At the council's first meeting, which was held September 29, members selected Dr. Seiichiro Ono, professor at the Tokyo University of Fisheries, as chairperson. Members also finalized a schedule for reporting, deciding that the Council would submit an interim report to the Director-General by summer 1998 and a final report, containing its overall recommendations, by summer 1999. This department is responsible for government inspection of agricultural, forest owners' and fisheries cooperatives, combining the functions of inspection units formerly located within the Economics Bureau, Forestry Agency and Fisheries Agency. The objectives of this change are to place greater distance between groups responsible for administration and inspection and improve the uniformity and efficiency of inspection. The new Cooperatives Inspection Department comprises the Coordination and Inspection divisions.
Senior citizens play important roles in all three groups.
Several other groups were also recognized, receiving prizes named for the director-generals of the Agricultural Production Bureau, Forestry Agency and Fisheries Agency, as well as from the presidents of various unions related to the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries. These prizes were presented at a ceremony on October 20. One of the three recipients of the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Prize was the Kozuki-cho Fureai processing group, from Hyogo Prefecture. This group of 20 people, of whom 12 are senior citizens, manufactures traditional Japanese foods from a domestic variety of soybean, and has marketed its products successfully. The second prize winner, the Mitsuse Village Association for the Utilization of Local Products, is a group of 191 people from a mountainous part of Saga Prefecture that manages a small market selling fresh, locally grown vegetables directly to urban inhabitants.