Cockfighting is illegal. As soon as 2 male gamecocks are placed in a pen, it can be illegal. On 2022/4/28, Shizuka Terata questioned the illegality of cockfighting at the House of Councilors Environment Committee. “Regarding Article 44, Paragraph 2, whose…
We’re announcing the Animal Welfare Award winners for FY2021. Animal Welfare Award (AWA) is an award annually selecting and giving thanks to companies that consider animals and work on animal welfare in Japan which is lagging behind the world in…
On 2022/4/7, at the House of Councilors Economic and Industrial Committee, Representative Kiyoshi Adachi brought up animal welfare as one of the challenges for Japan’s economy. Actually this is the first time that farm animal welfare has been brought up…
Following the investigation report after a scandal in the egg industry, their first information exchange session about animal welfare was held. As this investigation report mentions the importance of improving transparency of the government office, this is a great way…
Genome-editing technologies can cause animals to suffer. The technologies, however, have already been applied to animals. Ahead of other countries, in Japan, genome-edited red sea bream and Fugu, or blowfish, have been fully developed and are already on the market.…
On March 18, 2022, Hotel Senkei, focusing on both animal welfare and SDGs, announced that the eggs used at the hotel will be 100% cage-free or free-range by 2030. They came to this decision after discussing with the Animal Rights…
In March 2022, Japan’s largest egg producer Ise Foods, faced by financial difficulted, filed for corporate reorganization, drawing much attention since. Ise Foods keeps more birds in battery cages than any other companies in Japan, counting to as many as…
Since 2016, Animal Rights Center Japan has been conducting a survey once a year using a private company to see how well the actual rearing of livestock animals is recognized by consumers. We report the results of the survey conducted…
Mayonnaise is one of the most competitive products regarding animal welfare. Mayonnaise is said to be a “semi-solid dressing made mainly of cooking oil, vinegar, and eggs”, and eggs have been widely used. Eggs are not really necessary; the same…
In 2021, 497,000* animals were killed for Japanese people’s fashion. You would be horrified if the same number of humans were killed for the same reason. Still, the number of animals killed for fur is a lot fewer compared to…
From July 2021 to January 2022, ARCJ ran a 6-month campaign about eyestalk ablation in shrimp farming, thanks to a grant from Compassion in World Farming International. The campaign’s objectives were: to raise awareness about shrimp eyestalk ablation to reduce…
Compared to 2020, the import of foie gras dropped by 44% according to the 2021 statistics presented by the Ministry of Finance. When compared to 10 years ago, it has decreased by 94%. This is likely because many consumers in…
From last July until January, Animal Rights Center Japan ran a #ShrimpsMatter campaign to raise awareness about shrimp eyestalk ablation. Partly to measure the effects of this campaign, we commissioned a survey at the end of July, and again with…
Wacoal, a leading manufacturer of innerwear, will be fur & fur-wool free. Wacoal had already abolished the use of fur, but just one sweater using raccoon wool was being sold, which we asked to be abolished. Wacoal began consideration immediately,…
In 2021, we, Animal Rights Center Japan, together with the animal protection group Cookhouse in Okinawa, identified the location of the cockfighting ground in Chiba Prefecture. There were approximately 60 gamecocks in wooden cages, and some of them had their…
An artist Ujiie-san, who is also a foster parent of chickens we rescued, donated a Buddhist art piece to the Animal Rights Center. Ideas of animal rights or animal welfare are often promoted by buddhist religious groups in some countries,…
On 2021/11/11, we are able to deliver great news for pigs. NH Foods Group made an announcement as follows. Promote initiatives that take animal welfare into consideration Elimination of gestation crates on all NH farms (pigs)To be eliminated from all…
On 2021/11/1, Hotel Matsumotoro, focusing on both animal welfare and the SDGs, has announced that by 2027 it will switch to 100% cage-free or free-range eggs. As a result of discussions with the certified NPO Animal Rights Center Japan, it…
Previously in Japan, JAS Certification for organic livestock was the only animal welfare certification with standards that could satisfy the Five Freedoms. This changed, however, in October 2021 when Yamanashi Prefecture announced new “Yamanashi Animal Welfare Certification Standards”. The Yamanashi…
The Japan Ethical Initiative (JEI), a general incorporated association in which Animal Rights Center participates, has released the “JEI Ethical Standards”, which encompass ethical issues. The Ethical Standards are comprised of the following 8 major categories: Natural environment is protected…