On 25 September 2017, Gunma Prefecture announced that the breeding of the world's first GM silkworm larvae that produce luminescent silk thread by introduction of a gene from jellyfish will begin on ordinary farms. Having conducted a biodiversity impact assessment, the GM silkworm received approval from the Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Minister for the Environment for general use on 22 September. A total of 120,000 silkworm larvae are scheduled to be handed over to farmers' sericulture facilities in Maebashi City after hatching and nurturing at the Gunma Sericultural Technology Center.

On 27 September 2017, at the fifth meeting of the investigative panel on the GM food labelling system (see BJ May 2017), the chairman Professor Yukawa Koichi of the Tokyo Toyo University gave his conclusion as, "There is no necessity to alter the current labelling system," thus unilaterally bringing the investigative panel to an end. The panel was scheduled to continue for the remainder of the year. In the previous three meetings, hearings were completed with consumers' organizations and trade organizations, and the panel discussions had reached the stage of sorting out the points for and against a revision of the current rules.