유전자변형 밀: 일본의 신중함은 2차대전 이후의 문화에 뿌리를 두고 있다

Federal agriculture investigators still haven't said how genetically-modified wheat appeared in an eastern Oregon field. 

Soon after the world learned a strain of genetically modified wheat was found in an eastern Oregon field, Japanese officials suspended a shipment of nearly 25,000 tons of soft white wheat.

The action chilled Oregon's export markets. The Japanese shipment, valued at an estimated $7 million, was only a small part of Oregon's entire wheat market, which is valued at $300 million to $500 million annually.

In the United States, genetically modified food makes up a large part of general crop production. According to 2012 USDA data, 95 percent of sugar beets, 93 percent of soybeans and 88 percent of corn grown in the U.S. were GMOs. The Environmental Working Group, a health research and advocacy nonprofit, estimates the average American consumes 193 pounds of genetically engineered products a year.

The postponed shipment also raised many questions about Japan's quick reaction and other Asian markets, by extension. Japanese officials have since conducted extensive testing of wheat samples dating to October 2012, and all have returned negative results for GM wheat. The country may be close to resuming imports, said Vince Peterson, vice president of overseas operations for U.S. Wheat, the marketing group working most closely with Japan, South Korea and the USDA on the GM wheat issue.

"They test on more things than anybody in the universe," he said.

He added that Japan is known for strict "internal safeguards" for food imports and already tests for pesticide residue. Japan's caution involves more than health concerns over GM foods. The wariness toward this major agricultural export reflects post-World War II politics, ancient religious beliefs and the Asian nation's complex relationship with the U.S.

Health concerns

Government surveys show a high percentage of Japanese consumers are concerned about food safety.

In a 2012 survey conducted by the Committee of Food Safety in Japan, 64.8 percent of the 344 respondents said they were very or somewhat concerned about food safety. Forty-nine percent said they were very or somewhat concerned about GM food.

USDA and Oregon officials have said GM food is safe for human consumption or for use as animal feed.

"There is scientific proof that it is not harmful to your body, but still, the image of GMOs, the public can't take," said Hiroshi Furusawa, Japan's consul general to Portland.

There is a labeling law in Japan, but there are loopholes. If less than 5 percent of a product contains GM material, it doesn't have to carry a label, said Neal Akatsuka, a Harvard University doctoral student studying GMOs in Japan. Food is categorized under three types of claims: non-GMO, GMO and non-segregated, which means the food was not kept separate from other biotech commodities, according to a June report from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service.

"You won't ever find a label that says, 'This is GMO,'" Akatsuka said. "You can only find labels that say, 'This is not GMO' because of the fact that companies are very, very aware that having a GMO label would effectively stigmatize their product."

In January 2012, Japan approved the shipment of GM rainbow papaya from Hawaii after a decade-long approval process. Mainstream markets are resistant to selling the fruit because of the potentially negative connotation of the engineered products, he said.

Despite all of the concerns about genetically modified food, Japan remains the world's largest per-capita importer of engineered food and animal feed, Akatsuka said. In 2009, a GM rose was altered for blue color, marking the first biotech crop grown in Japan.

"The government kind of has a contradictory attitude toward (GMOs)," said Nancy Rosenberger, an Oregon State University anthropologist specializing in Japan.

Politically powerful farmers

Some of the loudest voices against genetically modified imports and seeds come from the agricultural community.

"Farmers in Japan do not want to see increased yields (that come with GM food) because if they do, they'll be putting themselves out of business," said Terry Townsend, executive director of the International Cotton Advisory Committee.

These farmers can turn talk into action. Population representation in the Japanese legislature was not redistributed after World War II, so rural areas have a disproportionate number of voices, Townsend said. This results in agricultural subsidies and powerful farmers lobbies, he said.

Farmers' opinions and Japanese cultural traditions run in tandem.

"There's always been this dislike of things deemed unnatural," said Patricia Maclachlan, associate professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin.

Purity of the home and body are tenets of Shintoism, Japan's oldest religion. Not all Japanese identify as Shinto, but the tradition of cleanliness is steeped into everyday culture.

"We are so particular," said Furusawa, Japan's consul general to Portland. "No dirt should be in the house. Meticulously, we clean and vacuum."

This extends to GM food. Food that is altered can be seen as impure.

Post-World War II relationship

Reluctance to accept American GM food also has roots in the post-World War II era. After the war, U.S. occupation forces enforced a number of changes for Japan, including a new constitution, educational system, dismantled military and imported food such as wheat, which changed eating habits.

There's no longstanding grudge against Americans for the introduction of wheat, but imports -- especially rice -- have triggered nationalist concerns of U.S. domination, said Anne McKnight, professor of Asian languages and culture at UCLA.

Japan has imported food from the U.S. in increasing amounts since the 1950s. Add in the new Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade agreement around the Pacific Rim, and calls for greater Japanese self-sufficiency have increased within the organic farming community, Rosenberger said.

"They feel that imports will flood in even more and that foreign corporations will buy land," she said.