Swedish Embassy Book Seminar About Food Safety & Sustainable Fisheries

On November 30, 2009 I will participate in a book seminar at the Swedish Embassy in Tokyo. The event is arranged by Lena Lindahl, Sweden Sustainable Association, a long-term resident in Tokyo with exceptional trilingual skills in the education for sustainability sector.

I will talk about food safety, the precautionary principle, and compare the Swedish and Japanese legislation. Kodansha will participate to introduce my book that was published in May, 2009.

『ニッポン食の安全ランキング５５５』

会場：スウェーデン大使館オーディトリアム
日時：2009年11月30日（月） 18:00-20:30 （開場：17:30）
主催：持続可能なスウェーデン協会（Sustainable Sweden Association）
協力：スウェーデン大使館
参加費：無料
申込み：11月29日までに、お名前、所属、当日の連絡メールアドレスあるいは電話番号を明記の上vzq11450@nifty.ne.jp にご連絡ください。

Also, Yoshihiro Sato will talk about the book "Silent Ocean" that he has translated to Japanese, published by Shinhyo-ron. Written by Swedish journalist Isabella Lövin, we hope this book will stimulate debate about sustainable fishery policies in Japan.

『沈黙の海　—　最後の食用魚を求めて』

Ms. Lövin's book reveals how EU subsidies to fishing fleets have depleted stocks and ruined ecosystems not only in Europe but also in Africa.

Japan is under strong international pressure to reduce consumption of blue fin tuna, the マグロ (maguro) and I hope Yoshi will talk about that issue as well.

Japan should abandon its love affair with sushi and embrace a diet from the austere days of the past, according to the country’s leading fisheries expert.

Masayuki Komatsu, a long-serving minister in the fisheries agency and now head of a prominent think tank, said that Japanese urgently needed to accept that bluefin tuna, of which they consume 44,000 tonnes every year, would soon be far beyond the budgets of ordinary people as stocks dwindle and prices soar.

Swedish Embassy in Tokyo (English website)