Consumers Union of Japan works closely with a number of local groups around the country and abroad, to promote consumer rights, peace, food safety and food security and many other issues. Here are some recent stories from our office in Nishi-Waseda. Read more in Japanese in CUJ’s newsletter, Consumers Report. To receive the newsletter, please [...]

cuj-jr-150 (pdf) Japan Resources No 150: Special Biodiversity Issue
Biological Diversity & Organic Farming
2010 is the Year of Biological Diversity and here in Japan, we are preparing for the United Nations conference in Nagoya in October, 2010. In this special issue of our English newsletter you will find articles about experts and activists in Japan and [...]

  12 years of campaigning for more domestic soybeans in Japan
Soybean Field Trust Movement: Nationwide Meeting in Shinjo, Japan 
Press Release: Conference Declaration 
Today, we have returned to Shinjo City in Yamagata Prefecture 12 years after the Soybean Trust Movement was launched here in this wonderful furusato (rural) environment. The Soybean Trust Movement responded to the appearance [...]

 
Press Release
GM Wheat rejected by 233 Consumer, Farmer Groups in 26 Countries 
Embargoed to February 9, 2010 
Ottawa, Montreal, Washington, Tokyo, Sydney: 233 consumer and farmer groups in 26 countries have joined the “Definitive Global Rejection of GM Wheat” statement to stop the commercialization of genetically modified (GM) wheat and remind the biotechnology corporation Monsanto that genetically [...]

The No! GMO Campaign has conducted a survey, clearly showing that Japanese wheat companies do not want to import or handle genetically modified wheat that consumers do not desire
In June 2009, there were renewed efforts in North America to introduce genetically modified wheat for commercial cultivation. Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, a citizen group based in [...]

Japanese consumers are strongly opposed to genetically modified foods, according to several large opinion polls. The news that China has approved GM rice was thus a surprise for everyone who cares about health and the environment. China currently does not export much rice, but Japanese food companies are increasingly setting up factories to produce frozen [...]

Labelled only as “amino acid and others”
On September 14, 2009, two new food additives from Ajinomoto were judged to be “safe” by the Expert Committee for Genetically Modified Food and Others at the Food Safety Commission (FSC). The appraisal was open for public comments and it seems likely that the two novel amino acid products [...]

Christine von Weizsäcker visits Japan: Genetic modification of living organisms is a threat to biodiversity
In October 2010, an important international conference will be held in Nagoya, Japan, to discuss the integrity of biodiversity, as genetic engineering threatens to influence and disturb the ecosystems around the world. The topic of genetically modified organisms is on the [...]

Report From Our Visit to the National Livestock Breeding Center:
NLBC Researchers Recognize “Failure of Cloning”
By Koketsu Michiyo, CUJ/FSCW
 
Food Safety Citizens Watch visited the National Livestock Breeding Center (NLBC) in Fukushima Prefecture on September 9, 2009. This is the center that has been designated to continue the work that started in 1998 to improve the [...]

By Yasuaki Yamaura
In April 2008, Japan’s Food Safety Commission (FSC) was asked by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Labour to make an assessment of the safety of food from cloned animals. Somatic cell cloning has recently emerged as an issue also in Japan, and on February 29, 2009, a special assessment group on cloned [...]