More than two years on from the disaster of March 11, 2011, debate continues in the mainstream and social media about the uses of fear to advance agendas. Much of the debate is centered on the environmental crisis surrounding the crippled Fukushima nuclear reactor. On one side are people who say that the region is dangerously irradiated, thus making it uninhabitable for generations. On the other are people who say the danger is minimal and that antinuclear advocates are exaggerating findings in order to scare the public into needlessly rejecting nuclear power.

Silkworms in a Japanese lab are busy spinning silks that glow in the dark. But these silkworms, unlike others that have been fed rainbow-coloured dyes, don't need any dietary interventions to spin in colour: they've been genetically engineered to produce fluorescent skeins in shades of red, orange, and green.

The conference was held under the theme of "GMO-Free Declaration from Yamanashi: Let's Protect Precious Food for Our Livelihood." Mr. Chiaki Horikawa, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the JA Rihoku (local agricultural cooperative) made an opening comment as the chairperson of the planning committee for the conference. He expressed his concern over risks of the TPP negotiations regarding universal health care and food safety. "We want to keep our fruits and vegetables safe and secure. To this end, we include the clause ‘GM crops are not permitted’ in the agriculture promotion plan of JA Rihoku," said Mr. Horikawa.

Japan’s farm minister has tried to calm concerns about possible shortfalls in the country’s main source of flour for cake and other sweets after genetically modified wheat was discovered in the United States, saying the country has two months’ inventory of the grade. [...] “We’re looking to the development of an investigation by U.S. authorities,” Hayashi said. “But if the period of the halt is prolonged, we may have to consider the possibility of an earlier supply than usual of this year’s locally grown wheat and the possibility of importing alternative types from abroad.”

A strain of genetically modified wheat found in the United States fuelled concerns over food supplies across Asia on Thursday, with major importer Japan cancelling a tender offer to buy U.S. grain. Other top Asian wheat importers South Korea, China and the Philippines said they were closely monitoring the situation after the U.S. government found genetically engineered wheat sprouting on a farm in the state of Oregon.

The strain was never approved for sale or consumption.

Protocols aplenty are signed and ratified but how well-equipped are countries in tackling problems relating to the unintentional release of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) resulting in damage to native crops and biological diversity? [...] Toshiki Mashimo and Michiye Koketu of the Consumers Union of Japan, through a presentation on contamination of local crops by genetically modified canola (rapeseed), laid bare the chinks in the armour of Japanase law governing such release. GM canola growing wildly has been found at many locations in Japan, mainly near harbours and on neighbouring roads, leading to food oil factories posing a threat to local crops. Japan's importing firms that get GM canola from North Amercia, food oil companies that make canola oil and transporters are all directly responsible for such contamination.

The Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which was adopted at an international conference on biodiversity held in the central Japanese city of Nagoya in 2010, takes effect 90 days after 40 signatories ratify it. Forty-six countries and regions have so far signed the pact, which has been open for signature at the U.N. headquarters in New York over a period of one year since March last year, and two of them have ratified it. Japan will sign the pact later in the day, and prepare for ratifying it, the officials said.

They are the only gene-altered fruit on the market today in Japan, a country with strict laws regarding genetically-modified organisms. [...] U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist Dennis Gonsalves, who helped develop the new fruit variety, may be its best salesman. [...]

Gonsalves calls it the ”Super Bowl” of marketing challenges: getting a population that’s still widely skeptical of genetic-engineering technology to enjoy a beautiful, delicious papaya with a GMO label on it.

After 13 years of negotiations, Japan has approved its first shipment of genetically-modified Rainbow papayas from Hawaii. ”The fact that the Japanese have tested it to the nth degree and evaluated its food and environmental safety proves it’s a good product,” said Rod Yonemura, consultant to the 160-member Hawaii Papaya Industry Association based in Hilo, capital of Hawaii’s Big Island. The Dec. 5 shipment consisted of 1,248 5-pound cases for sale and 32 cases for sampling at Coastco Japan, Yonemura said.

The Japanese government has granted approval for the commercial shipments of genetically modified ‘Rainbow’ papaya from Hawaii, according to a USDA Foreign Agricultural Service report. “This announcement marks the end of a long process that began back in 1999, and the beginning of a new chapter for Hawaiian papaya growers,” the report stated. “The approval of Rainbow papaya is significant because it is the first horticultural biotech product and the first direct-to-consumer food product to gain regulatory approval in Japan.”