Organic

Products made with ingredients from organic agriculture. In Japan the legal backing is the Organic JAS standard.

The Organic JAS system

To label agricultural products or processed food as “organic” in Japan, certification under the Organic JAS standard is generally required, and certified goods carry the Organic JAS mark. This makes “organic” different in kind from voluntary claims like “plant-based”.

There is no equivalent system for cosmetics or household goods. “Organic cosmetics” has no legal definition in Japan, so a product certified under an international private scheme (COSMOS, Ecocert) sits on the same shelf as one that merely contains some organic material.

What to check

Food: the Organic JAS mark and the name of the certifying body
Processed food: what proportion of ingredients are organic
Cosmetics: which private scheme, and whether it covers all ingredients or some
Imports: whether the origin country's certification is recognised as equivalent to Organic JAS
“Pesticide-free” and “reduced-pesticide” are separate concepts — and discouraged as label claims