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The Act on Welfare and Management of Animals stipulates, as a penalty, that to drain or weaken an animal by raising it or to keep it in a place where the density of breeding is clearly insufficient. However this regulation is not functioning and abnormally overcrowded rearing is rampant across Japan. While meat chicken farms are also extremely crowded compared to global standards, on this article we will explain the abnormal breeding environment of laying hens in Japan. Rearing density of Japan’s layer poultry farms The rearing densty practiced in Japan’s largest egg producer, (which went bankrupt and filed for corporate reorganization in 2022), is 285cm2 per bird. It’s 15cm×19cm.…
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer demand for cage-free eggs has increasing. Looking at the sales trends of other products, it can be inferred that consumer psychology has an impact. The psychology of consumers is that they want to eat something good at home because they can’t go anywhere, or they want to take in something good for their body to build their immunity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when people could hardly go out for shopping, food delivery businesses such as Co-op grew significantly. Last year, demand of cage-free eggs at Co-ops throughout Japanincreased by more than 100% over the previous year. (The demand has become twice as much as the…
[The campaign ended when we made Toridoll Holdings stand at the starting point for animal welfare.]Hens are left in cages in Japan, while they are released globally, what does that tell us? On September 3, 2022, Toridoll Holdings Corporation(THC), based in Tokyo, Japan and running fast food restaurant chains such as Marugame Seimen (chain of noodle shops), announced on the website their timeline and stance for switching eggs from caged to cage-free. The announcement was released just after the global campaign for the protection of egg-laying hens was launched by Open Wing Alliance (OWA), a global alliance to free laying hens from cages with more than 90 member organizations from…
Ramen restaurant “Chukasoba Mugen” in Osaka officially announced eggs used in their restaurants are 100% cage free. Chukasoba Mugen which has been listed in the Michelin Guide in a row, only uses cage-free eggs from WABISUKE Co., Ltd. Unlike general large- scale cage breeding in Japan, this poultry produces eggs only from cage-free which is friendly to both people and hens. WABISUKE’s laying hens can bathe in the sand as much as they want, drink water, and eat at any time, 24 hours a day. Today, information on the world is readily available to anyone, and many consumers are concerned that animal welfare in Japan is much lower than in other countries. In spite of…
The court’s ruling of the bribery case, in which the former CEO of the leading egg company AKITA Foods had bribed the then Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Yoshikawa to lower the standards of animal welfare, has become final and binding. They were both found guilty and rightly so. See here for related articles including an overview of the case. (As for the contents of the court’s ruling, please search news articles) We must not end with just 2 guilty people Is this the conclusion of the case? Having been witnessing absurdity of the poultry industry and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) since around 2018, before…
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 Center Japan. Immediately after learning about the importance of animal welfare, Hotel Senkei began to use cage-free eggs for breakfast which are from the cage-free poultry farm in the local area, Kanagawa Prefecture. After then, they considered switching all the eggs used at the hotel and decided to go cage-free. The following cage-free policy is posted on the sustainability commitments of Hotel Senkei. Kaori Tsuda, the young proprietress of Hotel…
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 13 million hens. While they have begun to introduce cage-free rearing methods in the United States, the pace has been extremely slow. Given that timing, they appear to have inevitably done so as some US states announced stringent regulations that would ban the trade of cage-reared eggs. There are many ways to describe Ise Foods; the largest egg company in Japan, a frontier of the low margin high turnover business…
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 in 2022 (the number of valid responses was 1,214). The questions are the following 10 items: Do you know that many of the sows are trapped in a gestation crate, a narrow enclosure in which they can’t turn around? Do you know that many of the piglets are castrated and have their teeth and tails clipped without anesthesia? Do you know that many of the chickens for eggs are kept…
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 flavor, taste, and texture are possible without eggs. Therefore, many egg-free mayonnaise are sold at low prices. For companies to go cage free, they don’t really need to procure expensive cage-free mayonnaise at this time; they can just use egg-free ones. A wide variety of mayonnaise is sold. Recently, the variety of mayonnaise with cage-free eggs are increasing. What we’d like to commend the most is the private brand “Bioral…
Aman resorts, which operate a resort hotel chain mainly in Southeast Asia, Europe, the United States, and China, released a cage-free policy in 2021, and in response to an inquiry from Animal Rights Center Japan, its Japanese locations, Aman Tokyo, Aman Kyoto, and Amanemu, made a cage-free commitment to transition to using only cage-free eggs by the end of 2023. Aman in Japan: background for the cage free transition ARCJ began negotiations with Aman Tokyo / Amanemu representatives for cage-free in 2020, during the COVID-19 emergency declaration. Aman Tokyo had already used cage-free eggs for some menus, but initially it seemed difficult, under COVID, to make the decision to switch…
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 came to this decision. The cage free policy is spelled out in Hotel Matsumotoro’s declaration toward achieving SDGs ( http://www.matsumotoro.com/img/sdgs.pdf ): Indicator for 2030 on the transition to a sustainable diet: “Switch to 100% cage-free eggs by 2027” Also added to its priority efforts are: “Active introduction of plant-based protein”“Introduction of ingredients considering animal welfare” Hotel Matsumotoro’s young proprietress Yuki Matsumoto described this cage-free initiative as follows. “Hotel Matsumotoro aims…
On October 6, 2021, a trial of the former Akita Foods representative in the egg corruption case was held and he was found guilty. He frequently lobbied the then ministers, former ministers, and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) staff to change the international standards of animal welfare into industry-friendly policies, and bribed them. Although convicted, the hens who were the victims of the incident have not been saved at all. The main topic of this incident was animal welfare. While the world, including Japanese citizens, began shifting to cage-free rearing of hens, the industry stayed stuck to cage rearing, and MAFF continued to follow suit. After all, neither…
Asahikawa Koen Guest House In response to an inquiry from Animal Rights Center Japan, Asahikawa Koen Guest House in Asahikawa City, Hokkaido, responded that all the eggs they use are already cage free and that they would support the cage-free commitment. Asahikawa Koen Guest House is an accommodation facility that aims to be a place for local gatherings, with local production for local consumption as much as possible. Cage-free eggs are used for breakfast, and they apparently explain the goodness of cage-free rearing. The owner says, ”One of the reasons why cage-free eggs do not spread is that even if you know cage-free eggs as a word, you do…
On 2021/8/10, we learned that the Cabinet Office had adopted cage-free. Eggs procured in the Cabinet Office cafeteria will only be cage-free or free-range going forward, and cage rearing will not be used. This wonderful achievement was promoted by both the Cabinet Office and the cafeteria operator Nikkoku Trust, and will be highly regarded in Japan as a progressive and ambitious decision. In fact, eggs used from August 10 have already been switched to cage-free! A few years before the launch of plant-based products in Japan became a boom, the Cabinet Office introduced vegan food in the cafeteria and continues to do so. This wave spread not only to the…
The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics are expected to begin in July 2021 after a one-year postponement. As the Tokyo Games will be held during the COVID-19 pandemic, all participants must take additional precautions to protect their health. This goes beyond just disinfecting; it is also important to raise immunity, avoid crowding, and stay away from related risks. Diet, specifically the ingredients in food, play a crucial role in raising immunity among the atheletes. The standards for procuring livestock products for the Tokyo Games were established in 2017. Animal welfare levels are minimal in comparison to world standards. For example, at the London Games, free-range eggs were the minimum standard. At…
In response to an inquiry from the Animal Rights Center Japan, the organic restaurant “Organic Grill Kugenuma-kaigan” in Kanagawa responded that all the eggs they use are already cage free and they promised they will continue to use them. They also would support the cage-free declaration. In addition to the eggs, we found out that the chicken meat they use, imported from Hungary, meets the standards of the Better Chicken Commitment. Also, as for vegetables, they mainly use organic and pesticide-free vegetables. They use different kinds of vegetables based on the seasons. There is also a vegetable plate on the menu that vegan and vegetarian people can enjoy. What is…
On 2021/6/3, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) issued the following report related to the bribery case of the former chair of Akita Foods. Regarding the release of “Report of the Verification Committee on Poultry and Egg Administration” and “Results of Additional Ethical Investigations” The media reported that the conclusion was “chicken egg bribery ‘no policy distortion’ “, but the report shows how much MAFF’s policy was distorted from the start. Questions were also asked by the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Committee, all of which pointed out that the answers were ambiguous and the investigation was inadequate; nevertheless, it repeated that “the policy was not distorted”. Of course,…
In response to an inquiry from Animal Rights Center Japan, a non-profit organization Asahi in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture, responded that all the eggs they use are already cage free and that they would support the cage-free declaration. This is a social welfare corporation that provides employment support for persons with disabilities. They also sell bread and cakes made from cage-free eggs. The owner says, Cage-free rearing was started 40 years ago by the person who first started the company. I think it’s a pity to keep chickens in cages. Cage-free rearing is more fun than cage rearing and the chickens are cute. ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー In response to an inquiry from Animal…
What if it happened to you…? With their legs fixed, chickens are hung upside down before having their heads cut a little with a knife. While bleeding they are kept hanging for a few minutes, then they are put into boiling water headfirst. What if it happened to dogs? Cats? Or humans? Do you think the society that accepts such cruelty is healthy? However, people who stock, process, sell and eat chickens accept the cruelty.They go about their daily lives blocking out the cruelty on their doorstep as they believe it happens elsewhere. Since 2018, Animal Rights Center has been pointing out that chickens have their heads cut off while…
In response to an inquiry from Animal Rights Center Japan, Shusai-tenmi in Aizuwakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture, responded that all the eggs they use are already cage free and that they would support the cage-free declaration. The owner said, All eggs used are cage free. Just as humans feel stress, I think birds do, too. With the eggs being safe and secure, I think it would be best if everyone was cage free if possible. Ai matiere, who had previously declared cage free, told us about this place as a restaurant that also uses cage-free eggs. ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー In response to an inquiry from Animal Rights Center Japan, Casse-tete in Kisarazu City,…
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…
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