- Title: TRADE-TPP/JAPAN-FARMERS Japanese farmers divided over upcoming trade talks
- Date: 28th July 2015
- Summary: MINAMIBOSO, CHIBA PREFECTURE, JAPAN (JULY 27, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF JAPANESE RICE FARMER, YASUHIRO SHIBASAKI, WEEDING AROUND HIS PADDY FIELD PADDY FIELD SHIBASAKI SITTING ON RIDGE (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 81-YEAR-OLD RICE FARMER, YASUHIRO SHIBASAKI, SAYING: "I have no idea what I can do if it's finally passed. Japan is already producing more than enough rice for the nation. If they import rice on top of that, we, small scale farmers, have no other options but to give up farming." SHIBASAKI LOOKING AT HIS PADDY FIELDS (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 81-YEAR-OLD RICE FARMER, YASUHIRO SHIBASAKI, SAYING: "I fear that this might be the last year I see my paddy fields. I cannot guarantee that they will be there next year." SHIBASAKI SITTING ON RIDGE (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 81-YEAR-OLD RICE FARMER, YASUHIRO SHIBASAKI, SAYING: "I feel like crying just thinking of all these paddy fields turning to fields of weeds." PADDY FIELD (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 81-YEAR-OLD RICE FARMER, YASUHIRO SHIBASAKI, SAYING: "We should have the right to live; we should be allowed the right to stay alive too" SUNSHINE ON PADDY FIELD VARIOUS OF SHIBASAKI POURING BROWN RICE VARIOUS OF SHIBASAKI HOLDING BROWN RICE VARIOUS OF SHIBASAKI'S WIFE, MISAKO, MAKING RICE BALLS RICE BALLS ON DISH CHIGASAKI, KANAGAWA PREFECTURE, JAPAN (JULY 27, 2015) (REUTERS) COW EATING HAY AND STICKING TONGUE OUT VARIOUS OF COWS EATING HAY IN CATTLE SHED VARIOUS OF JAPANESE STOCK FARMER, TADAMICHI SAITO, FEEDING COWS (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 33-YEAR-OLD STOCK FARMER, TADAMICHI SAITO, SAYING: "TPP (agreement) will come to us anyway, so I think we'd better prepare ourselves for the next step rather than keep trying to stop it, wasting our energy." COWS EATING HAY (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 33-YEAR-OLD STOCK FARMER, TADAMICHI SAITO, SAYING: "Japan's manufacturing technologies for auto vehicles or computers are widely acknowledged in the world but not agricultural skills. In that, I believe it's a chance for us to show the world Japan's agricultural products - their high level of quality and safety." COWS EATING HAY IN CATTLE SHED SAITO FEEDING COW COW EATING HAY SAITO SHOWING PROCESSED BEEF PRODUCTS VARIOUS OF PROCESSED BEEF PRODUCTS ON TABLE CHIGASAKI BEEF RETORT CURRY CHIGASAKI FROZEN ROAST BEEF
- Embargoed: 12th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan
- Country: Japan
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVADQ5NY6YWMC3TEMWMXIBL0LXIV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Japanese farmers were divided over the benefits of the Trans-Pacific-Partnership (TPP) talks just days before they were to begin in Hawaii on July 28th.
Yasuhiro Shibasaki is the third generation in his family to work in these small rice fields in Minamiboso, a village southeast of Tokyo.
He is one of many small-scaled farmers worried that the new trade pact being finalised in the next couple days may cost him his lifetime business.
"I have no idea what I can do if it's finally passed. Japan is already producing more than enough rice for the nation. If they import rice on top of that, we, small scale farmers, have no other options but to give up farming," Shibasaki told Reuters on Monday (July 27) as he weeded his plot in the summer heat.
A 12-nation TPP trade talks are entering the final stage with negotiators and ministers gathering in Hawaii this week aiming to clinch the ambitious trade deal.
Japan is prepared to increase its import quota for U.S. rice by about 70,000 tonnes a year, raising from previously reported 50,000 tonnes.
"I fear that this might be the last year I see my paddy fields. I cannot guarantee that they will be there next year," Shibasaki said as he looked at the 32 paddy fields his grandfather and father reclaimed over the mountain slope devoting their whole lives.
The average age of Japanese farmers was about 67 years old last year but young people are finding it more and more difficult to become a farmer as it is hard to profit to make ends meet.
Shibasaki once wished he could leave his two sons and grandchildren the fields with skills to cultivate them, but he's says its hopeless.
"I feel like crying just thinking of all these paddy fields turning to fields of weeds," Shibasaki said.
"We should have the right to live; we should be allowed the right to stay alive too," he added.
On the other hand, not every farmer is that worried. Some farmers say they see the TPP deal as an opportunity for the nation's agriculture to reform and expand overseas.
Thirty-three-year-old cattle farmer, Tadamichi Saito, says he sees the the trade pact as opening Asian markets to Japanese premium beef with lower tariffs.
Feeding his 140 cows in his stock farm in Chigasaki, southwest from Tokyo, Saito said he was ready for the forthcoming changes.
"TPP (agreement) will come to us anyway, so I think we'd better prepare ourselves for the next step rather than keep trying to stop it, wasting our energy," Saito told Reuters, also on Monday.
Saito said he had participated in a food expo in Hong Kong earlier this year and found a potential in his "Chigasaki beef" to be exported like other Japanese beef brands, such as the premium Kobe and Matuzaka beef. He believes the TPP will benefit Japan's agricultural industry ability to export itself.
"Japan's manufacturing technologies for auto vehicles or computers are widely acknowledged in the world but not agricultural skills. In that, I believe it's a chance for us to show the world Japan's agricultural products - their high level of quality and safety," Saito said.
Japan has spent the total of about 6 trillion yen between fiscal 1995 and fiscal 2002 for steps to ease damages to farmers following the Uruguay Round trade talks and is expected to do the same after the TPP talks, local media say.
The ministerial level talks for TPP will be held in Maui, Hawaii, from July 28 to 31.
The meeting is likely to mark the final stage in the TPP negotiations, a massive trade pact covering 40 percent of the world's economy.
The trade deal extending from Canada to New Zealand would potentially raise annual global economic output by nearly $300 billion. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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