping center, the Zen-Noh safety system can give information regarding how the product was grown and how it was delivered. In addition, we can provide information about fertilizer and pesticide use based on written documents provided by the farmer and analysis data regarding taste and nutrition. The second aim concerns provision of evidence of producer's innocence in production. Recently there have been increasing problems of dioxins, cadmium, O-157 in food products. As such factors are often beyond control of the individual farmer, they can not ensure stable agricultural management. While making their own risk management strategies, farmers often have no way to prove their agricultural products are safe. As such cases will increase in the future, domestic farmers can protect their own management by Zen-Noh safety system. The third aim concerns the realization of agriculture without environmental pollution. The activities of large-scale conventional farmers will be more important than those of minority organic farmers. If conventional farmers want to participate in the Zen-Noh safety system, we have to establish agreements with customers regarding agricultural production plans. Such a plan, while not totally organic, must reduce the pressure on nature in accordance with economic conditions. A recyclable (no-impact) agriculture system is the ultimate position of Zen-Noh safety system. Livestock and daily farmers make manure and rice and vegetable farmers use it within the same area. The Zen-Noh safety system makes arrangements with supermarkets and cooperatives so that consumers can join the recycling system by purchasing both types of agri-products. The Zen-Noh safety system promotes exchange between farmers and consumers. Consumers participate in checking nature systems, assessing flora fauna in a fixed area. Consumers can thus confirm the new production plan as a means to reduce environmental pollution themselves. The Zen-Noh safety system will create new agricultural cooperative activity in the 21st century.

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Unlike the broiler industry, full scale contracts did not develop in the hog industry until the mid-90s. It is thought that the remarkable differences in production technology between individual hog operations restricted expansion of contract production. However, under the rapid change of business environments induced by technological innovations, contract production and marketing contracts were aggressively introduced and they present an opportunity to promote vertical coordination. Because large-scale operations hold contract productions separately from small-medium operations, vertical coordination in the pork industry seems to be different from that of the broiler industry. Moreover, such vertical coordination has spread mainly in the area of new production and has not developed in the traditional hog production areas of the corn-belt area until recently. However, packers have purchased large-scale operations and are strongly involved in hog production directly in recent years. Thus it can be said that the hog industry is approaching the broiler, in that it is vertically integrated through contract production directly by packers. In particular, the M&A by the new packers like Smithfield Foods is rapidly developing. On the other hand, traditional hog production areas like Iowa try to prevent packers from being involved in hog production with state laws like the Corporate Farming Law, but packers are about to promote vertical coordination avoiding the restriction introduced by the law.

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[in Japanese]

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The Wholesale Market has played an important role in the national wholesale market. However, a structural change occurred in the domestic Central Wholesale Market after the middle of the 1980s. This is a retreat of the minor-scale Central Wholesale Market accompanied by the concentration of the large-scale Central Wholesale Market. As for the wholesaler and the secondary wholesaler of the minor-scale Central Wholesale Market, management is worsening under this influence. A small-scale Central Wholesale Market (S city Central Wholesale Market) was observed, and it set the clarification of management as the purpose of this paper. Analysis added examination from both sides of profitability, capital productivity, and capital composition using main indexes. The analysis result is shown and the problem is pointed out through management index analysis.

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As we take a growing interest in organic farm products, those who make products must use wholesale market marketing channels, as well as other means, as was the case in the past. This paper takes up organic farming in Okayama Prefecture, focusing on the first recognized institution in the prefecture. In addition to analysis of production and distribution, while a role of recognition system is proved, the study undertakes the case of "Ochiai-town Yuki Siraumenokai" concerning the developmental condition of organic farming in regional agriculture. While the standard agricultural chemical recognition system in Okayama Prefecture is more severe than that of JAS (Japanese Agricultural Standard), what remains is the problem of notification and adjusting what JAS explained. Regarding development condition of organic farming in regional agriculture, three points are explained. First is the construction of a support in administration. Second is construction of what builds up inheritors and the relationship of cooperation as the problem the farmers ought to face. Third is that agricultural cooperatives discharge important duties on the development in regional agriculture.

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In Shiga prefecture, the development of large lease farms has advanced actively along with the establishment of rural community farming groups. Analysis was undertaken attempted on the basis of a questionnaire survey regarding the form of the large lease farms belonging to the group of Rice Crop Farms in Shiga prefecture in the development area of farming groups based on rural community. It became clear that many large lease farms are cooperative in the group conversion system assuring the managing areas of farming groups based on rural community. In addition, cases exist in which a large lease farm provides technical guidance to a farming group based on rural community, and the former participates in management of the latter. In other cases, a large lease farm and a farming group based on rural community accomplished the improvement of productivity by adjusting the mutual managing farmland. Thus, it is clear that large lease farms and farming groups based on rural community are closely related.

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This paper clarified the actual situation in the development of Japanese food enterprises in China based on research undertaken in Shandong Province in 2000. The results of the analysis are summarized as follows : 1) Japanese Food enterprises make inroads into China for the purpose of obtaining cheap labor. 2) Recently, Japanese Food enterprises have produced many value -added food products. Those products have changed gradually from frozen vegetables to frozen foods.

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Inspection and certification of organic farm products and organic foods in Japan was undertaken as of June 16, 2000. But there are several disadvantages for organic farmers. The first is the burden of cost for certification. The second is increased working hours for paper work and management. The third is the problem of buffer zones. If organic farmers have set up against these disadvantages, they should plan group-farming organizations. In addition, it is necessary to support organic farmers politically. The first such support is direct payment. The second is education programs for new entries to agriculture. The third is preparation for receiving new entries to agriculture and the adjustment for farmland utilization in rural communities. But it seems that it has been difficult to support organic farmers with a single policy because there has been financial difficulty in Japan of late. Therefore,it is important to build a support plan into present farm policy.

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Palm oil, products of which are marketed as being "environmentally friendly" in Japan, has rapidly gained popularity in the global oils and fats market. Malaysia, being the largest producer and exporter of palm oil in the world, has a central role in its growth. But little has been observed regarding the overall structure of palm oil the distribution and marketing process from upstream to downstream sectors. This paper examines the formation of the palm oil market in Malaysia, and explores the background of the emergent "global palm connection." In this paper, two analytical viewpoints are set up: (1) commodity chain analysis, and (2) an analysis of agribusiness capital. In particular, concentration/ centralization and vertical integration by agribusiness from farming to milling, refining and oleochemical sectors, and limits of such a strategy will be revealed.

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In Manchukuo [the Japanese Puppet State in Manchuria], the Rice Control Act was put into force in June 1939. This was a year earlier than enactment of the Rice Control Act in Japan, which was a near replica. Moreover, a high-ranking Japanese official was involved with the enactment. This suggests that the Rice Control Act in Manchukuo might have served as a trial run for the government's rice control program in Japan. The first aim of this paper is to analyze how and why the Rice Control Act was enacted in Manchukuo. Documents of the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry [MAFF] imply that Gon-ichi Kodaira, a high-ranking official in the MAFF, drafted the act to prevent the aggravation of the rice surplus problem in Japan due to an increase in rice production in Manchukoku. The second aim is to contrast the system of rice control in Manchukuo with the one in Japan. There were differences between the two systems because the main staple food was different. But the most important point was that merchants were excluded from the rice procurement process in both systems.

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