The is a Japanese

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 regional development program. It began in Ōita Prefecture

Oita Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan on Kyūshū Island. The prefectural capital is the city of Ōita.- History :Around the 6th century Kyushu consisted of four regions: Tsukushi-no-kuni 筑紫国, Hi-no-kuni 肥国, and Toyo no kuni...

 in 1979 when the then-governor Morihiko Hiramatsu

Morihiko Hiramatsu

is a Japanese politician who was elected Governor of Oita Prefecture from April 1979 to April 2003. As Governor, he initiated the One Village One Product movement for regional development, which became much copied by developing countries throughout the world....

 advocated the program. Implementation started in 1980. Communities selectively produce goods with high added value. One village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 produces one competitive and staple product as a business

Business

A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...

 to gain sales revenue

Revenue

In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....

 to improve the standard of living for the residents of that village. Among them are shiitake

Shiitake

The Shiitake is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is cultivated and consumed in many Asian countries, as well as being dried and exported to many countries around the world. It is a feature of many Asian cuisines including Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai...

, kabosu

Kabosu

is a juicy green citrus fruit closely related to the yuzu with the sharpness of lemon, used instead of vinegar in some Japanese dishes. It grows on a flowering plant with sharp thorns, and the fruit is harvested when still green but ripens to yellow...

, greenhouse mikan

Mikan

The satsuma is a seedless and easy-peeling citrus mutant of Japanese origin introduced to the West.In Japan, it is known as mikan or formally unshu mikan . In China, it is known as Wenzhou migan . The Japanese name is a result of the local reading of the same characters used in the Chinese...

, beef

Beef

Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...

, aji

Trachurus

Jack mackerels are marine fishes in the Trachurus genus of the Carangidae family. The type species of the genus is the Atlantic horse mackerel, Trachurus trachurus. The name of the genus is derived from the Greek word trachys, meaning "rough", and the Greek word oura, meaning "tail"...

, and barley shōchū

Shochu

is a Japanese distilled beverage. It is typically distilled from barley, sweet potatoes, or rice, though it is sometimes produced from other ingredients such as brown sugar, buckwheat or chestnut. Typically shōchū contains 25% alcohol by volume...

. Over 300 products have been selected.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra

Thaksin Shinawatra

Thaksin Shinawatra is a Thai businessman and politician, who was Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006, when he was overthrown in a military coup....

 of Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 initiated a similar program, One Tambon One Product

One Tambon One Product

One Tambon One Product is a local entrepreneurship stimulus program designed by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra during the 2001-2006 Thai Rak Thai government. The program aims to support the unique locally made and marketed products of each Thai tambon...

.

External references

• Oita OVOP International Exchange Promotion Committee One Village One Product Movement (OVOP)
• Ōita Prefecture page
• OVOP (One-Village One-Product) Campaign, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry