Shojinmeat Project Explained

Shojinmeat Project
Founder:Yuki Hanyu
Founded:February 2014
Status:Non-profit
Location City:Tokyo
Location Country:Japan
Field:Cultured meat
Website:

The Shojinmeat Project is a citizen science movement,[1] loosely-structured non-profit organization,[2] and art project about cultured meat, a subset of cellular agriculture. Their approach to developing and popularizing cultured meat has been noted as unique from efforts in the field before it, in that it envisions cultured meat as something that can be made at home with a process understood by its consumer,[3] [4] analogous to home brewing.[5] The Shojinmeat Project was created in Japan by Yuki Hanyu (Japanese: 羽生 雄毅),[6] [7] but has become an internationally collaborative effort welcoming a variety of talent.[8] [9]

The shōjin of Shojinmeat's name (Japanese: 精進)[10] [2] is a Japanese Buddhist term, meaning "devotion" to the path to Nirvana. Hanyu is not a Buddhist, but views the resource-intensive methods required for livestock meat such as deforestation as contrary to this path to Nirvana,[11] and named Shojinmeat in tribute to the devotion required to follow that path successfully.[6] The term is also part of shōjin ryōri, meaning "devotion cooking",[12] the diet eaten by monks under the precept of not eating anything able to "run away when chased";[13] which has excluded nearly all kinds of animal-based meat until, arguably, the invention of cultured meat.[14] [15]

History

In February 2014, Yuki Hanyu had held a PhD. in Chemistry[7] and worked as a system engineer for Toshiba when he decided to apply his knowledge to some form of futuristic technology, having been interested in science fiction since childhood. Among other choices like space travel and energy, he chose cultured meat because of what he saw as a current global need,[6] and determined a "do-it-yourself" community to be convenient in the effort to bring this newly emergent technology's cost down to an popularly accessible level. [16]

His first partners in this project were obtained at an "informal coworking space in Tokyo" called Lab Café[2] after he had asked for those skilled in cell culture to help him theorize how meat could be grown on Mars.[17] It was here that Ikko Kawashima, future co-founder of IntegriCulture, joined the team.

The Shojinmeat Project has no formal definition of membership, though in 2020, Hanyu reckoned it to have between 20 and 30 active members. Official Slack channels existed in Japanese and English for online collaboration.[17] [18]

Content

Education

The Shojinmeat Project is involved in educating the general public about cultured meat,[4] that is adults as well as children.[11] They have written manuals about the science behind cultured meat as well as how it can be produced by individuals outside the setting of a business or laboratory.[19] They have conveyed such information, also, through public presentations at schools[17] [16] and academic conferences.

Hanyu believes education and DIY is necessary to avoid cellular agriculture falling into corporate monopoly and, by extension, a further point of public controversy. He views the history of genetically modified organisms as a cautionary tale,[11] and in an interview with Hive Life, stated that:[4]

Fine Art

Hanyu's love of science fiction media that's served as an impetus[20] and inspiration in this venture[21] is something he believes can also work to the benefit of developing personal interest in others for what Shojinmeat teaches. [4]

Thus, the Shojinmeat Project has spawned a loose gallery of artwork conveying visions of a future with cultured meat. The original characters Miyo and Aco feature in these works,[3] showcasing futuristic cultured meat technologies in places such as on Mars[22] and underwater. A VRChat environment of a cultured meat facility on Mars was created for Shojinmeat,[23] and at least one fanzine associated with Shojinmeat has been sold at Comiket.[21]

Collaboration

IntegriCulture Inc., a for-profit entity also founded by Yuki Hanyu, was registered in 2015 initially "as a vehicle to gain access to lab equipment" for Shojinmeat,[21] and it's operations continued to overlap with Shojinmeat's past the 2010s.[17] Shojinmeat has been the subject of a 20-minute spot on NHK's [24] and of several interviews of Hanyu, primarily in the alternative protein space. This includes one by New Harvest,[2] with whom Shojinmeat has been featured in events and work,[11] [25] stemming from them, as well as the Good Food Institute, being in contact and collaboration since 2015.[21]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Fong . Cherise . 21 November 2017 . Shojinmeat wants to grow meat like we brew beer . live . http://web.archive.org/web/20240512013617/https://www.makery.info/en/2017/11/21/shojinmeat-veut-faire-pousser-de-la-viande-comme-on-fabrique-de-la-biere/ . May 12, 2024 . May 15, 2024 . . English.
  2. Web site: Kim . Erin . October 4, 2021 . Getting to Know... Yuki Hanyu of the Shojinmeat Project . live . http://web.archive.org/web/20240513000651/https://new-harvest.org/getting-to-know-yuki-hanyu/ . May 13, 2024 . May 12, 2024 . New Harvest.
  3. Web site: Carter . Charles . 15 September 2020 . Homebrew meat club: Japanese sci-fi inspires open source cell agriculture . live . http://web.archive.org/web/20240515073842/https://eandt.theiet.org/2020/09/15/homebrew-meat-club-japanese-sci-fi-inspires-open-source-cell-agriculture . May 15, 2024 . May 15, 2024 . Engineering and Technology.
  4. Web site: Yip . Myra . September 15, 2020 . Shojinmeat Project: The Non-Profit Making Cell-Based Meat Accessible . live . http://web.archive.org/web/20240512211306/https://hivelife.com/shojinmeat-project/ . May 12, 2024 . May 12, 2024 . Hive Life.
  5. Web site: Albrecht . Chris . April 16, 2018 . Shojinmeat is Growing a DIY Clean Meat Community . live . http://web.archive.org/web/20240517024906/https://thespoon.tech/shojinmeat-is-growing-a-diy-clean-meat-community/ . May 17, 2024 . May 17, 2024 . The Spoon.
  6. These Japanese Bio-Hackers Are Growing Affordable Meat in A Lab – Shojinmeat . . Disrupting Japan . Tim Romero . April 24, 2017 . May 14, 2024.
  7. Web site: About us . live . http://web.archive.org/web/20240517043411/https://integriculture.com/about/ . May 17, 2024 . May 17, 2024 . . ja.
  8. Web site: Get Involved . live . http://web.archive.org/web/20240515081645/https://animescience.wixsite.com/shojinmeat/get-involved . May 15, 2024 . May 15, 2024 . Shojinmeat Project.
  9. Web site: About us . live . http://web.archive.org/web/20240515082331/https://animescience.wixsite.com/shojinmeat/about-us . May 15, 2024 . May 15, 2024 . Shojinmeat Project.
  10. Web site: Definition of 精進 . live . http://web.archive.org/web/20240519133402/https://www.japandict.com/%E7%B2%BE%E9%80%B2 . May 19, 2024 . May 19, 2024 . JapanDict.
  11. Web site: Purdy . Chase . October 16, 2017 . Japan's Shojinmeat Project takes a novel approach to lab-grown meat . live . http://web.archive.org/web/20240513001748/https://qz.com/1103280/japans-shojinmeat-project-takes-a-novel-approach-to-lab-grown-meat . May 13, 2024 . May 12, 2024 . Quartz.
  12. Web site: Way . Simon . May 8, 2023 . What Is Shojin Ryori? A Guide to Traditional Japanese Vegan Cuisine . live . http://web.archive.org/web/20240515054308/https://japanesetaste.com/blogs/japanese-taste-blog/what-is-shojin-ryori-your-guide-to-traditional-buddhist-vegan-cuisine?region=us&country=us . May 15, 2024 . May 15, 2024 . Japanese Taste.
  13. Web site: Ito . Alina Joan . December 13, 2023 . The Beginner’s Guide to Shojin Ryori . live . http://web.archive.org/web/20240515045010/https://www.tokyoweekender.com/food-and-drink/the-beginners-guide-to-shojin-ryori/ . May 15, 2024 . May 15, 2024 . Tokyo Weekender.
  14. Web site: Lab grown meat: how it is made and what are the pros and cons . live . http://web.archive.org/web/20240502075342/https://www.eufic.org/en/food-production/article/lab-grown-meat-how-it-is-made-and-what-are-the-pros-and-cons . May 2, 2024 . May 14, 2024 . The European Food Information Council.
  15. Melzener . Lea . Verzijden . Karin E . Buijs . A Jasmin . Post . Mark J . Mark Post . Flack . Joshua E . 13 July 2020 . Cultured beef: from small biopsy to substantial quantity . Science of Food and Agriculture . 10 . Wiley Online Library . Assuming that the biopsy will be taken with a needle, the discomfort for the animal will likely not be greater than the taking of a blood sample, whilst in case of an incision biopsy, the level of discomfort will likely be greater, although still not substantial..
  16. Dr. Yuki Hanyu of IntegriCulture . Cultured Meat & Future Food Show . Alex Shirazi . July 3, 2019 . July 28, 2024.
  17. This Sci-Fi Inspired Japanese Startup is Taking Lab-Grown Meat Mainstream. Here's how - Integriculture and Shojin Meat Projects's Yuki Hanyu . After Animals . Ulara Nakagawa . August 3, 2020 . May 19, 2024.
  18. Web site: Announcement: English Slack Channel for the Shojinmeat Project . Van Der Walt . Jayson . February 7, 2018 . Medium.
  19. Web site: Samantaray . Sunayana . October 2, 2020 . Shojinmeat Project: Helping citizens grow DIY cell-based meat . live . http://web.archive.org/web/20240517051430/https://www.theveganreview.com/.well-known/sgcaptcha/?r=%2Fshojinmeat-project-helping-citizens-grow-diy-cell-based-meat%2F&y=ipr:207.241.235.240:1715922870.646 . May 17, 2024 . May 14, 2024 . The Vegan Review.
  20. Carter . Charles . October 2020 . Homebrew meat club: ‘Clean meat’ start-ups are mushrooming. But Japanese citizen science community Shojinmeat is using an alternative home-based DIY approach to accelerate innovation . Engineering & Technology . IET . 15 . 9 . 66–67 . 10.1049/et.2020.0912 . 1750-9637 . . "I STARTED THIS whole thing because of science fiction,” says Dr Yuki Hanyu, co-founder of non-profit cultured-meat collective Shojinmeat. “Cell-based meat happens everywhere in manga and anime sci-fi.".
  21. Web site: Hanyu . Yuki . September 7, 2021 . The Shojinmeat Project Inside Story . live . http://web.archive.org/web/20240512212056/https://www.proteinreport.org/articles/shojinmeat-project-inside-story/ . May 12, 2024 . May 12, 2024 . Protein Report.
  22. Web site: February 23, 2017 . Mars cultured meat plant "Shojinmeat Nirvana-Alpha" VR tour . May 14, 2024 . waradogatansakuchu . YouTube.
  23. Web site: 培養肉工場 Cultured meat factory Shojinmeat Nirvana Delta Mars . . January 25, 2022 . July 29, 2024.
  24. Web site: video . ja:がんばれ～人工肉開発進む！ . Make it big: cultivated meat improves! . http://video.fc2.com/ja/content/20170822zuYS0LE5/ . May 14, 2024 . FC2 Video . MOMOVEGAN . ja.
  25. Web site: Hanyu . Yuki . May 11, 2020 . Shojinmeat Project presentation on "What will farmers do with cell-based meat?" for New Harvest 2020 . May 12, 2024 . . AnimeScience MasterVision.

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