【Title】 Climate and Societal Impacts of Cultivated Meat in Japan

【Outline】
“Cultured meat” is a new paradigm of protein production produced by cellular agriculture technology, which has a positive impact on various aspects such as sustainability, food supply according to consumers’ beliefs, public health, diversification and preservation of food culture, and food security.
In this webinar, we will discuss the current status and future of the rapidly developing cell-based agri-food industry, focusing on the results of cutting-edge research on “life cycle assessment”, which comprehensively quantifies the cost and environmental impact of “cultured meat”.

【Date】 Friday, October 15, 2021, 10:00 – 11:30 (Japanese Standard Time)

【Method and Languages】
Online (using Zoom)
Japanese and English (with Simultaneous Interpretation)

【How to Participate】
Please register at the following URL, and you can watch the session online.
TinyURL.com/JapanMeat

【Time Schedule】

10:00~10:05 Introductory Remarks

10:05~10:25 Global State of the Industry

10:25~10:50 Life Cycle Analysis & Climate Impacts

10:50~11:05 Opportunities for Japanese Leadership

11:05~11:30 Q&A: Full Panel

【Presenters (in the Schedule)】
・Prof. Akira Igata, Executive Director,
Center for Rule-making Strategies, Tama University
[Introductory Remarks] [Q&A]
・Varun Deshpande, Managing Director, Good Food Institute Asia
[Global Industry Trends in Cellular Agri-Food]
・Dr. Elliot Swartz, Lead Scientist – Cultivated Meat, Good Food Institute US
[Life cycle assessment and environmental impact of cultured meat]
・Megumi Avigail Yoshitomi, PR Manager, Japan Association for Cellular Agriculture
[Current situation and possible leadership in Japan]

【Organized by】
・GFI APAC (The Good Food Institute Asia-Pacific)
https://www.gfi-apac.org/ja/about-gfi-apac/
・CRS (Center for Rule Making Strategies)
https://crs-japan.org//

【Supporters】
・ICAS (Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies)
https://www.tuj.ac.jp/icas/
・Cellular Agriculture institute of the commons (Japan)
https://www.cellagri.org/

For more information, please contact: APAC@GFI.org

We are happy to invite you to a Zoom seminar “The End of the LDP As We Know It” on 7th October, held by CRS and ICAS (Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies) .

Date and time: 7th October 2021, 09:30 – 11:00 AM JST
Wednesday 6 October 20:30 Washington, D.C. | 17:30 California

Language: English

Summary:
A half a year ago, the prospect of an LDP presidential election did not inspire flights of the imagination. After all, what could break the hammerlock the top three party factions – the Hosoda, the Aso and the Nikai – had upon the process of selecting the party leader? Who or what could outmaneuver the wily LDP Secretary-General Nikai Toshihiro, whom two prime ministers in a row found themselves powerless to budge from his post at the apex of the party’s secretariat?
Over the summer of 2021, however, several factors became catalysts for changes in the party’s internal power structures. A presidential campaign like any other had unfolded, with the faction leaders and the party’s senior officials left gasping as erstwhile subordinates have run away with the narrative and the initiative. So many assumptions about how the LDP “works” have been challenged that the unprecedented situation of half of the candidates being women has been largely subsumed.
What will we have learned from this election? Michael Cucek will offer his views, along with suggestions of avenues of future research into the contemporary LDP.

Speaker:
Michael Cucek is Assistant Professor of Asian Studies at Temple University, Japan Campus He is a senior advisor to the consultancy Langley Esquire and an independent political consultant. Prior to and concurrent with his present positions, he has been Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Temple University, Japan Campus Adjunct Professor of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Waseda University, and Adjunct Professor of the Faculty of Liberal Arts at Sophia University. He was Senior Research Analyst at Okamoto Associates, Inc. a strategic and business consulting firm to Japanese multinationals and government affiliated agencies and a Research Associate at the Asahi National Broadcast Company. Professor Cucek’s specializations include Japan’s foreign relations with its East Asian neighbors, the history of East Asia, Japanese politics, U.S. policy in Asia, the history of race and racism and international cooperation, trade and development. A graduate of Stanford University with graduate studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara and Columbia University, he has lived in Tokyo since 1994.

Profile picture has been quoted from https://twitter.com/MichaelTCucek?s=20
Registration:
To register, please RSVP to icas@tuj.temple.edu
Registration not required but helpful for organizers.
Join for free with the following link:
https://temple.zoom.us/j/93737767002
Meeting ID: 937 3776 7002

On September 16, 2021, Nikkei Biotech published an article which features Visiting Researcher Megumi Avigail Yoshitomi’s interview. The article is titled “Cultured Meat Industry to Submit Proposals for Legislation to Liberal Democratic Party’s all-party parliamentary group to be launched this Fall -Handling of culture medium components and intellectual property of Wagyu beef and other products are points of the discussion.”

The article talks about the main points of the proposal, which will be submitted to the all-party parliamentary group to be established by the Liberal Democratic Party in the fall of 2021.

This article can be read only by Nikkei Biotech paid subscribers Here.

On September 25, 2021, Prof. Akira Igata was appointed as an official commentator for “Yahoo!.”

Click Here to see the list of comments by Prof. Igata (written in Japanese).