Roundtables on better animal welfare

The Purpose of Establishing a Roundtable

We established a roundtable composed of external experts to consider ways in which the Ajinomoto Group can coexist even more harmoniously with animals in a format that responds better to the times we live in and the expectations of society, based on the recognition of changing trends both in Japan and overseas regarding animal welfare. This roundtable is central in advancing our dialogue with society.

Professor Profiles

Junko Edahiro

Professor, Graduate School of Leadership and Innovation, Shizenkan University

With professional activities including the Japanese translation of An Inconvenient Truth (written by Al Gore), Professor Edahiro lectures, writes, and participates in cross-industry seminars on the environment, sustainability, and regional economic cycles. Through these activities, she aims to create change through human connections and dialogue, while the co-creation of a happy and resilient future.
She is a member of the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and a member of the Subcommittee on Plastic Resource Circulation of the Working Group for a Circular Economy of the Central Environment Council of the Ministry of the Environment.

Dr. Shigeru Kyuwa

Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Science, The University of Tokyo

At The University of Tokyo, Dr. Kyuwa teaches Faculty of Agriculture courses such as Laboratory Animal Science, Toxicology, and Veterinary Ethics & Animal Welfare Studies.
His area of specialty is infectious diseases in laboratory animals including murine coronavirus and murine norovirus infections in mice.
He is President of the Japanese Society of Veterinary Science and Vice President of the Japanese Association for Laboratory Animal Science.
He is also engaged in the testing and certification of laboratory animal facilities in Japan.

Dr. Kenichi Takeda

Associate Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Shinshu University

Dr. Takeda specializes in the study of farm animal management and appliedethology. He researches the improvement of farm animal welfare from the producer’s point of view.
As a project leader, he is working on the developing welfare friendly management system of cattle (dairy & beef) with smart technologies. Additionally, he is part of the ISO/TC34/WG16 animal welfare experts group (Japan), and the Technical Advisory Committee for the reviewing of Dairy Cattle Welfare Guideline and Surveys of Laying Hen Welfare in Japan.

Arisa Kishigami

ESG & Sustainability Specialist

With the underlying objective of creating an effective Engagement Cycle for Sustainability (En-CycleS), Ms. Kishigami is active in a wide range of areas, including as a writer (such as a columnist for Responsible Investor), a teacher (Waseda University spring semester lecturer, JSIF Management Committee member), and as an advisor for individual projects and institutional investors.
With prior roles such as the Head of ESG for the Asia Pacific region at FTSE Russell, she has 13 years of experience supporting investors make ESG investment decisions, as well as overseeing ESG data management, criteria development, and engagement with companies and investors.