Latest news with #Asano
Yomiuri Shimbun
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Advance Payments for 2025 Rice Foretell Rising Prices; Big Buyers Moving Early; Farmers Spurred to Grow More
The Yomiuri Shimbun A farmer plants rice in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, in April. The planting of rice to be harvested in 2025 is getting into full swing, but despite an increase in the land area for production this year, the grain's retail price looks set to remain high. Japan Agriculture Cooperatives (JA), which buys and collects rice; major restaurant chains; and other entities have already started moves to buy rice before it is harvested later this year. JA branches across Japan have noticeably increased above last year's level their provisional payments to producers based on the estimated value of new rice, so the price of rice grown in 2025 could remain stubbornly high. On May 9, a buyer at the product department in charge of procuring rice for Yoshinoya Holdings Co., visited a rice farmer in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture. Asano had a request for the farmer, from whom the major beef-bowl restaurant chain operator had been directly purchasing rice since about 10 years ago, without going through JA or similar organizations. 'Are there any other farmers you could possibly introduce me to?' he asked. As well as seeking an introduction to potential new business partners, he also urged the farmer to increase rice production. Yoshinoya Holdings, which uses about 25,000 tons of rice annually, ran into trouble last year when supplies from wholesalers slowed. In a sweeping bid to secure a stable rice supply, Yoshinoya Holdings plans to increase direct purchases of rice grown in 2025 from farmers and is reaching out to production areas in which it previously conducted little business, such as Kyushu and the Chugoku region. Zensho Holdings Co., which operates the Sukiya beef-bowl restaurant chain, also plans to buy more rice directly from farmers. JA taking action JA, whose branches buy about 40% of all rice for use as a staple food from farmers, also is bolstering its efforts to lock in supplies of the grain. 'Rice for use as a staple food' refers to rice that is eaten as rice, as opposed to rice that is consumed after being processed into other products, such as sake or rice crackers. JA branches typically announce the amount of the provisional payments they will make to rice growers around summer. But this year, the timing of the announcement has been brought forward to around spring, and these payments are higher than they were for rice grown in 2024. Niigata Prefecture boasts the highest rice production volume in Japan. The National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (Zen-Noh) Niigata has told farmers it plans to set the minimum provisional payment for 60 kilograms of 2025 Koshihikari rice at ¥6,000 above the amount offered for the same rice grown in 2024. Fukui Prefectural Agricultural Cooperative also has compiled a plan to hike the guaranteed minimum amount paid to farmers by ¥4,800. An official of the cooperative explained that this increase was to ensure farmers 'could produce rice with peace of mind' at a time when the costs of materials and fuel were climbing. However, a source at JA suggested another reason was at play. 'If we don't increase the provisional payments, we won't be able to collect enough rice,' the source told The Yomiuri Shimbun. A final decision on the amount of the provisional payments will be made in around summer. It is possible that this amount could increase further, depending on the circumstances. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Taku Eto has acknowledged that bumping up the provisional payments could have a flow-on effect. 'Of course, this will have an impact on the price of 2025 rice that hits the market,' Eto said at a press conference after a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. Farmers keen to grow rice The relative trading price, or wholesale price, for 60 kilograms of 2024 rice on average across all brands, from the time it reached the market until March this year, was ¥24,500. This figure marked a record high. The desire of farmers to grow rice is rising as a result of the higher prices. According to the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, the total land area cultivated for rice for use as a staple food as of the end of January was expected to reach 1.282 million hectares, an increase of 23,000 hectares, or 1.8%, from the previous year. Farmers in 19 prefectures, including Niigata and Hokkaido, intend to boost production, and 2025 will register the largest increase in land set aside for growing staple rice since the system for reducing rice paddy land — a policy introduced in the 1970s to curb overproduction and keep prices from falling too low — was abolished in 2018.
Daily Mirror
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Ex-Arsenal star eyes Real Madrid shock after Prem stint lasted just three days
EXCLUSIVE: Japanese international forward Takuma Asano never got the chance to make his debut for Arsenal but rebuilt his career in Germany before moving to La Liga with Mallorca Takuma Asano is determined to cause a shock against Real Madrid with his RCD Mallorca team on Wednesday, but in a different timeline he might have faced Los Blancos this season while wearing a different shade of red. The Japan forward joined Arsenal in 2016, at the age of just 21, but work permit issues meant he left without playing a single minute for the Gunners. Now 30, Asano - who scored a memorable winner for Japan against Germany at the 2022 World Cup - hasn't let that stop him getting to the top. He played more than 100 times in the Bundesliga, and has added more than 20 La Liga outings this season, joining a proud tradition of Japanese players to represent Mallorca over the years. "I think every experience makes me [who I am] now and I always look to the future and what I want to be as a player," Asano tells Mirror Football. "But I need to focus on now, at the moment, always, and I try to be professional at every moment. Every experience like that makes it for me." Mallorca can keep their European push alive with a result against Madrid. More than 20 years have passed since they last qualified for a UEFA competition, but things have been picking up under an American ownership group including former Premier League star Stu Holden. They reached the final of the Copa del Rey last season, losing to Athletic Club on penalties, but have their fate in their hands when it comes to European qualification this term. A final day trip to Rayo Vallecano could end up being a straight shoot-out for a Conference League slot, but Asano is taking it one game at a time. "For me, every game is the same," he says. "I know the next game is against Real Madrid and it is of course a difficult game, it's really not easy for us. But on the other hand we have a possibility to win if we play at 100 percent, if we can play well. "We just need to focus about us playing 100 percent, doing what we can do. I don't care about the next game after Real Madrid, I just need to focus against Real Madrid. After that it's the same." Madrid themselves are coming off a 4-3 defeat in El Clasico, with Asano impressed by the high level shown by both sides. Carlo Ancelotti's side weren't able to do the same against Asano's old employers Arsenal in the Champions League, though, falling to a 5-1 aggregate defeat. Asano's own time at Arsenal was, regrettably, very brief. Even so, his flying visit to North London taught him a great deal about where he stood as a player at the age of 21, and gave him the motivation to make the most of his opportunity in Europe. "I was in Arsenal for three days or something like that, to sign the contract and then to say hello to everyone," he recalls. "I trained just one day in Arsenal and after that I went to Stuttgart, I couldn't get a permit for England. It was unlucky for me but everything is connected to [where i am] now. "Honestly, I wanted to play for Arsenal but I couldn't, but it was a good experience for me. I could look at a top team, the atmosphere, the stadium, everything. It was a really good experience and also makes me what I am. "In that time I was 21 years old and I saw stars, everyone is a star at Arsenal, you know. I remember I was standing alone and Alexis Sanchez came to me. "He didn't say anything to me but we passed each other. I also couldn't speak English, I didn't know any words, but just to pass with Alexis Sanchez was also a good experience for me and I always talk about that to my friends and my family." Asano feels he has settled well in Mallorca, despite missing games through injury, but is out to improve on his return of two goals so far this term. He has kept up a tradition of Japanese players plying their trade in Palma, with Yoshito Okubo and Akihiro Ienaga among them, but the biggest name is current international star Take Kubo. Kubo had a memorable season on loan from Real Madrid as a teenager in the 2019-20 season, standing out in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to stave off relegation. And the 23-year-old - now at Real Sociedad - reached out to his international team-mate over the summer. "I think a lot of Japanese people know about Mallorca, I don't know [if it's] for me!" Asano says with a smile. "When I came to Mallorca, Take gave me a message and he said if I had any questions I can come to him, [told me to] enjoy my life. Take is a good guy. But I haven't asked him anything yet, I'm good in Mallorca!" There's one thing that made it very easy for Asano to settle at his new club. "It's biggest thing is the weather," he says without hesitation. "I feel really happy every day in Mallorca because of the weather, but I didn't know about that, the weather making the mentality. "When I was in Germany, almost every day it was cloudy or raining. We tried to keep good mentality, it was normal for me, but when I came here it felt different. "The people, also, everybody looks happy in Mallorca. That's why I also feel happy and have a good mentality to train and play games also. It connects to the next day, also, then the next day and the next day after that." Despite settling in well, he still has the target of adding to the two goals he scored in March. The quality of opposition shouldn't be an obstacle, though - even when it's Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. Asano has scored in two separate games for Japan against Germany - a winner in Qatar and an effort in a thumping 4-1 win in Wolfsburg which accelerated Hansi Flick's departure as manager. He was also on target in one of last season's most eye-catching Bundesliga results, helping Bochum beat Bayern Munich 3-2. When asked if Madrid might be easier to get at after their Clasico defeat, though, he laughs. "Yeah but I think it doesn't matter for Real Madrid - we just have to play at 100 percent to win" Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Japan Times
29-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Times
‘Ravens': Tadanobu Asano plays troubled photographer with scapegrace charm
Japanese films often take photographers as their protagonists. The popularity of photography here as an art and hobby gives filmmakers a large potential audience for a photographer-centered story, be it fictional or biographical. It helps if the subject has some sort of international cachet. One such person was war photographer Taizo Ichinose, depicted in the Sho Igarashi biopic 'One Step on a Mine, It's All Over' (1999). Tadanobu Asano starred as the intrepid-but-doomed Ichinose, who was killed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in 1973. In Mark Gill's visually lush, superbly acted 'Ravens,' Asano portrays another real-life photographer, Masahisa Fukase, whose controversial and experimental work was widely exhibited and celebrated before his death in 2012. Though the film traces Fukase's life from his professional beginnings to the accident that ended his career, it is not a straightforward biopic. A British director and scriptwriter whose one previous feature was a 2017 biopic of the singer Morrissey, Gill subverts the realism of his story by having Fukase interact with a stylized, human-sized raven, voiced by Spanish thespian Jose Luis Ferrer. Speaking in English and serving as a kind of nemesis, the raven is reminiscent of Ryuk, the feathered shinigami (death god) of the 'Death Note' franchise. At one point, the creature even urges Fukase to kill — a suggestion he resists — but more often delivers portentous pronouncements ('Art illuminates the world') in a hollow voice of doom. Also undermining Fukase at every turn is his photographer father, played with acerbic authority by Kanji Furutachi (who at 56 is only five years older than Asano). Determined to have his eldest son take over his commercial photography studio in Hokkaido, he constantly berates and belittles the young Fukase for his artistic ambitions and otherwise behaves like the stereotypical stuck-in-his-ways Japanese movie dad. The real mystery is why Fukase keeps coming back home despite the never-ending grief from his father. More complex and compelling, as well as more central to Fukase's art, is Yoko Wanibe (Kumi Takiuchi), a free spirit who becomes his model and wife, though their marriage is troubled and ends acrimoniously. As played by Takiuchi, who has immersed herself in the character and her milieu to deliver an on-point, finely shaded performance, Wanibe at first performs for Fukase's camera with an inspired abandon. And though she mocks his pretensions to art, saying he pushes a button 1,000 times to get one good photo, she also finds him amusing and interesting until she tires of what she sees as his monstrous selfishness. She comes to feel she is just an object for his lens — no different from the pigs and ravens he photographs to such acclaim. Asano plays Fukase with scapegrace charm, interspersed with disturbing flashes of self-destructive madness, but he is also a typical man of his time who regards his wife more as a muse than a woman with a mind and life of her own. That said, his photographs, as seen in 'Ravens' both in their making and their final form on a gallery wall, still carry a revelatory punch. They capture beauty in ugliness, life in the presence of death (including the photographer's own face as he tries to drown himself) with a unique style and undeniable genius. If Gill's big black bird never made an appearance, Fukase's art would still speak loud and clear.
Fox News
04-03-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Popular travel destination breaks annual tourism record, sets new goal of 60M visitors
Visitors from far and wide have been traveling to Japan, with the country breaking a tourism record in 2024. Between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, projections indicated that nearly 33.4 million travelers visited Japan, according to the country's government site. Nearly three million Americans visited the country in 2024. Hokuto Asano, first secretary at the Embassy of Japan, told Fox News Digital that the number of visitors last year ended up reaching 36 million. Yukiyoshi Noguchi, who is the counselor at the embassy, said 2024 was declared the "U.S.-Japan Tourism Year" by both governments. "So last year, in 2024, we received almost 3 million Americans in Japan, which was a record high," said Noguchi. Asano shared that Japan has a plan to nearly double visitors in the next five years. "In 2030, we want the goal to [reach] 60 million people. … We will make an effort to increase [and] welcome more tourists from international countries. So that's why we decided to invest in the local area. Other than Kyoto, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Osaka, we hope to encourage tourist[s] to visit these destinations," said Asano. Thirty percent of visitors said they experienced overcrowding at popular spots, according to a Japan Tourism Board Foundation and the Development Bank of Japan report. Japan is known for its hot springs (onsens) and bathing facilities surrounded by inns, drawing tourists from around the world. Many of Japan's onsen towns have imposed so-called bathing taxes, Fox News Digital reported. "Many local governments in Japan [are] thinking about introducing a tourism tax. This is because many tourists visit there, but they don't have … a public toilet for tourists or some didn't have enough infrastructure for the tourists," said Asano. "So they need to invest in infrastructure. That's why they [are] thinking to increase these taxes, that tax income makes more comfortable or convenient for the tourists. I think this trend will continue," Asano added. "In Japan or especially in Kyoto, there is a big debate for overtourism. So, to make a solution for overtourism, maybe taxation could be [the] option," said Noguchi. Noguchi said Americans would enjoy visiting Japan during spring. "I recommend visiting Japan in spring because there [are] very beautiful cherry blossoms growing in Japan … there [were] cherry blossoms gifted from Tokyo to Washington, D.C., in 1912. So American people will enjoy the genuine cherry blossoms in Japan," said Noguchi. Asano said traditional culture involving Buddhist and Shinto religions is attracting many tourists. Characters like Hello Kitty, which is popular in modern Japanese culture, are also drawing travelers to the country, Asano added.
Japan Times
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Times
‘Kanasando': Heartwarming homecoming inspires a change of heart
Actors playing characters far older and more decrepit than their real-life selves are common enough in film history. Yasujiro Ozu's favored actor Chishu Ryu made a career of it, playing middle-aged fathers from when he was in his 20s. Still, seeing the 51-year-old Tadanobu Asano as the dementia-afflicted dad of an adult daughter in Toshiyuki Teruya's heartwarming 'Kanasando' was a shock. Asano rose to international stardom about two decades ago playing volatile, dangerous characters, a prime example being his psychotic gangster in Takashi Miike's 2001 horror 'Ichi the Killer.' His scheming samurai warlord in the hit FX series 'Shogun' also fits this mold. In his latest feature, Teruya (whose stage name as a comedian and actor is Gori), is only acknowledging the sad fact that dementia can strike even vital types like Asano's character. A former construction company boss living on Iejima island in Okinawa Prefecture, Satoru (Asano) was once a heavy drinker, serial philanderer and possessor of a full head of hair. But when his estranged daughter Mika (Ruka Matsuda) sees him after a gap of seven years, he is in a hospital bed on palliative care and mistakes her for his now dead wife Machiko (Keiko Horiuchi).
