Japan Agricultural Cooperatives, also known as JA or Nokyo, refers to the 694 regional co-ops in Japan that supply members with input for production, undertake packaging, transportation, and marketing of agricultural products, and provide financial services. As of 2012, there are 4.6 million official members and 5.4 million associate members in JA. While “JA” refers to co-ops that operate in respective municipalities, “JA group” includes administrative bodies that supervise regional co-ops across several prefectures, run wholesale business in food products and production inputs across municipal and prefectural borders (Zen-Noh), manage credit unions (Norinchukin Bank), offer insurance (JA Kyosai), and a national headquarters that controls the entire group and manages government relations (JA Zenchu). “JA” and “JA group” are often used interchangeably (as will be hereafter).

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