Tokyo and Washington are now locking horns over Japan's import restrictions on American beef, but when it comes to pork the story is a little bit different.
Christie Vilsack, wife of visiting Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, read out a children's book for 72 Japanese youngsters Wednesday in Tokyo to deepen relations between the state of Iowa and Yamanashi Prefecture, based on a true story involving hogs from 1959.
"Sweet Corn and Sushi" is the story of Iowan farmers who donated 35 hogs to livestock farmers in Yamanashi after a typhoon devastated the area.