I. Introduction

Over the course of the last few decades, the food and agricultural sector in Japan has faced challenges in the form of a series of food safety issues, exemplified by the social controversies surrounding bovine spongiform encephalopathy.¹ Similar intense social conflicts, driven by food safety concerns, erupted over the plan to introduce genetically modified food in the late 1990s.² More recently, food safety concerns have arisen over radiation contamination of food in the wake of the explosion of the Fukushima nuclear power plants.³ Through these experiences, food safety concerns have become central issues in Japanese society.

Another phenomenon worth noting is at present Japan is undergoing is the rapid transformation of the food and agricultural sector through the use of sci­ence and technology for food production and processing. As exemplified by gene edited foods and cultured meat, science and technology have given rise to novel ways of making and altering foods.⁴ These are coupled with government policies that favor deregulation, policies reflected in trade agreements such as

1 K. Tanaka, “Seven Samurai to Protect “Our” Food: the Reform of the Food Safety Regulatory System in Japan After the BSE Crisis of 2001” (2008) 25 Agriculture and Human Values 567, 567—580.

2 Y Otsuka, Naze Idenshikumikae Sakumotu wa Kaihatsu Saretanoka: Biotechnology no Shakaigaku [Why have GMOs been Developed? Sociology of Biotechnology] (Akashi Shoten, 1999); T. Yamaguchi and F Suda, “Changing Social Order and the Quest for Justification: GMO Controversies in Japan” (2009) 35:3 Science, Technology, & Human Values, 382, 382—407.

3 Y Igarashi, Minnade Kimeta “Anshin” no Katachi [Community-Led Food Safety Standards] (Tokyo, Akishobou 2012); AH Kimura, Radiation Brain Moms and Citizen Scientists: The Gender Politics of Food Contamination after Fukushima (Durham, Duke University Press 2016); C.

4 A Shukla-Jones et al., “Gene Editing in an International Context: Scientific, Economic and Social Issues Across Sectors” (2018) OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 2018/04;

DOI: 10.4324/9781003271918-16 the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partner­ship, which went into force in 2018, and the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement in 2019. These changes have built the expectations of people in industry who hope to expand their market while creating additional tensions for those who are concerned about the safety of novel foods.

One arena in which societal tensions surface is the use of health foods. Health foods are met with high expectations from people in industry, both domes­tic and abroad, who are trying to enter into the Japanese market or expand their market share, yet at the same time, such foods also raise safety concerns. Japan’s health food market is currently said to be the world’s third largest and is expected to grow further,^{[699] [700] but health consequences of the misuse and overuse of health foods have been observed.[701] These observations suggest that in trying to understand the issues related to the food and agricultural sector in contem­porary society, it is important to understand the concerns that arise over the safety and quality of food in the wake of expectations of future market growth.}

Against this backdrop, this chapter sheds light on discourses surrounding the use of health foods, in particular where societal concerns over safety and expec­tations about the use of science and technology in making novel foods intersect with expectations of market expansion. Given that there are multiple interests and issues at stake, it will be useful to map out conflicting social phenomena and competing interpretations on the use of health improvement food. The chapter introduces two relevant cases in Japan: one an incident connected to controver­sies that surround “foods for specified health uses (FoSHU)-labeled” food prod­ucts and the second a set of food labeling policies that was introduced in 2015 called “Foods with Functional Claims.” In this chapter, I draw on an analysis of regulatory texts such as minutes of expert committees, governmental reports, and reports and letters published by consumer groups as well as data obtained from participant observation of seminars and forums that relate to health foods. Section II introduces the analytical lenses that are used to understand the two cases. Section III provides background to this study by introducing how health foods are regulated in Japan. Then cases are described and analyzed.

II.