Japan's new agricultural trade policy and electoral reform: 'Agricultural policy in an offensive posture [seme no nosei]'

Japanese Journal of Political Science

Volumn 9, Issue 2, 2008, Pages 121-144

  Sasada, Hironori ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 56349094328     PISSN: 14681099     EISSN: 14740060     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S1468109908002958     Document Type: Article

References (63)

1. The Financial Times, 29 January 2007.
2. Ellis Krauss and Robert Pekkanen, 'Explaining Party Adaptation to Electoral Reform: The Discreet Charm of the LDP?, Journal of Japanese Studies, 30:1 (Summer, 2004), p. 25.
3. Rural Industry Research and Development Corporation, 'Has Japanese Agricultural Industry Had Its Day? Policies for the New Millennium' (February, 2000): http://www.rirdc.gov.au/pub/shortreps/anu36a.html
4. Kent Calder Crisis and Compensation: Public Policy and Political Stability in Japan (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988), pp. 234-5.
5. Calculated from Nihon Tokei Nenkan [Japan Statistic Yearbook] (Tokyo: Mainichi Shinbunsha, 1986), p. 561. The proportion of agricultural product in national GDP is 1.7% in 2004.
6. The US Embassy, Tokyo Web site: http://japan.usembassy.gov/j/p/ tpj-j20031023d2.html
7. The MAFF Annual Report made no reference to export promotion policy until the 2004 version referred to it as a new policy introduced in 2003. Also, the term 'agriculture in offensive posture' first appeared in the 2004 version. See The MAFF, Norin Suisan Nenp [Annual Report on Agriculture, Fishery, and Forestry] (Tokyo: Norin Koseikai, annual).
8. See Calder (1988) Crisis and Compensation, for more on Japan's agricultural policies in the postwar period.
9. The MAFF Web site: http://www.maff.go.jp/www/info/bunrui/bun07.html
10. Wei, Ruan (2005), "Nihon no Norin Suisanbutsu Yushutu Sokushi no Ugoki," in Norin Kinyu (June, 2005), pp. 36-54.
11. The MAFF Web site: http://www.maff.go.jp/www/info/shihyo/ichiran.html
12. For example, the government hosted six trade fairs (China, France, the United States, UK, Malaysia, and UAE) and opened stores in four countries (China, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore) in 2006.
13. JETRO's headquarters is in Tokyo, and there are 37 regional branches within Japan. There are 77 overseas offices in 55 countries.
14. From the MAFF Web site: http://www.maff.go.jp/gaisyoku/kaigai/ english.html.Emphasis added by the author of this paper.
15. The MAFF Web site: http://www.maff.go.jp/www/info/shihyo/ichiran.html
16. For example, the government hosted six trade fairs (China, France, the United States, UK, Malaysia, and UAE) and opened stores in four countries (China, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore) in 2006.
17. JETRO's headquarters is in Tokyo, and there are 37 regional branches within Japan. There are 77 overseas offices in 55 countries.
18. From the MAFF Web site: http://www.maff.go.jp/gaisyoku/kaigai/ english.html. Emphasis added by the author of this paper.
19. For example, non-exporting domestic support declined from about 40 billion dollars in 1995 to 6.7 billion dollars in 1997. The MAFF Fact Sheet, No.1, May 2003, p. 1: http://www.maff.go.jp/wto/factsheet.pdf
20. Ibid. p. 2.
21. From the MAFF Web site. http://www.kanbou.maff.go.jp/kouhou/ 051115daijin.htm
22. This paper focuses on the electoral system of the House of Representatives (480 seats), the more significant and powerful house of the two. It can override the decisions of the House of Councilors (242 seats), and its decisions take precedence in treaties, budget, and selection of prime minister.
23. See Gerald Curtis, The Japanese Way of Politics(NY: Columbia University Press, 1988)
24. Ronald Hrebernar, The Japanese Party System (Colorado: Westview Press, 1992)
25. and Ellis Krauss, Japan's Democracy. How Much Change? (Ithaca: Foreign Policy Association, 1995).
26. Krauss, Japan's Democracy, p. 38.
27. See Curtis, The Japanese Way of Politics, p. 50
28. Hrebernar, The Japanese Party System, p. 38
29. and Krauss, Japan's Democracy, p. 43.
30. Hrebernar, The Japanese Party System, p. 41.
31. As of 2006, there are 901 agricultural cooperatives and 9.15 million members. The MAFF Web site: http://www.maff.go.jp/www/info/shihyo/ ichiran.html
32. Louis Hayes, Introduction to Japanese Politics (New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2005), p. 138.
33. It was just around the time of the electoral reform, but two years prior to the first election under the new system. Thus, politicians still have not changed their strategies at this time. In fact, it took several elections under the new system for most politicians to realize that they needed to change their strategies.
34. The National Diet Library Online Data Base: http://kokkai.ndl.go.jp
35. Ibid.
36. Ibid.
37. However, it is important to note that those candidates who run only in a proportional representation (PR) system can represent particularlistic interests, as it is possible for those candidates to win seats by appealing to particular groups. This is because each PR district is several times bigger than single-member districts, and particular groups, such as the agricultural sector, can have sufficient number of votes for a candidate to win a seat. Nonetheless, it is very uncommon for candidates to run in only PR district in Japan, because the mixed system allows candidates to run in a single-member district and a PR district simultaneously. For example, out of 1,132 candidates who ran for the House of Representatives in the 2005 national election, just 143 candidates were listed only in PR districts (The Nihon Keizai Shinbun 30 August 2005). Candidates clearly prefer dual listing, as it increases the possibility of winning a seat. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that my analysis of electoral incentives above applies to most candidates.
38. In an interview conducted by Krauss and Pekkanen (2004), Staff members at the LDP headquarters commented, 'In the case ofthe single-member district, increasingly you have to gather [votes] equally from both agriculture and small and medium-sized enterprises in the district ... So you depend on various sources and become an 'almighty expert' in everything. In a single-member district, you can't win without obtaining the support ofseveral strata, several occupations, several industries.'Krauss and Pekkanen, 'Explaining Party Adaptation to Electoral Reform, p. 18.
39. Aurelia Mulgan, 'Where Tradition Meets Change: Japan's Agricultural Politics in Transition, Journal of Jopanese Studies, 31: 2 (Winter, 2005), p. 264. Mulgan's study also examines the impacts of the 1994 electoral reform on Japan's agricultural policies, but she concludes that the impact was modest, and Japan's agricultural policies have not fundamentally changed.
40. Some of the claims were just preposterous, and made people inside and outside of Japan ridiculed. For example, when the United States pressured Japan to liberalize Japan's beef market in the early 1990s, the Minister of International Trade and Industry, Hata Tsutomu, defended the Japanese government's protection policies by claiming that Japanese have longer intestines than foreigners, and they have difficulties in digesting imported beef. Therefore, the import of beef products shall be limited. Unfortunately, his desperate claim found very little support even among the Japanese.
41. The survey asked whether or not one agrees with a statement 'Further trade liberalizations are necessary.' Among 3,570 individuals who responded to the question, 19.9% of them said 'agree', 20.4% said 'somewhat agree', 36% said 'I don't know', 8.4% said 'somewhat disagree', and 5.9% said 'disagree'. The Cabinet Office Web site: http://www8.cao.go.jp/survey/h12/nousan/2-3.html
42. From Keidanren Web site: http://www.keidanren.or.jp/english/journal/ 200203.html
43. The accumulated amount of government debts in 1995 was 297 trillion yen (45.5% of GDP), 491 trillion (72.9%) in 2000, and 600 trillion yen (100.2%) in 2006. The Ministry of Finance Web site: http://www.mof.go.jp/ jouhou/syukei/siryou/sy_new.htm
44. The MAFF Web site: http://www.maff.go.jp/www/info/shihyo/ichiran.html
45. Ibid.
46. The decline of agricultural population started in the 1960s, yet Japan's agricultural trade policy has not changed until recently. This indicates that the electoral reform has a stronger causal impact than the demographic change.
47. Jiyu Minshu [Liberty and Democracy], 26 July 2005. Jiyu Minshu is the LDP's official news letter.
48. Nihon Nogyo Shinbun [Japan Agriculture Newspaper], 17 January 2006.
49. The Chinese government allowed the import of Japanese rice in July 2007. It is reported that even though Japanese rice was about 20 times more expensive than Chinese rice, the first supply of rice was sold out within matter of a few days. http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/ hl?a=20070727-00000012-scn-cn
50. Komeito Web site: http://www.komei.or.jp/policy/policy/pdf/ manifest2005.pdf
51. The House of Representative Web site: http://www.shugiin.go.jp/ itdb_kaigiroku.nsf/html/kaigiroku/000916220050315003.htm#p_top
52. Ozawa Ichiro, 'My Basic Policies: Toward a Fair Society and a Country of Coexistence', the DPJ Web site: http://www.dpj.or.jp/english/policy/ mybasic2.html#a_14
53. For instance, the Nikkei Shinbun criticized DPJ's agricultural subsidy plan as 'pork-barrel' (The Nikkei Shinbun, 4 September 2005),
54. and Honma Masayoshi, a professor of economics at University of Tokyo, also called it 'pork barrel that targets farmers' votes' (The Asahi Shinbun, 26 August 2005)
55. More recently, in October 2007 one of the Ministry of Finance's advisory committees, the Fiscal System Council consists of business leaders and intellectuals, submitted a report that criticized the policy (The Sankei Shinbun, 17 October 2007).
56. The MAFF Web site. http://www.maff.go.jp/j/budget/index.html
57. The DPJ's policy flier, 'Japan's Agriculture Will Return to Life, If the DPJ Assumes Power', from the DPJ Web site: http://www.dpj.or.jp/news/ files/nougyo(2).pdf
58. Ozawa Ichiro, 'My Basic Policies: Toward a Fair Society and a Country of Coexistence', the DPJ Web site: http://www.dpj.or.jp/english/policy/ mybasic2.html#a_14
59. The Yomiuri Shinbun, 5 August 2007.
60. The Yomiuri Shinbun, 21 December 2007.
61. Leonard Schoppa, Bargaining With Japan: What American Pressure Can and Cannot Do (New York: Columbia University Press, 1997), p. 2.
62. Yasuhara Kazuo, Keidanren Kaicho no Sengoshi [The Postwar History of the Presidents of Keidanren] (Tokyo: Bijinesu sha, 1985), pp. 205-17.
63. Japan Statistical Year Book, The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication, annual.