"Partnership" is the word that best describes the agricultural relationship between the United States and Japan. Our agricultural partnership can be traced back 50 years to the famous "hog lift" of 1959. After Yamanashi prefecture was devastated by two typhoons, farmers from the State of Iowa assisted Yamanashi farmers in rebuilding the Japanese hog industry by donating and transferring hogs to repopulate the prefecture. Since that time the livestock industry in Japan has developed alongside the Japanese economy, reflecting the evolving tastes and growing purchasing power of the Japanese consumer.

The desire for a true agricultural partnership was also the motivation in 1951 when the U.S. Embassy worked with Japanese Ministry of Agriculture to help establish the U.S. program for the Association for International Collaboration of Farmers (AICF, now JAEC: Japan Agricultural Exchange Council), whose mission is to help Japanese farmers learn about agricultural techniques in the United States, encourage democracy in Japan, and bolster a mutual understanding between the two countries through a one-year farm stay program. Since 1952, over 12,000 young Japanese farmers have gone to the United States, and returned to Japan with new farming ideas, and new business contacts.

Today, the U.S.-Japan agricultural partnership is dynamic and robust. The U.S. is firmly established as the most reliable foreign supplier of high-quality agricultural products to Japan. Similarly, Japan's purchases have been essential contributors to the health of the U.S. economy. In 2008 Japan purchased approximately $14.7 billion worth of grains, oilseeds, meats, dairy, and other food products from the United States, making Japan our third largest agricultural export market. In fact, Japan is the U.S.'s largest overseas market for feed grains, pork, wheat, and potatoes.

Japan's food security stands upon two pillars; domestic production, and a reliable supply of imports. For that reason, the agricultural partnership between Japan and the United States epitomizes how each country can benefit from exchange of goods, technology, and most importantly trust.

The "Partners in Agriculture" program celebrates this mutually invaluable relationship between the United States and Japan and showcases how the two world's leading economies can work together to further prosper, based on the very foundation of human life, food and agriculture.

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Press Contact:
Midori Iijima, Office of Agricultural Affairs, U.S. Embassy, Tokyo
Ph. 81-3-3224-5096 / Fax. 81-3-3589-0793 / E-mail:midori.iijima@fas.usda.gov

The site is designed to showcase three key partnerships: the successful public-private partnership between the Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) and U.S. cooperators; the special agricultural relationship between the United States and Japan; and the long standing friendship between Iowa and Yamanashi symbolized by the 50th anniversary of the Iowa-Yamanashi Sister State relationship. 

Since the mid-1950s, U.S. commodity organizations have been actively supporting U.S. exporters and providing services to valued Japanese importers.  For example, the U.S. Grains Council is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2010.  The Council opened up its first overseas office in Tokyo in 1961.  Today, 50 U.S. commodity organizations are active in this market.  In the Success Stories Section visitors can learn first-hand from U.S. cooperators about their experiences in the Japanese market.

Geared to American viewers, the English portion of the site is tailored to recognize the importance of the Japanese market for U.S. agriculture and the success of the U.S. cooperator program in this market.  It also announces the series of Partners-in-Agriculture events and Yamanashi-related activities that will provide a national platform for the promotion of U.S. agricultural products in Japan.   In the coming weeks, we will add a Japanese language section to reach Japanese consumers.

I invite you to visit the site and join us in celebrating over 50 years of Cooperation.

Sincerely,

Geoffrey Wiggin
  Agriculture Minister Counselor
  Agricultural Affairs Office
U.S. Embassy, Japan