Seven samurai to protect “our” food: the reform of the food safety regulatory system in Japan after the BSE crisis of 2001

Abstract

Using the case of food safety governance reform in Japan between 2001 and 2003, this paper examines the relationship between science and trust. The paper explains how the discovery of the first BSE positive cow and consequent food safety scandals in 2001 politicized the role of science in protecting the safety of the food supply. The analysis of the Parliamentary debate focuses on the contestation among legislators and other participants over three dimensions of risk science, including "knowledge," "objects," and "beneficiaries." The metaphor of "seven samurai" and the relationally situated roles of "samurai," "bandits," and "beneficiaries" are used to show that in the process of policy making certain moral and ethical expectations on a new expert institution for food safety were contested and negotiated to frame responsibilities and commitments of social actors for creating the food system based on trust.

Adapting to food safety crises: Interpreting success and failure in the Canadian response to BSE

“…At a time when the public is engaging in an increasingly broad, reflexive and normative conversation about food, policy systems have remained largely unresponsive to these conversations. Such paradoxes not only bare implications for what are considered adaptations to crises, but just as dauntingly for public trust in food systems and food governance (see Tanaka, 2008).…”

Food education as food literacy: privatized and gendered food knowledge in contemporary Japan

“…While there has been a steady decline of food self-sufficiency and deterioration of agriculture in Japan, the past two decades saw particularly damaging food-related scandals that further worsened consumer Food education as food literacy 469 confidence in food policy (Kimura and Nishiyama 2008). In the early 1990s, the StarLink scandal upped the concern with respect to contamination of foods by geneticallymodified crops, and domestic cases of BSE (Mad Cow Disease) which culminated in the suicides of bureaucrats in Ministry of Agriculture did not help to assuage the consumer's declining confidence in food system regulation (Tanaka 2008). In recent years, established food manufacturers have been found to have falsified labels.…”

Between technocracy and democracy: An experimental approach to certification of food products by Japanese consumer cooperative women

“…Thirdly, even when you personally cannot participate in IAM, you know that ''people like you'' have seen the production process and let their voice be heard to the supplier. Scholars have documented that only bringing in ''science'' and ''experts'' does not necessarily succeed in gaining consumer trust particularly in the realm that sits at the juncture of policy-science (Jasanoff, 1990;Tanaka, 2008). Therefore, direct participation of citizens might contribute to bolster confidence among citizens who might distrust the official regulatory institutions.…”

“…Different levels of impact are examined such as one on policies (Guston, 1999), on general thinking in society on a given matter (Guston, 1999), and educational impacts for laypeople (Guston, 1999;Powell and Kleinman, 2008). Wynne (2003) goes further in arguing for empowering laypeople to discuss not only compliance with existing standards, but even fundamental assumptions such as the topic of discussion, what is considered relevant knowledge, who is to be considered the ''expert,'' and the goal of the process itself (Carolan, 2008;Wynne, 2003; see also Tanaka, 2008). Using the criteria identified by these authors, we might heuristically think about participation of food quality control ranging from ''shallow'' to ''deep,'' in terms of process, impact, and agenda. Admittedly, theories of democratization are vast and complex, and these points must not be taken as the definitive list of considerations.…”