Taiwan bananas target Japanese children, Taiwan and Japan sign memorandum, Ibaraki to purchase 20,000

Cultivating Japanese consumers, starting with the little ones! On July 24, the Agriculture and Food Agency of the Council of Agriculture signed a "Memorandum of Cooperation on Strengthening Dietary and Cultural Exchange and Development" with Kasama City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Starting November 1 of this year (108th year of the Republic of China), Kasama City, Mito City and Oarai Town in Ibaraki Prefecture will jointly purchase 20,000 Taiwan bananas (about 3 metric tons or more) as fruit for elementary and junior high school nutritional lunches, and on the first day of school they will cook Taiwan braised pork rice for the students, letting the children experience fruit and dietary culture from Taiwan.

Through Kasama City, promote Taiwan agricultural products to athletes from various countries at next year's Tokyo Olympics

Yamaguchi Nobuki stated that Taiwan bananas and mangoes are already available at the large-scale Japanese supermarket chain "Kasumi," and Kasama City will hold a series of banana marketing activities in early November this year, launching taste tests and promotional short films, and coordinating sales with the local seasonal event "Kasama Chrysanthemum Festival."

In addition to the Kasumi chain, Taiwan agricultural products are also sold at Shizuoka Railway supermarkets and Osakaya supermarket chain stores. As for Japan purchasing Taiwan bananas to supply Japanese schoolchildren's lunch fruit, in addition to Kasama City, Mito City and Oarai Town in Ibaraki Prefecture which signed this cooperation, cooperation with Gotemba City, Shizuoka Prefecture began in the 105th year of the Republic of China and continues to this day; starting from the 107th year, Toyama Prefecture and Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan also followed suit in purchasing Taiwan bananas to supply group meals at elementary and junior high schools within their jurisdictions. This time, Kasama City took the initiative to contact the agency to express its intention to follow the model of Toyama Prefecture last year.

Agriculture and Food Agency Director-General Hu Chung-yi stated that the Ibaraki Prefectural Assembly passed a proposal in March last year, and Kasama City established an office in Taiwan, opening exchanges between Taiwan and Ibaraki Prefecture and Kasama City. At next year's 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Kasama City is one of the venues for the Olympic golf competition, and through this cooperation, there will also be an opportunity to promote Taiwan agricultural products to athletes from various countries during the Tokyo Olympics.

Frequent interactions between Taiwan and Ibaraki, exchanging experience in agriculture and regional revitalization

Hu Chung-yi stated that Ibaraki Prefecture is quite rich in agricultural, fishery and livestock products, and its local cultural landscape and art are well worth visiting. One can see many crops and farmland landscapes, and experience agricultural culture. Over the past four years, Taiwan has led delegations to Kasama City multiple times to observe food and agriculture education, leisure agriculture, regional revitalization, etc. Taiwan has also invited Mayor Yamaguchi Nobuki to come to Taiwan to share experiences in regional revitalization.

Hu Chung-yi explained that for the older generation of Japanese, especially those born before the war and now around fifty or sixty years old, Taiwan bananas were a very precious food that could only be eaten when sick, on excursions, or at sports days. Therefore, we also want today's Japanese children to know that Taiwan bananas are delicious. Taiwan is a tropical country and Japan is a temperate and subtropical country, so the types of crops do not conflict. The market is now open, and today is the first step in exchange. In the future, we also hope to have more industrial and cultural exchanges with Kasama City, and we especially hope these exchanges can be institutionalized and continue as long-term cooperation, and expand to other prefectures and cities in Japan.

Currently Taiwan has not yet lifted its ban on agricultural products from Ibaraki Prefecture. Yamaguchi Nobuki emphasized that Ibaraki Prefecture has very accurate information on food safety and can prove the safety of food. He also hopes that in the future, after Taiwan confirms there are no concerns about Ibaraki Prefecture's environment and agricultural product testing, it can accept Ibaraki Prefecture's agricultural products with peace of mind. As the mayor of Kasama, he only eats local ingredients, and being able to stand here in good health is the best proof of food safety.

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