The is a cabinet level ministry in the

government of Japan The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary stat ...

responsible for oversight of the

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

industries. Its

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

is MAFF. The current Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is Taku Etō.

History

The

Constitution of the Empire of Japan The Constitution of the Empire of Japan ( Kyūjitai: ; Shinjitai: , ), known informally as the Meiji Constitution (, ''Meiji Kenpō''), was the constitution of the Empire of Japan which was proclaimed on February 11, 1889, and remained in ...

provided for the creation of a , which was established in 1881, with

Tani Tateki was a statesman and lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army in Meiji period Japan. He was also known as Tani Kanjō. Biography Early life Tani was born in Kubokawa village, Tosa Province (present-day Shimanto town, Kōchi Prefectur ...

as its first minister. As an additional note, the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce was a division that served as the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry The or METI, is a ministry of the Government of Japan. It was created by the 2001 Central Government Reform when the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) merged with agencies from other ministries related to economic activities ...

. In 1925, the commerce functions were separated out into a separate , and the ministry was renamed the . The ministry was also given responsibility for oversight of the Factory Act of 1903, which provided regulations for work hours and worker safety in both industrial and agricultural industries. From 1943 to 1945, when the Ministry of Commerce was abolished due to the nationalization of Japanese industry for the war effort of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

against

Allies of World War II The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy ...

, parts of that ministry reverted to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, which was again briefly named . In 1978, the name of Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry was expanded to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to better reflect the ministry's role in guaranteeing the Japanese public a safe food supply, and to protect producers and workers in the food production industries.

Organization

Internal Bureaus

* Minister's Secretariat (大臣官房) * Food Safety and Consumer Affairs Bureau (消費・安全局) * Export and International Affairs Bureau (輸出・国際局) * Crop Production Bureau (農産局) * Livestock Industry Bureau (畜産局) * Management Improvement Bureau (経営局) * Rural Development Bureau (農村振興局)

Affiliated Agencies

* Forestry Agency (林野庁) * Fisheries Agency (水産庁)

List of ministers

The following list below is a list of notable ministers appointed since 1976.

Functional activities

The primary function of the ministry is to set quality standards for food products, supervise

commodity market A commodity market is a market that trades in the primary economic sector rather than manufactured products, such as cocoa, fruit and sugar. Hard commodities are mined, such as gold and oil. Futures contracts are the oldest way of investin ...

s and food sales, and to undertake land reclamation and land improvement projects.

References

External links

* * Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Agricultural organizations based in Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Forestry in Japan 1881 establishments in Japan {{Japan-gov-stub