Profile
Goshogawara Agriculture and Forestry High School was founded in 1902 as an
agricultural high school with about 500 students between the ages of 16 and 18. The school’s apple
orchard occupies an area of 1.6 hectares and produces approx. 10 tons of apples in more than 10
varieties.
Located in the north of Japan, Aomori Prefecture has a long apple-producing history and
produces about 50% (470,000 tons) of domestically grown apples.
Learn more about the school and its special program here.
Achievements
Fifteen high school students between the ages of 16 and 17 launched this project.
The students created a team and took up the challenge to obtain certification. They inspected the
orchard regularly, had frequent discussions, set up a risk management and digitalization system,
and incorporated a framework of traceability in over 10 sales points for the school apples. In
2015, the school was the first in Japan to receive GLOBALG.A.P. Certification for its apple
orchard. This achievement led the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to
start a nationwide effort to promote GLOBALG.A.P. education in high school.
The school has incorporated GLOBALG.A.P. Certification into its curriculum, so students can
learn about and practice implementing the GLOBALG.A.P. standard at their school orchards. Each year
170 students graduate with GLOBALG.A.P. knowledge and experience. Due to the decrease and ageing of
the country’s population, Japan’s agricultural working population has fallen by 62% during the past
10 years and its average age was over 66 in 2015. Thus, the training of young people in agriculture
has become very important to Japan.
Watch a video of Mr. Akira Yamaguchi, the school’s principal, talk about the journey his students took that won them a G.A.P. Award 2016.
GGN 4056186440631
http://www.goshogawara-ah.asn.ed.jp/
Photo: Goshogawara Agricultural and Forestry High School