Taiwan lifts cattle age restriction on beef imports from Japan
Taiwan has lifted restrictions on beef imports from Japan by eliminating the 30-month age limit for cattle.
Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration announced the revision to import regulations on Thursday, with the change taking immediate effect.
Taiwan banned all imports of Japanese beef after Japan reported an outbreak of BSE, or mad cow disease, in 2001.
The ban was partially lifted after safety was confirmed in 2017, allowing imports of beef from cattle no more than 30 months old.
Under the latest revision, Taiwan will continue to require the removal of specific parts, such as the brain and spinal cord.
But the lifting of the age restriction is expected to expand the market for Japanese beef.
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Japan Times
19 minutes ago
- Japan Times
Childbirth facilities disappearing from Fukushima towns
Medical facilities capable of delivering babies are vanishing from Fukushima Prefecture's rural regions. In the town of Hanawa, Hanawa Kousei Hospital stopped handling childbirths at the end of February, leaving just 26 medical facilities in seven cities in the prefecture that can handle deliveries. The number represents a decrease of about 40% over the past decade, which reflects a growing concentration of childbirths in urban areas. Municipal governments are increasingly concerned that changes in the environment for pregnancy and childbirth may accelerate population decline. On Jan. 22, Hanawa Kousei Hospital posted a notice on its website, saying, 'We have worked for many years to enhance perinatal medical services. However, due to various circumstances, it has become difficult to maintain our delivery system, and we have decided to suspend inpatient delivery practices in our obstetrics and gynecology department.' The hospital's OB-GYN department was established in 1966. For nearly 60 years, it catered to the needs of pregnant women from municipalities in the Higashi-Shirakawa district — Tanagura, Yamatsuri, Hanawa and Samegawa — handling around 600 deliveries annually at its peak. In recent years, it remained the only delivery facility in the district, managing about 50 births a year. Behind the suspension is a shortage of medical personnel. The hospital used to have about eight midwives, but the number has gradually declined due to retirement and resignations. Most recently, deliveries were handled by just one OB-GYN doctor and three midwives. Although the hospital continues to offer prenatal checkups and cancer screenings at its OB-GYN department, its withdrawal from the delivery of babies has created a strong sense of loss and anxiety about the future among local residents. Hanawa Mayor Hidetoshi Miyata, 75, expressed deep concerns, saying the suspension is a 'serious blow' to the town. 'If there's no environment in town where people can give birth with a sense of security, more young people may leave, which will accelerate the decline in the number of children." The number of births in Hanawa has been steadily falling, with the town's population dropping from about 13,500 in 1970 to around 7,800 today. The town is rushing to boost support for pregnant women and new mothers. There is a national program that subsidizes 80% of transportation costs for prenatal checkups at the nearest delivery facility if it takes over an hour to reach by public transportation or private car. The town expands on this program and fully covers transportation costs — be they for trains, buses or taxis — regardless of travel time. How to maintain the childbirth environment is a challenge shared by rural communities across Japan. Over a decade ago, Iwasa Clinic in Daigo, Ibaraki Prefecture, which borders the southern part of Fukushima Prefecture, also stopped handling deliveries. It now only provides outpatient services. 'From the perspective of hospital management, some reduction in delivery facilities is unavoidable,' Miyata said. However, the mayor stressed that municipalities in the Higashi-Shirakawa district will continue to urge hospitals not to reduce obstetric services any further, given the importance of perinatal care. Hanawa Kousei Hospital in Fukushima Prefecture stopped handling childbirths at the end of February. | Fukushima Minpo As of April 1, there were 26 facilities that can handle deliveries in Fukushima Prefecture, down from 41 in 2015. Only seven cities — Fukushima, Koriyama, Sukagawa, Shirakawa, Aizuwakamatsu, Minamisoma and Iwaki — had such facilities, while 52 other municipalities in the prefecture had none. According to the prefecture's regional medical service division, medical institutions have suspended deliveries due to the retirement of doctors and the declining birth rate, among other reasons. Municipalities without delivery facilities are facing a growing need to ensure that women can give birth safely and with peace of mind outside their residential areas. Saki Ohira, who lives in the town of Tanagura with her husband, Masataka, is expecting twins in late July. But she is worried about having to go to a hospital far away to give birth as her town has no delivery facility. The couple, both 34, are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their first children as they look at ultrasound images of them. Ohira has been preparing to give birth at the International University of Health and Welfare Hospital in Nasushiobara, Tochigi Prefecture, which is about an hour's drive from her home using the expressway. 'To be honest, I wish there was a nearby place to give birth safely,' she said. The couple met as classmates at a local high school, got married in 2019 and now run a stationery store in their town. After confirming the pregnancy in November, Ohira has been going for checkups about once every two weeks. Her parents, who live in the town of Yabuki, have been taking her to the hospital while her husband works. The financial burden for the trips is not small. In addition to fuel costs, using the Tohoku Expressway incurs about ¥1,500 ($10.40) in toll fees each way. Ohira finds it troubling that there are so few OB-GYN facilities nearby. She had hoped to give birth at a medical facility closer to home, such as Shirakawa Kosei General Hospital in the city of Shirakawa, but her primary doctor recommended the one in Nasushiobara because she is expecting twins. 'I'm worried there is nowhere to go if my condition suddenly changes,' she said. Her husband also worries, saying, 'In an emergency, even a slight delay could affect the safety of both mother and children. "If there were a more reassuring environment for childbirth, it would ease our mental burden," he added. Their concerns about crossing prefectural borders for childbirth extend into the postnatal period as well. It is said that around 10% of new mothers experience postpartum depression, a condition in which feelings of sadness or anxiety occur after childbirth. However, no medical facilities in the Higashi-Shirakawa district appear to offer postpartum care services. Before reaching the stable period of her pregnancy, Ohira learned that deliveries would be suspended at Hanawa Kousei Hospital. 'Traveling to a distant hospital is going to be really difficult while taking care of two infants,' she said. For couples such as the Ohiras, the growing dearth of medical facilities capable of handling deliveries means more long-distance travel for childbirth. In response, prefectural and municipal governments have increased financial support for such couples, such as by providing them with transportation subsidies for prenatal checkups and lodging expenses so that they can stay near hospitals before the due date. Beyond just financial assistance, however, Ohira feels there is a need for support channels to provide a sense of security to expectant parents. 'If we had a local consultation desk staffed by experienced midwives or nurses who could listen to our concerns, I think that would really help pregnant women feel more secure,' she said. Ohira noted that her and her husband's visits to the out-of-prefecture hospital began with infertility treatment. Experts say expanding medical services that assist couples looking to conceive is also crucial in addition to maintaining the perinatal care system. This section features topics and issues covered by the Fukushima Minpo, the prefecture's largest newspaper. The original articles were published April 29 and April 30.
NHK
2 days ago
- NHK
Facility for producing low-cost iPS cells opens in Osaka
A new center for producing low-cost induced pluripotent stem cells from a patient's own blood has opened in Osaka, western Japan. The Yanai Facility for my iPS Cell Therapy is operated by a foundation affiliated with Kyoto University. Transplanting tissues derived from a patient's own iPS cells is expected to reduce the risk of immune rejection. The cost of production is currently estimated at 50 million yen, or about 350,000 dollars, per batch of cells. The facility aims to reduce the figure to about 1 million yen, or about 6,800 dollars, through automation. The foundation aims to shorten production time from six months to around three weeks, and supply medical institutions with iPS cells for clinical trials starting by fiscal 2028. The facility is equipped with 14 automated iPS cell culture devices and storage rooms. Professor Yamanaka Shinya of Kyoto University, who heads the foundation, says he hopes to provide optimal iPS cells at an affordable price.
Japan Times
2 days ago
- Japan Times
The science of shinrin-yoku: Why forest bathing feels good
Leaves shimmer in shades of verdant green. Sunlight reflected from a rippling creek dances up a tree trunk. Birds chirp, bullfrogs croak and earthy scents of plants and soil fill the air. A visit to a forest soothes our senses. But researchers say that volatile organic compounds released from the trees, whose concentration peaks from June through August in Japan, can do a lot more to make us healthier. Japan is the birthplace of forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku — the process of taking in the forest through your five senses as a means of relaxation. Coined in 1982 by then-Forestry Agency chief Tomohide Akiyama, the concept is now well-established in Japanese culture, and most people consider it a given that it's healing to spend time in the great outdoors. However, doctors such as Qing Li, a clinical professor at Nippon Medical School in Tokyo, have scientifically proven that spending time in nature offers a plethora of medicinal benefits — from enhancing the activity of immune cells and lowering blood pressure and heart rate to reducing stress hormones and levels of anxiety, depression and anger. Qing Li, a clinical professor at Nippon Medical School, has spent decades studying the effects of exposure to nature on the human body. | TOMOKO OTAKE 'It had long been common sense that you can reduce stress by immersing yourself in a beautiful Japanese forest, but it wasn't proven with evidence at all,' Li, a pioneer in the field of forest medicine, says. 'It was only in 2004 that the government gave grants of ¥150 million to look into the science of it to a team of researchers, which I was part of.' Li has analyzed natural killer cells, a type of white blood cell that protects the body from pathogens and cancers. In a seminal study published in 2007 , he took 12 Tokyo-based 'healthy but tired salarymen' from the ages of 37 to 55 on a two-night, three-day forest bathing trip to Iiyama, Nagano Prefecture, a location famous for its beech trees. Blood samples taken before and after the trip showed that the activity and number of natural killer cells, as well as the levels of anti-cancer proteins, increased after forest bathing. But is it really the forest that causes this and not, say, a simple change of scenery? The following year, Li took the same group of corporate warriors on a three-day trip to an urban district of Nagoya with much less greenery than the previous excursion. Li had them walk the same distance and hours as in Iiyama. The trial showed that a trip to the city did not improve the participants' immune cell activity or levels. He followed up with more studies, proving that, yes, forest bathing works for women, too , and its effects last as long as 30 days after a three-day trip. 'That means, if you go on one forest bathing trip of three days once a month, immune levels in the human body can always be kept at high levels,' he says. Other studies have shown that shinrin-yoku reduces the levels of adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol, all of which are stress hormones. Phytoncides — aromatic substances released from trees and grass to protect themselves from insects, bacteria and fungi — also stimulate an immune response from the human body. | GETTY IMAGES But why is forest bathing so good for the body? Li says that, while there are still many unknowns, phytoncides — aromatic substances released from trees and grass to protect themselves from insects, bacteria and fungi — play a key role. In a 2009 study , Li compared the levels of immune cell activity in two groups of people: one staying in hotel rooms filled with essential cypress oils vaporized and released from humidifiers and another staying in rooms without the aroma. The results showed that phytoncide exposure in a nonforest environment alone had some effect, Li says. He estimates that the aromatic substances account for about 30% of the therapeutic benefits of forest bathing with the remaining boons coming from the other sensory experiences. How exactly is forest bathing different from regular hikes or nature walks? In forest therapy, the emphasis is on awakening your five senses through the mindful observation of nature without over-exertion, experts say. Since two-thirds of Japan is covered in forests, the nation has more than its fair share of forest bathing destinations to choose from. The Kitamoto Nature Observation Park in Kitamoto, Saitama Prefecture, is one of around 60 'forest therapy bases' in Japan certified by the nonprofit Forest Therapy Society. Just 90 minutes from Tokyo, the 30-hectare forest is blessed with a mixture of cypress, cedar, oak and cherry trees. The Kitamoto Tourism Association organizes forest therapy tours , including two-hour standard tour sessions and special tours combining walks and yoga or local history talks. Fees for most sessions, available in English or Japanese, are between ¥3,000 and ¥6,000. Forest therapy guide Sayuri Ide helps need trekkers not only along hiking routes but through different ways of acceptingf the positive mental benefits of forest bathing. | TOMOKO OTAKE During a recent guided tour, forest therapist Sayuri Ide asked me to pick up a fallen leaf at the park's entrance. When I tore it in half, it smelled like cloth incense. 'This is a camphor leaf, and it is used as an insect repellent,' she says. In the forest, Ide walks slowly, often pausing along the trail. She asks me to take a deep breath, listen to the rustling of leaves and the murmur of a stream, and notice the layered shades of green in the canopy overhead. We drop a leaf into the water and watch how its shadow looks more intricate than the leaf itself. We eat mulberries freshly picked from a tree, take a break for herb tea and, at the end of our two-hour walk, lie down beneath a big tree for a short, restful nap. At one point, Ide asks me what shape of leaves I like best. I say I like round ones, and she nods in agreement. 'We live in such a square world,' Ide says, referring to smartphones and PC screens. 'I want more people to appreciate the beauty of roundness in nature.' Li personally recommends Akasawa Recreation Forest , known as the birthplace of shinrin-yoku, in Agematsu, Nagano Prefecture. It is known for a cypress forest so full of phytoncides that it keeps mosquitoes away. The Okutama forest therapy base , featuring five 'therapy roads' whose distances range from 1.3 to 12 kilometers and which includes some barrier-free routes, is another good venue, he says. Even in central Tokyo, numerous phytoncide-rich spots offer relief, such as the Shinjuku Gyoen park in Shinjuku Ward, the Institute for Nature Study in Minato Ward and the Rikugien and the Koishigawa gardens in Bunkyo Ward.
