Japanese Rice Farmers Steam : Thousands Rally to Demand Government Keep Import Ban

While a representative of the European Commission met with Japan’s trade minister Wednesday to argue that time is running out for Japan to open its rice market, thousands of Japanese farmers and their supporters descended on the city to demand that the government stand fast against foreign imports.

Farmers drove a convoy of 50 tractors through Tokyo streets while about 4,000 demonstrators wearing headbands and bibs emblazoned with slogans marched through the city’s government and financial district. They set off firecrackers and blew loud whistles to draw attention to their message that rice imports would bankrupt farmers, reduce the nation’s food security and damage Japanese culture.

Later in the day, 10,000 protesters, including 200 members of Parliament, gathered in a well-orchestrated show of the strength of farmer opposition to lifting the import ban. Earlier, 32 legislators from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party signed a keppansho, or a petition signed in blood, vowing to resist foreign pressure and to push for the resignation of Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa if he agrees to increased imports.

“When you make a commitment in blood, it shows the depth of your feeling,” said Hiroshi Imazu, a member of Parliament who punctured his thumb with a pin to draw the blood. “It’s the traditional way.”

The demonstrations are a reaction to the recent increase in pressure on Japan from Europe and the United States to end the rice import ban they claim is the last major obstacle to completing the round of negotiations on the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs that began in Uruguay six years ago.

Wednesday’s visit from EC Vice President Frans Andriessen of the Netherlands was just the latest in a series of messages to Japan from its trading partners.

Although Japan continues to ask that rice be made an exception in the GATT agreement, it is getting the cold shoulder from its allies.

“There is no sympathy for the Japanese position anywhere in the world on this,” an American diplomat recently told a group of Japanese reporters.

“Japan has two choices: It can agree to the draft, or it will be responsible for scuttling the GATT round.” The diplomat noted that 85% of income for farm families comes from non-farm-related employment that benefits from world trade.

Since most observers here believe that the Japanese government is ready to sign the agreement, which would require Japan to allow foreign rice to take a 3% share of the Japanese market, much of this week’s protest action may be little more than elaborate role playing designed to win commitments for more agricultural subsidies and assurances that there will be no further liberalization.

Many farmers seem resigned to some degree of rice liberalization and expressed little enthusiasm during the rallies. Although the ruling LDP has long taken care to serve its powerful rural constituency, Japan’s leaders are even more worried about undermining a world trade system of which it is one of the greatest beneficiaries.

“We must never spoil multinational trade talks,” Miyazawa said Saturday, hinting that Japan is ready to give in on rice imports. On Wednesday, he said Japan would have to make a decision before the end of January.

Even extreme parliamentarians seem restrained in their passion to fight against rice imports. Of the 32 that signed the blood pact, only two actually followed tradition, using blood from their right thumbs. The others resorted to the less-painful alternative of using a red ink pad to make their thumbprint.

Still, the demonstrations illustrate the volatility of the issue and show why the Japanese government has treaded so carefully.

Wednesday’s huge rally was held in Tokyo’s massive new sumo stadium under the watchful gaze of bigger-than-life pictures of sumo wrestlers hung around the perimeter of the hall. The symbolism of Japanese tradition and culture represented in both sumo and rice cultivation was not lost.

“Rice is a symbol of our culture,” said Hiroshi Mitsuzuka, a top executive of the LDP. “It is only natural for a country to protect its culture.”

In sharp contrast to scenes of farmer violence in France, here the demonstrators in the streets walked in orderly lines, stopping at red lights to allow traffic to pass. Tractors taking part were numbered one through 50 and drove in single file along the side of the street.

In an unusual effort to gain the attention of the foreign media, many of the placards were written in English. “Remember Beef and Citrus: Never Again,” read one sign, referring to the damage caused to Japanese farmers when those markets were liberalized.

“If we become dependent on rice imports, there may come a time when the world runs out of food and Japan won’t be able to import rice,” warned Shuichi Sato, a demonstrator who farms a plot of land outside Tokyo.

Many farmers have aimed their greatest anger at Japanese industrialists. On Tuesday, a group of farmers in the southwestern city of Kumamoto gathered to take turns smashing a Nissan auto draped with an American flag. They complained that Japanese agriculture was being sacrificed on the altar of Japanese autos and electronics exports.

Times research assistant Chiaki Kitada contributed to this report.