[in Japanese]

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In this paper, we analyzed the demand for dry shiitake mushrooms on the basis of their usage. Following the analysis, we can state the following.
1. The Japanese dry shiitake mushroom and Chinese dry shiitake mushroom are found to be neither substitutional nor complementary, probably because their usage patterns are different.
2. Japanese dry shiitake mushrooms meant for domestic consumption and those meant for export are sometimes used substitutionally and sometimes complementarily. When the mushrooms had similar forms, colors, and gloss were harvested around the same time and in particular, were more or less similarly priced, they were used substitutionally. Further, when both the sizes and the prices of the mushrooms were similar, they were used complementarily.

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The objective of this paper is to gain a better understanding of recent household food consumption patterns in Japan by focusing on the effects of family scale and taste for food as well as the price and income responses. The price and expenditure elasticities as well as the scale coefficient and biased measures of changes in taste in household food consumption are estimated using the linear-approximated, almost ideal demand system. The system is applied to the 1980–2007 period using the time series of cross-sectional family budget data by age group of household head. The main findings from the empirical results of this study imply that the household food consumption has mostly inelastic price and expenditure responses, and the effect of a change in taste for food strongly depends on the age of household head. In addition, the effect of family scale in household food consumption is also investigated.

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Using the linearized AIDS model, this paper analyzed the Japanese householdfs demand for food, non-food, and leisure products for the years from 1970–2006, in order to estimate the growth in the outsourcing of meals. The food products were classified into restaurant and take-away food and home-cooked food, foodstuff used in home-cooked meals excluding vegetables, and fresh vegetables. Fresh vegetables were further grouped into two categories: vegetables that are roots and/or are used in traditional dishes, which require more time for cooking, and vegetables that are considered to be healthy by consumers and/or are used in Western dishes, which require less time for cooking. The results showed that a change in the wage rate resulted in a little more elastic negative change in demand for the former vegetable group than the latter group. It also had a negative effect on the demand for the foodstuff used in home-cooked food, but not on restaurant and take-away food and home-cooked food. Moreover, changes in consumer taste led to a negative shift in the demand for the vegetable group excluding fresh vegetables and foodstuff, but a positive shift in demand for fresh vegetables, restaurant and take-away food, and home-cooked food.

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The focus of this essay is to outline the issue of grassland desertification in Inner Mongolia, and discuss the recent changes in the region’s sheep-grazing zone management procedures that were preceded by some revisions in the region’s grassland preservation policies.
One of the important causes of the desertification of the Inner Mongolian grasslands is the decades of overgrazing, which, in turn, has led to major revisions of the regional policies for resource conservation. Recently, it has been observed that grassland desertification and the consequential preservation policies have continuously hindered sustainable development of the traditional pasturage business. Under this circumstance, in order to prevent the further decline of the pasturage business, the regional government and analysts are currently laboring to find a solution to regulate the use of grasslands to control both the damage to the ecosystem (i.e., soil erosion) and pasturage production.
The case study introduced here is about the XiLingol grasslands area and can serve as an excellent example of this issue. We also consider the future scenario for the pasturage business in Inner Mongolia.

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In order to investigate the structure of attitudes toward forests among the residents of the southern watershed region of Shiga Prefecture, a questionnaire survey was conducted. By examining the relationships among the responses, the following issues were clarified: the determinants of one’s familiarity with forests, one’s propensity to participate in forest volunteering, one’s propensity to choose houses built from domestic wood, and how people perceive the functions of forests. An individual’s age was found to be an important factor affecting his/her relationships with forests. Diversities regarding expectations toward the functions of forests were identified among different age groups and residents of different localities.

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Controlling the population of a specific animal has become one of the most important managing strategies to ensure the sustainability of agriculture/forestry development.
In this case study, we overview recent initiatives related to Yezo deer management in Hokkaido, Japan. For instance, adaptive management, which has been adopted in Hokkaido since 1998, aims to protect Yezo deer from extinction by managing their population. Despite this objective of the management policy, they have not yet succeeded in controlling the overpopulation that has been causing serious damage to agricultural lands and forests.
In Hokkaido, since 1995, they constructed about 3,300 km of fences to keep deer out of agriculture/ forestry lands. At the same time, they decided to catch deer and make the best use of their meat. However, the number of hunters in Hokkaido is decreasing, and it is not easy to catch enough deer to control their population.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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This article clarifies the buying pattern and food consciousness of consumers based on the number of vegetables purchased, by utilizing the consumer monitor records of food purchase and questionnaires.
1. There is a large difference of between 2 to 26 items of vegetables purchased in one week between various monitors. However, there was no difference in the working status, family income, or family composition of the monitors.
2. When comparing the larger number (over 10 items per week) of purchase monitors and the lesser number (less then 10 items a week) of monitors, there was no difference in the frequency of purchase or the type of store they purchased the food at.
3. The monitors who purchased a larger number of items were more enthusiastic about cooking, but the monitors who purchased lesser number of items leaned towards the opposite end.

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This article analyzes the effects of food education on cooking methods of luncheons at primary schools and that of food and agriculture education on children through questionnaires. The main conclusions were as follows:
1. Schools where luncheons are cooked in-house or schools that were specified as model schools for food and agriculture education influenced a schoolchild’s knowledge about food and agriculture. However, no effects were observed in their actions and intentions.
2. Experience of growing vegetables at home or experience with agriculture on trips affects a schoolchild’s knowledge, actions, and intentions about food and agriculture.
3. In order to promote food and agriculture education, it would be effective to create an environment where students can feel the connection between their food and agriculture.

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The present article defines food culture as a local brand after having analyzed its current conditions, problems, and formation factors. The local brand of food culture implies that “both the enterprise and consumer form a local brand by sympathizing with the local image that comprises nature, history, culture, industry, and so on.” This study focused on the activity that was not confined to the production of “one piece of article” such as a perishable or processed food item that had been adopted in the local brand of the conventional food culture. This study considered the example of the formation process in which “Hishio,” fermentation salting specific to Nara, became a local brand of food culture. It was revealed that the NPO, which did not have any specific interests, played an important role in forming the local brand of food culture.

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The purpose of this paper is to measure the external costs in a land improvement project involving paddy fields in Hokkaido, Japan. We calculated the environmental loads emitted by fossil fuels and construction materials in the construction stage. We also computed the decreasing environmental loads in the cultivation stage because such a land improvement project has the effect of reducing the fossil fuel consumption of agricultural machines. The environmental loads calculated in this paper were converted into external costs using LIME (Life-cycle Impact assessment Method based on Endpoint modeling).

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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Until recently, there has been no rice exchange in the California rice industry.
It was only in 1999 the CRE (California Rice Exchange) established an online means whereby people could engage in rice exchange. As a result, buyers and sellers could deal in paddy through the Internet. Prior to that, sellers could trade with buyers only by negotiating transactions. However, buyers could get cash earlier than the negotiated transaction in favor of CRE. Besides, a new distribution route of rice mills closely related to the CRE was developed. Thus, members of FRC (Farmer’s Rice Cooperative) could sell paddy through the CRE. As CRE dose paper work for paddy trade, sellers and buyers can deal with it conveniently. Now, buyers and sellers in California negotiate transactions according to the benchmark of paddy price on the Internet (i.e., online paddy exchange) by CRE. Thus, it is evident that the CRE functions as medium rice and short rice for rice exchange.

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