Masashi Tachikawa | Nagoya University (original) (raw)

Papers by Masashi Tachikawa

Journal of Food System Research, 2022

Agricultural genome editing is now entering a practical application stage. However, hitherto, the... more Agricultural genome editing is now entering a practical application stage. However, hitherto, there has been little research into or comparisons of international consumer understanding of these genome editing innovations. Therefore, a comparative Japanese, American, and German study was conducted using the same web-based questionnaire to elucidate the issues surrounding genome editing governance, the current state of regulations, and personal opinions about the use of agricultural genome editing technology. It was found that t he Japanese felt that there should be strict regulations, and the Germans had the greatest concern about the use of the technology.

Sonraku shakai kenkyū, 1999

Journal of rural problems, 2006

Frontiers in Plant Science

Regulations for organisms and products to which genome-editing technologies are applied are incre... more Regulations for organisms and products to which genome-editing technologies are applied are increasing in diversity, with the path-dependent effect of previous regulations for genetically modified organisms. Regulations for genome-editing technologies are a patchwork of international regulations that are difficult to harmonize. However, if the approaches are arranged in chronological order and the overall trend is examined, the regulation of genome-edited organisms and GM food products has recently been trending toward a middle ground which can be characterized as “limited convergence.” There is a trend toward the adoption of two approaches: one that considers GMOs but tries to apply simplified regulations and another that excludes them from the scope of regulations as non-GMOs but requires confirmation. In this paper, we discuss why there is a tendency toward convergence of these two approaches and examine the challenges and implications of these two approaches for the governance o...

Frontiers in Genome Editing

Japan clarified its regulatory approaches for products derived from genome editing technologies i... more Japan clarified its regulatory approaches for products derived from genome editing technologies in 2019. Consequently, Japan has become a pioneer in the social implementation of such technologies, as to date, the notification process for three products, GABA-enriched tomato, fleshier red sea bream, and high-growth tiger puffer, has been completed. However, this has led to questions about how this was achieved, given the poor consumer acceptance and low public support for genetically modified (GM) foods in the past. This paper describes Japan’s regulatory approaches and their implementation guidelines for products created using genome editing technologies. It explains the governance of genome editing technologies and how the derived products have been introduced into society. The three factors that made this possible include: 1) improved R&D environments as a result of government-led innovation policy and regulations which have sought a balance between science and social demand 2) ch...

Japanese Journal of Agricultural Economics

Nature Sustainability

Sustainable agrifood systems are critical to averting climate-driven social and ecological disast... more Sustainable agrifood systems are critical to averting climate-driven social and ecological disasters, overcoming the growth paradigm and redefining the interactions of humanity and nature in the twenty-first century. This Perspective describes an agenda and examples for comprehensive agrifood system redesign according to principles of sufficiency, regeneration, distribution, commons and care. This redesign should be supported by coordinated education and research efforts that do not simply replicate dominant discourses on food system sustainability but point towards a post-growth world in which agroecological life processes support healthy communities rather than serving as inputs for the relentless pursuit of economic growth.

Science, Technology, & Human Values

This study statistically explored public perceptions of the risks and benefits of the agricultura... more This study statistically explored public perceptions of the risks and benefits of the agricultural application of gene editing to food crops using online surveys in the US ( n = 2,050), Japan ( n = 1,842), and Germany ( n = 1,962). The American participants exhibited the most positive attitudes toward this emerging technology. Japanese participants demonstrated similar attitudes to German participants regarding risk perceptions and demonstrated closer attitudes to American participants regarding benefit perceptions. Further, the American participants did not highly differentiate between gene-edited and conventionally bred foods when compared to German and Japanese participants. Presentation of information using either animal or plant illustrations did not have any impact on risk perceptions toward gene-edited crops in the three countries, but the German and Japanese people who were given information with plant illustrations showed higher perceptions of benefit than those who were gi...

Reviews in Agricultural Science, 2021

As the demand for local products increases, there has been a call to promote sago starch (Metroxy... more As the demand for local products increases, there has been a call to promote sago starch (Metroxylon sagu Rottb.) at the regional level in Indonesia. In this study, we examine the current status of the sago supply chain and its role in promoting rural development. Our study reveals the weak bargaining position sago farmers have due to inefficiencies in the sago supply chain and lack of market information. Furthermore, we also point out the direction in which future actions should be taken as guidelines in order to achieve a high level of efficiency along the sago supply chain. In particular, we highlight farm production management, logistical systems, agronomy, and knowledge and information as key dimensions of sago supply chain in the context of rural development.

Journal of Food System Research, 2018

In North America, we can find various attempts to change local food systems by considering the vi... more In North America, we can find various attempts to change local food systems by considering the viewpoints of multiple stakeholders. In particular, the concepts of food policy (Tim Lang) and citizenʼs engagement are key. In this paper, I will describe how these ideas have been discussed in North America by referring to various practical attempts to solve issues of local food systems, such as food policy councils, urban food policy, food charters, and so on. After describing the details of these activities and implications to food access issues, I argue that we need to consider the multi-functionality of food in urban society, and that this idea encourages us to develop a more coordinated relationship between food systems and urban planning in local contexts. Understanding the multi-functionality of food leads us to reconsider the nature of food from the viewpoint of "food as commons" rather than food as commodity.

Public Understanding of Science, 2017

Despite the promotion of public engagement in science, there has been little empirical research o... more Despite the promotion of public engagement in science, there has been little empirical research on the sociocultural and attitudinal characteristics of participants in science communication activities and the extent to which such individuals are representative of the general population. We statistically investigated the distinctiveness of visitors to a scientific research institution by contrasting samples from visitor surveys and nationally representative surveys. The visitors had more cultural capital (science and technology/art and literature) and believed more in the value of science than the general public, but there was no difference regarding assessment of the levels of national science or of the national economy. A deeper examination of the variations in the visitors’ exhibit-viewing behaviors revealed that individuals with more scientific and technical cultural capital viewed more exhibits and stayed longer at the events. This trend in exhibit-viewing behaviors remained con...

n August 1999, the Japanese government decided to introduce mandatory labeling for genetically mo... more n August 1999, the Japanese government decided to introduce mandatory labeling for genetically modified (GM) food starting from April 2001. Under the labeling system, certain types of processed food such as oil and sweeteners from corn are exempted from labeling, since scientific verification tests detecting GMO ingredient cannot be applied persuasively. The result of the introduction of labeling system was contrary to the initial expectation of the Japanese government. That is, the shift from conventional grain, which might contain GMO, to Non-GMO has been observed very rapidly among various actors consisting of the US-Japanese agro-food system. Those actors made a major effort to create an identity preserved (IP) handling system to procure Non-GM grains from the US. The establishment of IP handling system, however, has raised various socio-economic issues, such as the distribution of additional costs among actors, further coordination among trading partners, liability issues for c...

Journal of Food System Research, 2020

The divergent experts views on the risk of low level exposure to radionuclides in foods as a resu... more The divergent experts views on the risk of low level exposure to radionuclides in foods as a result of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident were one of the sources of public distrust and confusion in the aftermath of the disaster. How should the decision-makers develop risk management measures in face of such complex risk and uncertainty? Joint Fact-Finding (JFF) is a collaborative approach or process that provides a forum for (a) co-framing what problem needs to be addressed and (b) co-producing jointly found fact including the areas of agreement and disagreement. The aim of this paper is to analyze the findings from the experimental case of JFF. Through JFF, the following findings were identified; different views among experts stemming from their disciplines, various approaches towards scientific uncertainty, the interface issue between risk assessment and management, and the different management paradigms between food risk control and radiological protection.

The recent advancement in new biotechnology namely genome editing tools has prompted excitement i... more The recent advancement in new biotechnology namely genome editing tools has prompted excitement in research and development community and allowed a lot of application in the field of food and agriculture to be developed. The aim of this paper is to shed light on the potential governance challenges posed by this new emerging biotechnology and to present the needed policy measures with particular focus on Japanese context. For that purpose, we identified challenges in regulation, research and development and social acceptance. We then explored the desirable recommendations on measures to be taken in terms of (1) horizon scanning, (2) foresight, (3) technology assessment, safety assessment and regulatory gap analysis, and (4) risk communication.

CABI Agriculture and Bioscience, 2021

Background This study statistically explores the relationship between information provision and p... more Background This study statistically explores the relationship between information provision and peoples’ attitudes towards the application of gene-editing technology to food, by contrasting cases of gene-edited livestock and vegetables in Japan. Japanese food producers and researchers are optimistic about the application of the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) approach to food. Due to the strict regulations regarding genetically modified (GM) food, GM crops are not commercially cultivated in Japan. Consumers worldwide have concerns about application of this technology to food. Further examination of this issue for Japanese consumers with lower acceptance towards GM food should provide essential information for global agricultural communities. Methods Using a web survey, split-ballot experimental design was used to randomly assign the respondents into two groups: (1) the animal group, for which information on breeding technologies, including gene edi...

Journal of Food System Research, 2017