Issues

Originally written by Luis Costigan of Effective Altruism Japan, modified by Yuki Takahashi. Summary Farm animal welfare is considered a high-priority cause area by the Effective Altruism community due to the sheer scale, neglectedness, and tractability of the problem. Egg-layer hens are the most farmed animals both globally and in Japan (excluding fish). The number is similar to that of humans. Over 99% of layer hens in Japan are reared in battery cages. Battery cages are plausibly extremely bad; many sources have evaluated a life in a battery cage to provide the lowest levels of welfare across all farmed land animals. Campaigning for corporations to source eggs from cage-free producers…

In response to an inquiry from Animal Rights Center Japan, MISATOYA in Chofu City, Tokyo, responded that all the eggs they use are already cage-free and that they would support the cage-free declaration. This is a greengrocer dealing with organic vegetables, additive-free foods, etc. and has a natural food restaurant.  They have been using cage-free eggs for 35 years. 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ーーーーー Also in response to an inquiry from Animal Rights Center Japan, Natural Ingredients Origin in Oku Kyoto Ayabe responded that all the eggs they use are already cage-free and that they would support the cage-free declaration. She is using cage-free eggs because her daughter is allergic but had no allergic reaction…

Imu Hotel Kyoto and Animal Rights Center Japan have been on the path to cage-free over the past year, with occasional harsh debates. Originally with vegan options and a proven track record of food education events, including animal welfare, the hotel’s restaurant naturally has a deep commitment to ingredients. Initially, the food supplier used by Imu Hotel did not handle cage-free eggs, and there was a big hurdle to achieving cage-free without changing the favors at the restaurant. For this reason ARCJ introduced some poultry farms in the neighborhood, but it was difficult to get OK from the Imu Hotel side. The price of cage-free eggs that match the chef’s…

On 2020/12/21, it was reported that the former Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Takamori Yoshikawa announced that he would resign as a member of the Diet, and on the 22nd, he submitted a resignation request to the chairman of the House of Representatives, Tadamori Oshima, which was accepted. As the chairman Oshima was also a representative who was named to have been involved with Akita Foods in Bunshun press, this act makes one feel that there may be no clean politics. While the politician who received fraudulent money is denounced, it’s a strange society where the corporation to which the representative who gave the fraudulent money belonged can escape…

A former representative (then president) of an egg poultry giant Akita Foods handed about 5 million yen in cash to Japan’s former Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and had entertained the Cabinet Special Advisor Koya Nishikawa, on a cruise ship. This case is directly linked to the suffering of chickens. The fact that the poultry industry and politicians profited means that there are those who suffer disadvantages, but the victims this time are the weak and the voiceless who do not speak human language; they are the chickens. The OIE (World Organization for Animal Health) states that one of the guiding principles of animal welfare is that “The use…

In response to an inquiry from Animal Rights Center Japan, Gateau d’ange Tenshi-no-pancake in Kamakura District, Kanagawa Prefecture, responded that all the eggs they use are already cage-free and that they would support the cage-free declaration. The owner says, I use cage-free eggs because chickens are living creatures, so I want to use eggs of healthy chickens who are stress-free, and have not been given antibiotics. I also consider whether the environment is suitable for animal welfare and is not reared in a poor environment. I am also conscious of circulating food scraps in the field as compost. We are also working on wood-burning stoves, solar power generation, and the…

In response to an inquiry from Animal Rights Center Japan, Oninoie, a social welfare corporation based in Saitama that develops various businesses such as employment support for people with disabilities, responded that all the eggs they use are already cage-free and that they would support the cage-free declaration. The owner says, I want to use healthy chicken eggs and keep them cage-free. Chickens fly around freely, eating healthy food such as vegetable scraps, broccoli leaves, and Japanese mustard spinach. I feel sorry about cage rearing. At Oninoie poultry Farm, it is the role of the handicapped persons to feed and collect eggs, and it can be said that this is…

In the media reports of the poultry bribe suspicion case in which the former Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, had secretly received 5 million yen in cash from a former representative of the egg-producing giant “Akita Foods” (Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture), there was the following detail: There are voices that both MAFF’s argument against the OIE’s international standard on AW, and the expansion of support for large-scale producers of price difference compensation projects, “were the default route, and may not have required politicians’ intervention”. 2020/12/7 Sankei Newspaper Is this really the case? It’s true that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) has backward attitude toward the world…