Press Release: From 22 May to 5 June 2012, 14 countries in Asia will band together for the COLLECTIVE RICE ACTION (CORA) 2012. People’s organisations, farmers, rural women, and rice consumers from PR China, Japan, Korea, Cambodia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Iran will be “Reclaiming Our Rice and Biodiversity!” – the theme for CORA 2012. 22 May is the International Day for Biological Diversity and 5 June is World Environment Day. “These are particularly relevant dates as our rice heritage and biodiversity has been severely eroded since the Green Revolution in the 1960s and the advent of genetically engineered crops in the last…
Food Inc. Director Robert Kenner To Visit Tokyo And Osaka
CUJ is glad to be able to invite US documentary director Robert Kenner to Japan. His film Food Inc. is a great exposure of the way the food industry and especially Monsanto have hijacked farming and food processing, creating a situation where it is almost impossible for consumers to know what we are eating. While the focus is on the US agribusiness, it also applies to practices in many other countries, and the frequent abuse against farmers, food factory workers, animals and the biodiversity on our planet. Robert Kenner is an Emmy-Award winning film maker. He will participate at three screening events and give talks while in Japan. Everyone is…
Food Additives: MSG, Flavour Enhancers Not Properly Labelled In Japan
Comparing food labels used in Japan and in other countries reveals that many ingredients are not properly listed by Japanese food companies. Here, we take a look at flavour enhancers and food oils. Processed foods often contain a type of chemicals known as “flavour enhancers” that are not explained on Japanese food labels. In Europe, they are listed as E621 (Monosodium glutamate) and so on. We looked at South Korean food labels and found that they list each chemical separately, just like in Europe, while they are all listed under one simple term in Japan. This term just means “amino acid etc” or “amino acid group” and also another term…
Japan Resources No 155
CUJ JR 155 (pdf) Japan Resources No 155 Thank you for visiting the English web site of Consumers Union of Japan. We have recently renewed our Japanese web site to better reflect all our campaigns both domestically and internationally. Consumers Union of Japan (NPO Nihon Shohisha Renmei) Spring is just around the corner, but there is still a cold wind here in Nishi-Waseda. We remember the victims of the disaster on March 11, 2011 – already one year ago – who still live under very difficult circumstances, with much concern about the future for the Tohoku region. Feel free to download the pdf file of Japan Resources No 155 and…
No Consumption Tax Raise Without Real Reform
The Cabinet decided on February 17, 2012 that the consumption tax will be raised according to the principles that the government and opposition parties drafted in January. The aim is to reform the nation’s finances for the social security system. CUJ submitted the following letter to Prime Minister Noda on February 16, demanding a number of improvements to the proposal. To: Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko February 16, 2012 Please reexamine the increase of the consumption tax rate CUJ strongly requests that the government’s policy of “first raising the consumption tax” should be fundamentally reexamined. According to the proposed reform bill, the consumption tax will gradually be raised to 8% From…