asked in 2005

1. What are the obstacles you have had to overcome in your work?

1. Genetically modified food: In 1997, after the first authorisation of GM food in Japan in 1996, the Seikatsu Club began to inspect every consumer material and excluded GM food, feed and additives.
2. Containers and Packaging Recycling Law: Under this law, business operators themselves bear the cost of retrieval of returnable bottles, but the recovery of recyclable containers is subsidized by taxes, resulting in an incentive for business operators to choose the lower cost container recycling option. This law is under discussion as a result of our effort to change it, as mentioned in our answer to the next question.


2. How big is your political and economical influence today?

The Seikatsu Club has been successful in pressuring the national and local governments to change their policies by delivering a petition, which was signed by millions of people. For example, the prefectual government of Hokkaido formulated an ordinance to regulate commercial planting of genetically modified crops. Another example is that the government has decided to change the Containers and Packaging Recycling Law, which hinders from the use of returnable bottles, although their environmental cost is lower than a recycling option.
 

3. Does the mainstream media give you serious coverage?

The most recent example of the media coverage was about our large- scale investigation on genetically modified canola. At the ports where imported canola are unloaded, a lot of volunteer canola can be seen. Japanese civil groups found GM varieties in those canola, and the Seikatsu Club, in a coalition of a wider range of groups, started a nationwide investigation. We have to admit that media coverage is not enough, but some journalists are always watching our activities.


4. Is the Club a club for every consumer or just for wealthier people who can afford higher prizes? Is the membership still growing?

Of course, the Seikatsu Club is for every consumer. It is open to anybody, and the membership is growing. Prices for goods sold by the Seikatsu Club are not higher than the similar products in the commercial market, because private companies tend to put higher prices by an added value. The pre-order collective purchase system of the Seikatsu Club enables the members to have a well-planned consumer life, reduces prices by assuring reasonable production and distribution, and eliminates the risks which can occur with overhead and huge stock of goods.


5. How do you organise people? How does your member become a leader of your activities?

The members are encouraged to participate in many activities at different levels. In the course of their activities, the members learn from each other. A “Han” has been playing the role of an educational centre, where the members can learn about our goods, our system of work, and our activities. Then, they come to be motivated to organise more people. Nowadays, many of our activities are based more on individuals than on Hans, but we are doing every effort to ensure the members’ participation, which is the best way for the members to acquire leadership.


6. What effect has the Right Livelihood Award had on your work?

Being inspired by the Award, the Seikatsu Club Kanagawa launched the “Kirara Award” to encourage activities of the youth in fields such as peace, environment, welfare, and culture. The recipients include a group supporting immigrant children. Another recipient provides many programs for victims of domestic violence. The Seikatsu Club Tokyo also established “Grassroots Civil Fund” to help local activities and to fund groups which are working with Asian NGOs.