Japan
Who's Who Top
Government
Governmental actors with a direct or indirect role in biosecurity and scientific oversight are included here. This is not a guide to overall governmental structure. Some departments listed here may have only a marginal interest or role in biosecurity. This is a “living” document and comments about the content or any potential omissions are welcome. Please contact webmaster@biosecuritycodes.org.
Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet
Comment: COMING SOON
Division(s) within Prime Minister's Office with a role or interest in biosecurity:
Department / Ministry / Agency:
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Comment: COMING SOON
Defence Agency
Comment: COMING SOON
Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI)
Comment: COMING SOON
Division(s) within METI with a role or interest in biosecurity:
Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT)
Comment: COMING SOON
Division(s) within MEXT with a role or interest in biosecurity:
Foreign Affairs (Gaimuscho)
Comment: COMING SOON
Division(s) within Gaimuscho with a role or interest in biosecurity:
Health, Labour, and Welfare (MHLW)
Comment: COMING SOON
Division(s) within HLW with a role or interest in biosecurity:
National Academies & Academia
Though research is ongoing, we currently have no information regarding Japanese universities or national academies actively working on biosecurity. Any information that should be included on this site can be sent to webmaster@biosecuritycodes.org.
Industry
This list of companies, with significant life sciences interests, illustrates the breadth of impact on industry that any changes in regulations governing the availability of life sciences information would have. This may include limitations on publication openness, control or review of experiments and research, or various other factors arising from the sensitive, dual-use nature of some life sciences work. This is a “living” document and comments about the content or any potential omissions are welcome. Please contact webmaster@biosecuritycodes.org.
Takeda Chemical Industry
Comment: Coming Soon
Contact: + 81 - 6 - 6204 - 2111
Research Institutes & Non-Profits
Though research is ongoing, we currently have no information regarding Japanese institutes or organizations actively working on biosecurity. Any information that should be included on this site can be sent to webmaster@biosecuritycodes.org.
Events Top
This is a list of events relevant to biosecurity. This is a “living” document and comments about the content or any potential omissions are welcome. Please contact webmaster@biosecuritycodes.org.
2006
7th Meeting of the Global Health Security Action Group
Date: Late 2006
Location: Japan
Participant(s): Ministers/Secretaries/Commissioner of Health and senior health officials from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, France, Japan, Mexico, the European Union and the World Health Organization.
Description: This annual meeting is held to coordinate public health activities throughout the world.
Future Measures on Strengthening the BWC Regime
Date: 14 February, 2006
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Participant(s): 26 Nations
Description: Twenty six nations met in Tokyo to exchange views on the BWC and prepare for the formal BWC review conference later this year.
1995
Sarin Gas Attack on the Tokyo Subway
Date: 20 March, 1995
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Participants: AUM Shinrikyo
Description: AUM Shinrikyo, a radical Japanese religious group, released Sarin gas into the Tokyo metro. Considered a domestic terror event, the attack killed 12 people and injured approximately 6000. Though this was a chemical attack, it underscores the danger from and the panic caused by these types of attacks.
1993
Aum Shinrikyo attempts biological weapons attacks in Tokyo
Date: June - August 1993
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Participants: Aum Shinrikyo
Description: In three separate incidents, members of the Japanese Aum Shinrikyo cult attempted to use toxins to attack Japanese government installations. The attacks failed because of technical difficulties regarding dissemination or because the group had failed to obtain a virulent toxin.
1990
Aum Shinrikyo attempts botulinum attack
Date: April 1990
Location: Tokyo, Yokohama, Yokosuka, & Narita, Japan
Participants: Aum Shinrikyo
Description: Members of the Japanese Aum Shinrikyo cult sprayed what they thought was botulinum toxin from trucks as they drove past US military and Japanese government installations. The attacks failed because the group had failed to isolate the toxin properly from the contaminated soil sample which they had used.
Legislation Top
Below is a select list of laws in Japan. As biosecurity is a relatively new and rapidly developing field, many countries have yet to devise or implement laws specific to biosecurity. Since biosecurity has much in common with national security, biosafety, bioterrorism, biological weapons, import / export of dual-use materials, and biodiversity, some countries may develop biosecurity legislation by adapting existing laws within these other areas. Therefore, biosecurity legislation and other laws that could potentially be used as background for biosecurity legislation are included here.
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Japanese National Defence and Citizen Protection from Attack by Force
- Date: June, 2004
- Comment: In the event that Japan is attacked, this law stipulates the responsibility of central and local government (e.g. – responsibilities of the Minister of Health and Labour in the event of an infectious disease attack) and mandates cooperation of citizens, evacuation of dwellers in order to protect citizens from the attack, and minimize the effect of the attack on Japanese society and its economy. It also stipulates that, in the event of an armed attack, the government may order facilities containing biological materials to move, restrict access to, or destroy those materials.
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Governmental Basic Directions for Addressing Bio-Chemical Terrorism
- Date: November, 2001
- Comment: These directions were set after the 2001 Anthrax attacks in the US in order to prevent the imitation of such crimes and other types of bio-chemical terrorism in Japan . This directions call for strengthening: the sanitary and medical systems (e.g. – through vaccine research), the ability of medical and other related organizations to address bio-terror attacks, the management of bio-chemical products, the bio-terror response abilities of police, self-defence force, and other disaster-prevention related organizations, and public knowledge of appropriate biological information.
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Ministerial Notice on Laboratory Safeguards
- Date: October, 2001
- Comment: The Japanese Minster of Health, Labour & Welfare issued a notice advising research institutes and laboratories to establish safeguard systems for dangerous pathogens, to ensure adequate security measures, to keep a register of dangerous pathogens and to maintain records of the possession of select agents as well as their stated purpose.
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- Date: 1 April, 1999
- Comment: This law stipulates the responsibility of various public sector entities in regards to infectious diseases. It also categorizes diseases according to their perceived threat level. The law was amended on November 5, 2003.
Biosecurity Code Examples Top
Though research is ongoing, we currently have no information regarding biosecurity codes in use or development in Japan. Any information that should be included on this site can be sent to webmaster@biosecuritycodes.org.
