Councilor Kenko Matsuki pointed out the loss of prior awareness of chicken slaughter, and the Ministry of the Environment’s response was limp!

On June 3, 2025, at a Lower House Environment Committee meeting, Representative Kenko Matsuki of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan pointed out that the prior loss of consciousness at poultry slaughterhouses is highly problematic because more than 70% of such practices are not done in Japan, despite the fact that loss of consciousness is a prerequisite in the world.

In response, the Ministry of the Environment, as usual, shifted the responsibility to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW), although we know that there are opinions that said it is inappropriate.

The Ministry of the Environment has never once made us feel that they have any knowledge of these issues. We have never felt that the Ministry of the Environment has any knowledge of these issues.

Councilor Matsuki requested that the Ministry of the Environment be “in charge” of animal welfare, to which the Ministry responded that “it is the Ministry of the Environment that sets the various standards for animal welfare from the perspective of animal protection,” and that “the reality is that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare should work together. The Ministry of the Environment responded that it is the Ministry of the Environment that sets the various standards for animal welfare from the perspective of animal protection, and that “the reality is that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare should work together. Although this is a misguided response, it sounds as if they are doing the same thing themselves. However, the Ministry of the Environment has made almost no action.

It is now the animal welfare office that has largely abandoned the protection of industrial animals, ending up only with dogs and cats. Not so long ago this was not the case, but it is now.

There is no doubt that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) must promote animal welfare, but this does not mean that the Ministry of the Environment should cut corners.

Please send your opinions to the Ministry of the Environment, asking them to tackle the issue of livestock animals, which is of great public interest because it is closely related to the 1 billion animals killed annually by more people and to the sustainability of society and the planet, as well as to human health.

About the policy of the Ministry of the Environment E-mail address is as follows

Call the animal welfare office (the call center is now equipped to take calls and is not expected to have expertise)

Phone number: 0120-323-750 (Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. *Except Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and December 29 to January 3)

Excerpts from the relevant parts of the answer

(Transcriptions are based on interviews and may contain errors.)

Mr. Kenko Matsuki: I would like to ask this about animal welfare. First of all, I’m not sure who is in charge of animal welfare in terms of government agencies, but it seems to me that it has not been decided yet.

Mr. Ueda, Director General of the Natural Environment Bureau: As you pointed out, there is no specific office in charge of animal welfare as a whole, but from the perspective of animal protection, the Ministry of the Environment is in charge of setting various standards for animal welfare, while the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries or the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare are responsible for dealing with industrial animals and other such matters. In reality, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) or the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) work together to deal with such issues.

Mr. Matsuki: I heard that about three organizations are involved in this project, and I hope that the Ministry of the Environment will be the general and do its best. I think this is a very serious problem.

I would like you to do your best to make this happen sooner or later, but what is the current situation?

Mr. Ueda: I am aware that there are opinions that the act of stabbing without prior loss of consciousness, which is practiced at poultry slaughterhouses in Japan, is inappropriate from the viewpoint of animal welfare. As I mentioned earlier, the Ministry of the Environment, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, which is in charge of livestock production and distribution, and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, which is in charge of public health at slaughterhouses, will collect information on scientific findings and systems in other countries, etc. and, if necessary, further study animal slaughter methods. We will continue to study methods of animal slaughter as necessary.

Mr. Kenkou Matsuki: We are animals that have to kill something because we are supposed to enjoy the food as much as possible.
So, when we receive life, we say, “Thank you for the food,” so I think it is very important not to make people feel pain as much as possible. I don’t mean to say that Japan must do something because the rest of the world is doing it, but I do think it is important.