RFID in Japan

via Reuters

Hitachi aims to raise sales in its "traceability" business, including radio frequency identification (RFID) and IC tags, to 80 billion yen ($695 million) in the year to March 2011, against an estimated 5 billion yen in 2006/07, by introducing 125 different systems targeting specific industries and purposes.

[Yakitori]

Using your camera phone, scan a QR code and get traceability information aboutYakitori. This April, take-out Yakitori shop "Hibiki" in Saitama prefecture will introduce traceability information services for their customers using QR codes. (But don't forget to eat it!)

They plan to first provide information about Yuji Hashimoto Farm's Kurobuta pork and Seyama Farm's long green onion -- how they were processed, names of producers, shipping dates, quantity, maintenance records, expiration dates, etc. Consumers can also read messages from various stakeholders including farmers and people involved in processing, shipping and selling the pork/green onion. Customers can also post their comments.

The company believes they can come up with a new way of selling Yakitori if the system can win consumers' perception of increased food safety and peace of mind.

via Web Saitama < QR Code Blog

"Where did this Aji (horse mackerel) come from?" If you are a Sushi fan, you might have asked this question in the past. I sometimes fish Aji on Mars in the Nintendo game Animal Crossing. But, that shouldn't be were yours came from.

[Aji aka Horse Mackerel]

In the last couple of years, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan have been encouraging the uses of RFID and 2D barcodes for implementing fish traceability systems. There have been efforts to implement systems for tracking shell fish (Awabi), salmon and tuna using RFID. QR Codes are also used for some fish traceability projects. For example, the project by DoCoMo Sentsu, a subsidiary company of NTT DoCoMo and Marine Fishery Systems Association used QR codes in a unique way:

After the fish are cooked in a restaurant, dishes are served to customers together with the 2D barcode. Customers can view the encoded information using their mobile phones before, during, or after enjoying the dishes.

This year the ministry selected other kinds of fish for their pilot tests: Aji (horse mackerel), Saba (chub mackerel), Buri (yellow tail), Hamachi (young yellow tail), and Maguro (tuna). (By the way, this website has pictures of many kinds of fish in Japan.) The Aji pilot is taking place in the city of Hamada, Saba in Nagasaki prefecture, Buri in Mie prefecture, Hamachi in Kagoshima prefecture and Maguro in Kanagawa prefecture.

The San-In Chuo Shinpo recently reported on the Aji traceability pilot that will soon take place in Hamada. 2D barcodes are used to manage the data related to fish boat operations (leaving/arriving at a harbor), fatness of fish, etc. The barcodes are pasted on boxes that can hold about 5kg of fish and the boxes are sent to a fish market in Tokyo and then to retail stores. At retail stores, consumers can use camera phones, in-store touch screen computers, or personal computers (at home) to take a look at traceability information. Eight digit product codes and QR codes are attached to fish packages.

One of the goals of this Aji pilot is to test if such traceability systems can help build a brand image that makes consumers feel safer.

via The Sin-In Chuo Shimpo, January 15, 2006. < QR Code Blog

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan set out a serious goal: to make food traceability systems implemented for about 70 kinds of fresh produce and processed food by the year 2007.

This year, the ministry will financially support about 10 groups of retailers and farmers who plan to develop and deploy traceability systems. RFID tags are attached to food packages to deliver information such as farmers names, dates of production, names of pesticides used, etc. to in-store consumers. The ministry plans to spend about 1.8 billion Japanese yen for this this year.

via Nikkei Shimbun, May 10, in Japanese

Nishijin is a district in Kyoto, which is well-known for its sophisticated traditional textile products (its origin can be traced back to 1200 years ago).

At Nishijin, each of the seasons is represented. Spring sings of the scent of flowers. Summer speaks of days gone by. Autumn indulges herself in simplicity and serenity. Winter applies a delicate dusting of snow to the patchwork of roof tiles. No one is inferior to any other in this world, lavish with beauty. Savor contentment with the elegance of Nishijin, conceived in the midst of history and tradition.

Interestingly, people there seem to be into high-tech.

The first meeting of "Nishijin Textile Traceability Committee" was held on December 16. What they discussed included a system for tracking Nishijin textile products using RFID and delivering information to consumers. They plan to introduce such a system as early as in 2006. Consumers will hopefully be able to distinguish real Nishijin from counterfeited ones more easily. One of the issues raised at the meeting was the complexity of the special supply chain of Japanese-style products. Also, local governments (city and prefecture-level) are involved in this project.

Source: Kyoto Shimbun, December 16, in Japanese

Japanese retailer ECO'S is providing traceability information about eggs at their store in the Japanese city of Kuki. An expiration date and a 3-letter code are directly printed on an egg shell, which are used by consumers to access relevant information (information about farms, feedstuff, and results of bacteriological examinations) on the terailer's website.

via Nikkei Ryutsu Shimbun MJ, December 8, 2004, in Japanese

Mos Burger is a Japanese burger restaurant chain that serves things as exotic as rice burgers and devil's tongue burgers. The pilot test will take place at three Mos Burger Shops in Tokyo.

Mos Food Services Inc, operator of the Mos Burger fast-food restaurant chain, said Tuesday it will begin an experiment in December to track distribution of beef for its burger menu using tiny integrated circuit tags.

via Japan Times

Related news video clip (TV Tokyo; in Japanese)