Japan is a marginal performer (“D”) under the VACI. Although the country’s dependence on farmed animals is low, Japan consumes more land-based animal protein than the global average, and has a poor animal protection legislative framework.
Want to compare Japan’s 2020 VACI performance?
Download the 2017 VACI Report for Japan here.
Japan slaughters around 6.4 land-based animals per person per year, which is significantly lower than the global average of 10.1. The country’s dependence on farmed animals is also low, with around 2.6 farmed animals per person, compared to the global average of 4.1. Due to the shortage of arable land, grazing is uncommon and factory farming is widespread, particularly with pigs, chickens and other farmed birds, as well as cows for dairy production.
The Japanese diet is highly dependent on seafood. Even so, 45% of the average person’s diet consists of land-based animal protein, versus a global average of 35.2%, which is still the second lowest among high-income countries (after Korea). This means that each Japanese citizen consumes around 31.4g of land-based animal protein per day, compared with a global average of 27.2g.
Japan is rated as a poor performer (“E”) under the Animal Protection Index (API), and its farmed animal protection legislation achieved the worst performance rating (“G”) under the same index. This is due to serious gaps in Japan’s animal protection legislative framework, poor and uncoordinated enforcement mechanisms and an apparent absence of government commitment to animal welfare. Learn more about the quality of Japan’s legislative protections on the API here.