International Flower Expo Tokyo - IFEX 2008

Exhibit at Asia’s Largest Flower Trade Show

5th International Flower Expo Tokyo

Concurrently held with: 2nd International Garden & Exterior Expo Tokyo GARDEX 2008

Dates: October 30 – November 1, 2008 (Oct 30-31: 10:00 – 18:00; Nov 1, 2008: 10:00 – 18:00)

Venue : Makuhari Messe, Japan

Organized by Japan Floral Marketing Association (JFMA) and Reed Exhibitions Japan Ltd.

With annual gross sales of USD 10 billion (import value of cut flowers in 2006 is USD 228 million; Import volume of cut flowers in 2006 is 34,114 tons), Japan’s Flower Market is second largest in the world. Imports of cut flowers to Japan have been increasing steadily since 1997.

As a consequence of this market demand, IFEX has rapidly become established as Asia’s largest international trade show for the flower industry. Now, in its fifth year, IFEX is not only the gateway to the Japanese market, but also to the markets of Asia, including China, Korea and Taiwan.

Many exhibitors from all over the world are already taking advantage of IFEX to expand their business. It is your turn to tap into the huge Japanese and Asian Markets.

860 exhibitors will exhibit at IFEX 2008. 32.000 buyers will visit IFEX 2008.

IFEX 2007 Registered Visitor Breakdown:
Retailers : 10,969
Wholesalers : 2,391
Importers/exporters : 635
Auction Markets : 1,007
Growers/Breeders/Agricultural cooperatives : 3,288
Landscapers/Garden Design Offices : 3,419
Funeral Businesses : 307
Hotels/Wedding companies : 675
Flower schools/Designers : 1,906
Manufacturers/Flower Processing : 2,634
Governments : 423
Press : 338
Others : 919
International visitors : 1,010

Information in detail : www.ifex.jp

Murid SD belajar menanam padi ketika liburan musim panas

Sekolah Dasar Jepang biasa memberikan tugas libur musim panas dengan kegiatan mengembangkan pengetahuan sain seorang murid. Selama libur sekitar satu setengah bulan murid diberikan tugas sesuai dengan tingkatan kelasnya. Jenis tugas diberikan sesuai dengan kemampuan dan minatnya.

Gambar sebelah Fadiru mau berangkat sekolah. Anak ini duduk di kelas 5 SD Jepang Aburamen, Meguro-ku, Tokyo memperoleh tugas menanam padi. Padi ditanam di dalam ember bekas, bagian bawah tanpa lubang sehingga air tetap tergenang. Pada ember dibagian luar ditulis nama dan kelasnya. Padi ditanam di sekolah dan selama liburan musim panas ember yang telah ditanam padi tersebut dibawa kerumah.

Selain memelihara padi setiap hari Fadiru juga mengamati pertumbuhan padi tersebut. Memelihara dengan cara menyirami air ketika tanah akan mengering. Dia juga mengamati dan mencatat ketinggian pohon, perkembangan batang, daun, buah padi, akar dan sebagainya. Tugas kegiatan ini dilakukan dengan santai tanpa beban tetapi harus penuh tanggung jawab. Ketika musim liburan selesai dan kembali masuk sekolah, hasil pengamatan diserahkan kepada guru kelasnya.






Agar terkena sinar matahari, ember yang berisi tanaman padi disimpan di beranda luar rumahnya.

Tujuan kegiatan ini agar murid mengenal kegiatan bercocok tanam padi dan mengetahui proses produksi bahan makanan pokok orang Jepang.

Setiap hari mereka dididik selalu mengucapkan itadakimasu sebelum makan. Suatu ucapan syukur telah diberikan makanan, disana juga bermakna ucapan terimakasih terhadap petani yang telah memproduksi bahan makanan. Ketika selesai makan siang bersama di sekolah, guru mengontrol makanan murid yang tidak habis. Guru tidak bosan-bosan mendidik murid untuk selalu menghabiskan makanan yang telah dihidangkan dihadapan mereka. Apabila terdapat murid menyisakan makanan, guru menjelaskan betapa sulit dan lama untuk menghasilkan beras. Sehingga guru selalu menekankan kepada murid ketika makan agar tidak menyisakan satupun butir nasi, makanan harus dimakan habis. “Hormatilah dan hargailah petani yang telah memproduksi makanan !” tegas guru.

Kegiatan yang baik ini semoga dapat kita contoh untuk dimasukan dalam program (ekstra)kurikuler SD di negara agraris. Di negara tercinta ini, diharapkan dapat berkembang pesat jumlah anak-anak bangsa yang mencintai dunia pertanian, termotifasi belajar teknologi pertanian dan bercita-cita menggeluti dunia pertanian. Pada gilirannya bermunculan petani-petani muda yang tangguh siap untuk mendukung pencapaian swasembada pangan dalam pembangunan pertanian yang berkelanjutan.



Tanahnya agak mengering berlumut, batangnya masih tegak

























Tangkai padi tumbuh tidak sama, ada yang sudah merunduk ada yang masih tegak
























Daunnya sudah ada yang mulai mengering
























Teman-teman Fadiru dari SD Aburamen yang ikut menanam padi di sawah pertanian yang terletak di Higashi-Matsuyama shi. Ketika panen tiba mereka ikut memanen padi yang mereka tanam sendiri lalu dimasak menjadi Onigiri. Onigiri seperti ketupat tetapi berbentuk segitiga dibungkus dengan nori (rumput laut). Mereka menikmati hasil panenannya bersama-sama petani dengan mengucapkan itadakimasu sebelum memakannya sebagai tanda terimakasih kepada para petani. Dengan praktek lapang ini anak-anak SD sudah dididik bagaimana seharusnya kita menghormati profesi petani. Terimakasih Bapak-Ibu Tani yang telah bekerja keras sepanjang tahun untuk memproduksi makanan untuk kehidupan umat manusia di dunia.

Japan to evaluate foreign flu vaccine

Clinical trials of prepandemic flu vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) PLC will start in Japan next month, the company’s Japan unit said Thursday.

GSK K.K. plans to file an application with the health, Labor and Welfare Ministry possibly next year, for the vaccine’s adoption for the government’s stockpiling program.

Currently, all prepandemic vaccines stockpiled by the government are domestically developed. GSK’s vaccine would be the first foreign-made one to be stockpiled in Japan if approved.

The government has stored prepandemic flu vaccines for a bout 20 million people and plans to add vaccines for another 10 million.

Like domestically produced vaccines GSK’s vaccines was made from the H5N1 strain of bird flu virus, which has been spreading in Asia. But its vaccine has a unique immunity enhancing agent, GSK said.

The vaccine uses only a small amount of antigens, the company said, adding it has proved effective against viruses in other countries.

The European Union has already approved GSK’s vaccine, prompting some of its 27 member countries to stockpile it as a prepandemic vaccine.

The health ministry decided Wednesday to designate the vaccine as a pharmaceutical product for rare diseases, which are eligible for priority screening for government approval and development subsidies.

Source: Japan Times, August 29, 2008

CPI up 2.4%; biggest rise since 1992

Consumer price inflation grew 2.4 percent in July from a year earlier, the fastest rate of increase in more than 16 years, the government said Friday.

The nationwide consumer price index, which excluded volatile fresh food price, rose for 10th straight month to 103,4 against a base of 1000 for 2005. The rise was due to gasoline and utility price hikes and added to evidence that rising energy costs are weighing down the economy, the Internal Affairs and communications Ministry said in preliminary report. “I’m very concerned”, economic and fiscal policy minister Kaoru Yosano said after the release of the data, adding that the lack of wage hikes will only weaken domestic demand.

The minister also warned that also warned that the prices are expected to increase further as companies have yet to fully transfer rises in energy and materials costs onto product prices.

Excluding a one-year period during which consumer prices rose as a result of the April 1997 consumption tax hike, the headline reading was the fastest increase since June 1992, when the index expanded 2.5 percent. The rise was almost in line with the average market forecast of a 2.3 percent rise in a Kyodo News survey.

Energy costs as a whole grew 17.4 percent year on year. Petroleum product climbed 28.8 percent, with kerosene up 53.2 percent and gasoline prices rising 28.8 percent.

Utility costs were also higher. Electricity prices rose 5.4 percent and those for natural gas grew 5.9 percent.

Prices for nonperishable foods grew 3.8 percent due partly to higher grain prices. Bread prices increased 20.1 percent. Those for instant noodle rose 20.6 percent, with spaghetti up 32.0 percent and Chocolate up 27.6 percent.

Hiroko Iwaki, an analyst at the Development Bank of Japan, said the core CPI may have peaked in July, but that even as pace of increase slows, the index is expected to remain at relatively high levels of around 2 percent.

Source: Japan Times, August 30, 2008