Category Archives: Nuclear

Japan Resources – 187

Please click here for our latest English newsletter (pdf)JR 187

Contents:

From the Editors: It Is All Connected

Report on the Special Forum for the Promotion of Organic School Lunch all over Japan

Growing Movement to Prevent Distribution of Genome-Edited Tomato Seedlings to Elementary Schools and Welfare Facilities

Public Comment: Ban 30 Substances in Pesticides

Press Release: “We Decide What We Eat Ourselves”

In the News: Over 11 years, close to 9 million people sign drive against nuclear power

From the Editors: It Is All Connected

This year ends with COP15 of the UN conference for biological diversity. We hope media will follow it as much as they did the recent COP27 of the UN conference for climate change.

In fact, these two global issues are interconnected and linked in many ways, that also influence us as consumers (and we, as consumers, can – and should – influence).

For example, by increasing the local and organically farmed food served to school children, Japan could go a long way to contribute to both mitigate climate change and protect biodiversity.

Some 3600 people all over the country are ready to make it happen, according to Koa Tasaka’s report from the Special Forum held in Tokyo this fall.

Please stay updated with CUJ’s activities and news on our English website, as well as on our English Twitter account: https://twitter.com/consumerunionjp/

 

 

Japan Resources – 186

Please click here for our latest English newsletter (pdf): JR 186

From the Editors: Out of the Fire, Into the Frying Pan?

Report on the GMO-Free Zone Movement in Japan

Japan’s Animal Welfare Scandal: The Consumer Response

Energy Shift

We Will Not be Complicit in War, and We Will Not Let it Happen”

In the News: Failed NPT Treaty

From the Editors:

Out of the Fire, Into the Frying Pan?

It seems this year we are dealing with a number of difficult issues at the same time, from the Covid Pandemic and Climate Change, to Russia’s war in Ukraina. Food security and energy supply issues are now in the news on a daily basis.

Japan’s PM Kishida meanwhile failed miserably in the United Nations to get a meaningful result at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, with profound disappointment especially in the City of Hiroshima, which he represents.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) notes that 13,080 nuclear weapons still exist on the Earth, with the U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles together constituting approximately 90 percent of the total. (There used to be over 70,000 back during the Cold War, ed.)

We ask you to stay updated with CUJ’s activities and news on our English website, as well as on our English Twitter account: https://twitter.com/consumerunionjp/

Energy Shift

Energy Shift: Urgent Statement Against the Resumption of Nuclear Power Plant Operations on the Pretext of Tight Power Supply and Demand Due to the Extreme Heat

The rainy season ended about 20 days earlier than usual this year, and since the last week of June, there have been extremely hot days in many parts of Japan. As a result, the government has issued an “Electricity Supply-Demand Stress Alert” in the service areas of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and other areas, and has issued a request for power saving. As if in response to this situation, there is a growing demand for the restart of nuclear power plants. Consumers Union of Japan (CUJ) feels a strong sense of crisis over this trend toward restarting nuclear power plants, and we hereby express our clear opposition to it.

Following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011, nuclear power plants, which had provided nearly 30% of the nation’s electricity needs, were completely shut down. Until now there has never been a problem with the supply and demand of electricity because there is enough absolute capacity.

The current tight power supply-demand situation is a result of the government’s decision to shut down aging thermal power plants with low profitability during this period, while leaving it up to individual power companies to make their own decisions. The danger of nuclear power plants is not only a matter of the government’s own judgment but also that of the public.

The dangers of nuclear power are self-evident to both those directly involved in nuclear power plants and to local residents, especially in Japan, where earthquakes and disasters are frequent.

The power supply must be converted to renewable energy sources such as solar power, wind power, and biomass as soon as possible. However, mega solar power plants and giant wind turbines are causing various problems such as environmental destruction in the surrounding areas. Rather than relying on huge power capital, it is desirable to decentralize and bottom-up energy systems so that local residents can participate in building systems that contribute to local revitalization.

At the same time, along with appropriate energy-saving lighting and air conditioning in offices and houses, we should also promote insulation and energy saving in buildings without going all-electric, use of public transportation and bicycles in urban areas, and other efforts. It is necessary to clarify the power generation capacity and other aspects of in-house power generation owned by companies and other entities, and to formulate measures to address electricity supply and demand.

Let us urgently work on an energy shift away from dependence on nuclear power and fossil fuels.

Japan Resources – 184

Please click here for our latest English newsletter: JR 184

Contents:

From the Editors: Legal Issues

Group Lawsuit Filed Against TEPCO by Young People with Thyroid Cancer

Public Hearing on Genome-Edited Foods in Japan

Status of Genome-Edited Fish and Consumers Union of Japan (CUJ) Activities

Opinion on the Japanese Government’s Draft Guidelines on Non-use Labeling of Food Additives

From the Editors: Legal Issues

Welcome to issue No. 184 of Consumers Union of Japan’s English newsletter. This time we focus on recent legal developments including the first group lawsuit by people diagnosed with thyroid cancer after the tragic nuclear accident in Fukushima. Already, eleven years have passed and the suffering is on-going.

We also highlight the issue of genome-edited foods (which are not regulated) as well as efforts by the Japanese government regarding popular food labels that indicate that food does not contain artificial additives. Believe it or not, but the Japanese government wants to make such important information illegal.

We hope you will stay updated with CUJ’s activities and news on our English website, as well as on our new English Twitter account: https://twitter.com/consumerunionjp/

Japan Resources – 183

Please click here for our latest English newsletter: JR 183

Special focus on energy

Contents:

From the Editors: Energetic Japan

Nuclear Power in Japan, 10 Years after the Fukushima Disaster

CUJ Opinions on the Draft Basic Energy Plan

Will genome edited food be labelled in Japan?

Another Citizens’ Food Summit: The “Green Food System Strategy” proposed by MAFF is not that “Green”

Trend: The 2nd National Nanohana Blossom Summit in Oyama was held in Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture, on 11-12 December 2021

From the Editors:

Energetic Japan

Welcome to issue No. 183 of Consumers Union of Japan’s English newsletter. This time, the theme is energy, a topic that is always timely in resource-poor Japan.

We note that 10 years after the massive earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in 2011, only 10 nuclear reactors have been restarted. Consumers Union of Japan is proposing another way forward, with our motto, local production for local consumption.

We hope you will stay updated with CUJ’s activities and news on our English website, as well as on our new English Twitter account: https://twitter.com/consumerunionjp/