Friday, October 16
Today in Japan
What day is it?
-
1981年からWorld Food Day世界食料デー
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO, was founded on October 16th, 1945, and the first World Food Day was held on this date in 1981. Japan joined the FAO in 1951. It's a day to think about hunger, farming and food waste around the world, and it's a good time to ask how much food we throw away.
Read more › -
2021年制定Kokusho Kokusan Day (Eat What Your Country Grows Day)国消国産の日
Kokusho kokusan means "what a country eats, it should grow itself." JA Zenchu, the national federation of farm cooperatives, made this its day in 2021 to match World Food Day. In fiscal 2025, Japan grew only 37 percent of the calories it eats, the government says, so the idea is a hot topic here.
Read more › -
1878年Sapporo Clock Tower completed札幌の時計台（演武場）が完成
On this day in 1878, the drill hall of the Sapporo Agricultural College, now Hokkaido University, was completed. It had only a small bell at first. A tower clock was ordered from the Howard company in New York, and it started striking the hours in 1881. Today the building is a national Important Cultural Property, and the clock still rings every hour.
If someone asks you
Japan grows so much rice. Why does it import most of its food?
Rice is the one staple Japan almost fully grows itself. But people here eat a lot less rice than they used to, and a lot more bread, noodles and meat. Most of the wheat, soybeans and animal feed comes from abroad, so when you count calories, Japan only grows about 37 percent of what it eats. If you count by money instead, the figure is about 66 percent, because many high-priced foods, like vegetables, are grown here.
Phrase of the day
Japan imports most of its wheat and soybeans.
Sentence of the day
Today is World Food Day, and in Japan it's also a day to think about eating what the country grows. On this day in 1878, the building that became the Sapporo Clock Tower was completed.