We will hold an informal viewing of the groundbreaking documentary, Cowspiracy, at the CUJ office on March 11, 2015. The video is in English with Japanese subtitles. Start: 15:00. About the film: Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret is a groundbreaking feature-length environmental documentary following intrepid filmmaker Kip Andersen as he uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today – and investigates why the world’s leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it. Animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, water consumption and pollution, is responsible for more greenhouse gases than the transportation industry, and is a primary driver of rainforest destruction, species extinction, habitat loss, topsoil erosion, ocean…
Symposium & Documentary Film Event: Globalism and the Commercialization of Life
Date: February 7, 2015 (Sat.) Time: 13:30-16:00 Place: Tokyo Toshima Ward Labour Welfare Hall (10 min from JR Ikebukuro st.) Fee: 500 Yen We will screen Eggsploitation, a new documentary film about the infertility industry in the United States, which has grown to a multi-billion dollar business. Its main commodity is human eggs. In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government also wants to expand the life business and medical treatment sector. This includes efforts to spur research and development in new fields such as IPS cells, genetic diagnosis, and synthetic biology, that are running out of control. We are aiming to create a movement against this trend and invite everyone…
Japan’s Booming Tourism Industry Needs A Reality Check
To be a tourist in Japan can be both wonderful and frustrating at the same time. There is a lot to discover and many truly beautiful places to visit. For people who come to Japan for the first time, the delicious food is always one of the highlights, even if most menus are still only printed in Japanese. Oh well, sometimes sign language and a nice smile will save the day. And a little confusion can be a fun story to tell, at a later date. However, the Japanese government seems hell-bent on further increasing the number of foreign tourists, without any concern for the real problems. Popular places like…
Japan Resources No 161
Happy holidays, and best wishes for the new year, from all of us at the office in Nishi-Waseda, Tokyo. Consumers Union of Japan participated in several international events, including the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD MOP7) meeting in Pyeongchang, South Korea, during 2014. We look forward to your support also in 2015, when we will step up our campaigns about food safety (the theme for the World Consumers Day on March 15, 2015 is “the right to healthy food”) and other urgent issues. – Editors Please download JR 161 (pdf file) August-December 2014 OP-ed Against TPP Closing Statement by Civil Society at MOP7, 2014 GM Canola Contamination Cases in Japan…
Op-Ed Against TPP by Ralph Nader and Koa Tasaka (Asahi Shimbun)
We got the following op-ed published in Japan’s Asahi Shimbun this week, co-signed by Ralph Nader from Public Citizen and Koa Tasaka from Consumers Union of Japan. It was written in response to a column that made unsubstantiated claims about TPP and consumers. In its September 08, 2014 editorial, Asahi Shimbun argued that “Japan, U.S. should consider consumers, not industries, in reaching TPP deal.” As consumer movement leaders in the U.S. and Japan, we agree that it is crucial that both countries prioritize consumer interests. However, we strongly disagree with the editorial’s unsupported assumption that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as it is currently being negotiated would benefit consumers. What is…