Organic agriculture in Japan is mainly promoted by the farmers’ NGOs, and by the private sector.Important NGOs are the Japan Organic Agriculture Association and certification bodies, such as the Japan Organic & Natural Foods Association. The Japanese Organic Farming Promotion law, promulgated in December 2006, requires local government administrators to take measures that promote organic farming. In 2009 the support amounted to 500 million Yen(approx. 4 million euros). Out of this, around one third of the fund was spent by organic model towns. Approximately 10 million Yen (80,000 euros) per year has been spent on the promotion of the JAS organic mark. There is an organic league in the Japanese Diet (the Japanese Parliament), with 168members. The head of the league envisions that 50% of Japanese agriculture should be organic.

In a recent survey, 48.5% of the farmers asked said that they considered organic methods to be ‘Gentle to environment, co-existing with nature’ and46.9% considered that ‘it produces safe products’. Nearly a quarter (24.4%)felt that it entails increased labour costs and 29.2% thought it is risky because of pests and disease problems. Half of the surveyed farmers were interested in conversion to organic systems; they stated the following to be important factors determining their ability to convert: