Japanese Farmers: “We will continue farming on Japanese soil!”

(2011 Peace Walk from Tokyo to Hiroshima: "Every year, NOUMINREN participates in Peace Walk that starts from Tokyo to Hiroshima. This year‘s walk was very special. In the opening ceremony, Fukushima NOUMINREN member, Hiroshi Miura, spoke. He said, 'My rice fields are 11 km away from the power plants, so I won’t be able to grow rice in my fields anymore in my life. This accident proved that nuclear power plants and human beings cannot coexist. I am committed to continue life-growing farming in a new place and continue making efforts to eliminate the nuclear power plants one by one!' He joined the march and called for abolition of nuclear arsenals and the change in energy policy. Photo: NOUMINREN)

Nouminren (Japan Family Farmer Movement), represents one of thousands of NGOs in Japanese civil society committed to the visionary integration of the best of traditional and postwar Japanese values: simplicity, sustainable agriculture, preservation of local culture and communities, democratic society, constitutional (Article 9) commitment to nonviolent solutions to international conflict, gender equality, human rights, nuclear weapons and energy abolition, environmental protection, and social justice.

Under siege by the nuclear fallout of 3/11 and the threat of the possible TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership "free trade") agreement that would allow heavily subsidized, factory-farmed, genetically engineered, chemically (toxic herbicides and pesticides) treated, cheap foreign food products to flood Japanese markets, thereby threatening the position of high-quality, labor-intensive, organic, locally grown, therefore more expensive Japanese heirloom food products), Nouminren issued this statement via Via Campesina:

“We will continue farming on Japanese soil!”
Tuesday, 28 February 2012

NOUMINREN Youth held its 20th conference in Tokyo on February 11th and 12th this year. Approximately 100 people participated in the conference (the largest ever). For NOUMINREN, this conference was probably its most important in last 20 years as it was the first conference after 3.11 earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear plant accidents. All participants were eager to share and reflect on what they underwent after 3.11 and to use these understandings to overcome their concerns.

On the first day, a forum was held to discuss the issue, "Why we must continue farming on Japanese soil: Understanding how nuclear power plants and the Trans-Pacific Partnership might to destroy us."

In this forum, five panelists (three farmers, one food researcher, and one local community activist) presented their commitment to protect agriculture and food sovereignty of Japan.

The first panelist, Souhei Miura, reported that after the disaster and nuclear power plant accident, he evacuated to Chiba prefecture. However, he decided to go back to Fukushima to farm again. He said, “It is possible to produce safe food in Fukushima if we continue doing the checkups. Nuclear power plant accidents can happen anywhere in the world today, so why don’t I stay and farm in Fukushima, the prefecture I love the most.” This commitment moved many in the audience.

The second panelist, Sumito Hatta, the Director in Chief of the NOUMINREN Food Research Laboratory, discussed its role. He explained that the laboratory’s role is to use scientific methods to enhance the safety of agricultural products and to strengthen the fiduciary relation between producers and consumers. “This is how we can contribute to Japanese agriculture,” Sumito Hatta said.

He also stated that TPP is trying to deregulate the mandatory labeling rule for GM food. “We want to make a new project checking up GM food and the GM rape seeds that falls from shipping trucks. He also explained about the role of the radioactive detector purchased with donations from the people from Japan and the world. He emphasized the importance of sharing all data with everyone who needs it.

The third panelist, Noriyuki Takahashi, a young farmer from Wakayama prefecture, explained why he was such a strong supporter of making soil. He explained that because he wanted to produce delicious and safe crops, he realized the importance of making soil and bokashi (organic fermented fertilizer). He also described how he uses the dumped food from supermarkets to make fertilizer. In concluding, Noriyuki Takahashi stated that “Friendship between living things and soil is important. I am pursuing the farming technique that makes not only human, but every living thing happy.”

The fourth panelist, Ken Aizawa, a farmer from a heavy-snowy mountainous area of Niigata prefecture explained how much he enjoyed farming in such difficult conditions. He said that it takes 2 to 3 times more effort to do weeding on his farm and the results from harvesting are also low. However as Ken Aizawa also pointed out, in such mountainous areas, people are very bonded and he wants the bond to continue. He concluded that consumers buying domestic products will unite cities and rural areas.

The fifth panelist, Shinya Takeda, a staff member of international bureau of NOUMINREN and an organizer of Toke Saturday Market (street artist market) in Chiba prefecture explained why consumers should take a strong interest in agriculture He said there were three main reasons why consumers should support the farmers: (1) because food is essential for humans, (2) because local agriculture is essential for the economy of rural areas, and (3) because sustainable agriculture is essential for keeping the beauty and value of the rural landscape and stopping climate change. He concluded that farming is the most basic human activity, and therefore, “We, both producers and consumers should always respect it”.

After the presentations, the conference participants were divided into 10 groups and had 90-minute group discussion. The members of the groups were a mix of farmers, distributors, consumers, and NOUMINREN secretariats.

Each had a different story to share about the threat of TPP and radioactivity to our food safety.

One of the farmers said that since the accident, he has had a hard time to confidently tell the consumers that his crops are safe to eat, and so he has lost his motivation to grow. A shiitake mushroom farmer from Tako, Chiba prefecture, also shared that he is worried that radiation may be detected in his mushrooms that he planted after the accident. He explained that the direct sale to shops in his town dropped by one-third. A rice farmer from Ibaragi prefecture said that although he grows rice, he is hesitant to give the rice to his newborn baby. A vegetable farmer in Fukushima said that he feels relieved being outside of Fukushima because he does not have to hear all the discussions about radioactivity on the radio.

All the stories were something that would never have been expected when last year’s conference was held. All participants realized that they went through a really tough situation and are still facing it.

In the reception following the panel discussion, the participants talked about their concerns to continue farming and their future dreams. By talking to the people in the same generation, the participants’ dreams prevailed over their concerns and made the conference very happy and energetic to the end, and actually becoming stronger after the conference.

Earthquake, tsunami, typhoon, and radioactive crisis have hit us, and sooner or later a volcano will erupt as some of the scholars predict. But we, the NOUMINREN youth, will continue farming on Japanese soil.

Japan's 99%: 11,668,809 (so far) Signatures Against Joining TTP "Free Trade" Agreement (a preventable "Fourth Disaster" that would destroy Japan)

Many thanks to Martin Frid at Kurushii for a sensitive compilation/analysis of the Japanese citizenry's decision on the radically neoliberal Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) "free trade" agreement:

Japanese farmers protest the TPP. (Photo: NHK World)
You may not know it, but Japanese people are very vocal and very outspoken. They protest a lot! Foreign media usually does not bother to cover activism in this part of the world. The current protests here in Japan against the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a case in point.

Over 11 million Japanese people have signed a petition against TPP. They realize that "free" trade is nothing but a massive assault that will force impossible conditions on their livelihoods. What is so "free" about that?

It could be called the fourth disaster to strike in 2011, after the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Fukushima.

Joining TPP negotiations to eliminate 90% of agricultural tariffs would make it impossible to live in rural Japan.

TPP might lead to a lowering of Japan's food self-sufficiency from around 40% to 13%.

Asking Japan to import 87% of its food? That would essentially kill one of the best reasons this country has for attracting tourists. It would kill a way of life, both for small restaurants that depend on local produce, and for fancy places that assure its customers that they provide the very best. It would make rice farming next to impossible, thus all related farm activities in areas that are known for their delicious rice to collapse. These are not empty words in a country that appreciates its farmers. Consumers here are strong supporters of the agricultural policy that has evolved in spite of external pressure.

I have no idea where all those people in rural areas would move, what they would do, how they are supposed to manage.

Farmers are the backbone of rural Japan, and they contribute to Japan's cuisine, with more Michelin Guide 3 star resturants than France, and a very high level of food safety we all can enjoy - also in the cities.

That is connected to postal services, banking and other services in rural areas. Pensions? Health insurance? Hospitals? Ambulance services?

These are other sectors that are targeted for the direct assault and deregulation by the proposed TPP rules.

But the people here clearly understand the gravity of the situation. Thus, they protest. Wouldn't you??

11,668,809 people (so far, and counting) are against the TPP.

Read the rest of this excellent post with links here.

Shisaku has more updates on TPP and lively, great analysis with an emphasis on political actors.

Traditional Americans & Japanese Against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) "Free Trade" Agreement

Poster for the 2008 Black Ship Festival at Shimoda. 

Locals did not appear enthusiastic about the commemorative event.

On both sides of the Pacific, family farmers, small and medium-size business owners, environmentalists, labor unionists, and traditionalists who want to conserve what remains of respective national sovereignty and local culture in the U.S. and Japan are voicing opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) "Free Trade" Agreement.

A recent Mainichi article about organic farmer and poet Kanji Hoshi echoes the thoughts of many traditional Americans as well as traditional Japanese people:

Hoshi is the author of an essay called "Sonno joi no shiso: han TPP no chiiki ron" ("The philosophy of revere agriculture, expel the barbarians: anti-TPP localism"), published in May 2011 in the book, Takahata-gaku (Takahataology).

In it, he writes: "I would like the philosophy of revering agriculture and expelling the barbarians to be the stronghold against the black ships of TPP," Hoshi writes. "We need to give primary importance to agriculture for its production of food for life, and to justly appreciate its function of protecting the environment. If we destroy our beautiful homeland, we will not be able to face our descendents. 'Expel the barbarians' refers to the elimination of our disposable consumer civilization. We need to possess a set of values necessary to live simply and spiritually rich in a mature society, and let us attempt self realization."

Hoshi's philosophy mirrors the "Back to the Land" movement that began in the U.S. in the 1960's and 1970's when Americans began a renewal of traditional regional rural cultures.

A parallel movement gathered steam in Japan during the 1990's, after the bursting of the economic bubble was followed by a "hollowing out" of Japan's industry and "corporate restructuring" (fueled by foreign takeovers of Japanese corporations). These neoliberal changes ended the prospect of permanent and lifetime employment for many young people in Japan who might have otherwise followed their parents' footsteps into the corporate or manufacturing worlds. Koji Nakano’s The Philosophy of Noble Poverty became a Japanese best-seller in 1992. Like their American counterparts, Japanese neo-traditionalists joined an already thriving local farming counter-movement. Many Tokyo-dwellers, disenchanted by or ejected from the neoliberal rat race, moved back to their ancestral rural hometowns.

In both the U.S. and Japan, these Back to the Land and Slow Food/Slow Life pioneers value organic and natural farming, renewable energy sources, quality of life and simplicity. Paul Gruchow's The Necessity of Empty Places elegiac exploration of American rural life before corporate agribusiness and chain stores invaded traditional landscapes epitomizes the American quest to renew local heritage.

Americans and Japanese opposing the TPP are the 99% who are actually conservatives. They want to conserve their economic and social systems as they are and renew what has been lost because of past American and Japanese unsustainable obsession with economic competition and growth—that unduly benefited the 1%. Americans and Japanese opposing the TPP want to save their jobs, their farms, their environment, their ways of life from the radical neoliberal shifts that the "free trade" agreement would bring. Because the deceptive nature about the ostensible benefits of past "free trade" deals have been revealed over time, American and Japanese people know that TPP "free trade" changes would only benefit financiers, corporate agribusiness (factory farms and plantations), some global corporations, and law firms representing these interests.

Who needs or wants cheaper (and shoddier) consumer products made by exploited workers (or quasi-slave laborers in Vietnam and Burma)? Who wants the loss of domestic jobs, delicious locally grown heirlom fruits and vegetables and authentic (from the grassroots up) culture? Who wants the loss of democratically created regulations protecting what's left of our planet, and democratically created labor standards protecting what's left of our human dignity? Who wants the continued erosion of constitutionally guaranteed rights and liberties in places where they're still extant?

Good political analysis (as always) on TPP at Shisaku and sensitive insights (as always) from a food sovereignty perspective at Kurashi. Here are some more articles from September on the American 99% view towards the TPP:

"Unions and Farmers—Plus Ben and Jerry—Unite Against Trans-Pacific Trade Deal":

...After the failure of post-NAFTA negotiations by the Clinton administration to create new trading blocs for Asia and the Pacific and for the Americas, the Bush administration attempted to expand both the geographic and policy scope of an emerging Asian-Pacific partnership. For now it includes the US, Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Chile, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore, but it could be designed to add more countries in the future, even China.

Obama, who had campaigned for a new style of trade agreement, delayed action on the Bush-proposed talks, but by late 2009 he embraced the project and the old paradigm. Although the new text is not publicly available (even though corporate trade lawyers get access), critics—who have surreptitiously seen parts of the text—say it largely follows the NAFTA, corporate-rights model.

But it seems that the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement not only is running into broad-based opposition, including from many businesses without Ben & Jerry’s high-profile social consciousness as well as unions, environmentalists and many other progressive groups. It also faces numerous internal conflicts and contradictions, argues Public Citizen Global Trade Watch director Lori Wallach...

More info and insights from Michele Chen: "Labor Day Showdown: Can Advocates Stop ‘NAFTA of the Pacific’?":

...The provisions of the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement or Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are still under wraps. But the general outline seems to mimic the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and similar pacts that have brought political and economic turmoil to rich and poor countries alike. The new negotiations are also taking place amid political friction over pending trade deals with South Korea and Colombia, which have run into opposition over concerns about labor abuses abroad and offshoring of U.S. jobs. Yet the White House continues to push free trade as a path toward the country’s economic revitalization...

Manuel Perez-Rocha, an analyst with the D.C.-based think tank Institute for Policy Studies, says that free trade deals tend to use “investment” and “growth” as a pretext for ruthless exploitation. The agreements “push wages lower and dislocate production with the ensuing loss of jobs,” says Perez-Rocha, adding that “the prospects for the TPP are very bleak and workers everywhere must resist it."

- JD

Global Article 9 Campaign to Abolish War: "On Human Security & Natural Disasters" calls for people-centered human security

Although the Japanese people are grateful that the U.S. military assisted the Japan Self Defense Forces (JSDF) for a couple of months by bringing food and water to earthquake and tsunami victims, U.S. troops have now returned their focus to their primary mission: waging war and preparing for war.

The U.S. military and the JSDF did not have the expertise or means to resolve the meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear plant. And the U.S. military and the JSDF were unable to resolve the most challenging aspects of the triple disaster (permanent evacuation, recovering irradiated dead bodies in Fukushima, providing a rescue program for beloved pets and domesticated animals in the evacuation zone, and rebuilding lives damaged by economic devastation and psychological trauma resulting from the disasters).

The Kan administration still appears overwhelmed by the "biggest industrial accident" in world history: unable to acknowledge ongoing realities, much less able to rationally address the prevention of likely future nuclear accidents in Japan.

Natural disasters are on the rise because of global warming. Further, manmade disasters (oil spills, natural gas explosions, nuclear plant accidents...) are ever-increasing because of inadequate risk management, cost-cutting, and lack of proper oversight resulting from deregulation. 3/11 changed everything in Japan. Business as usual is not working. Relying upon and disproportionately funding short-term, incomplete military disaster assistance programs is not a solution to future natural and nuclear disasters. With all its resources and manpower, the US military was unable to lead Japan in the containment of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

In this article from its April 2011 newsletter, the Global Article Campaign to Abolish newsletter argues that national governments need to shift their spending priorities from short-term military aid to support for efficient, peaceful, long-term disaster response programs administered at regional and local levels: civilian authorities, community-based workers and volunteers:

ON HUMAN SECURITY AND NATURAL DISASTERS

On April 14, the UN General Assembly held its fourth Informal Thematic Debate on Human Security, during which the need for holistic "people-centred" responses to world crises was discussed.

The debate took place just a few weeks after the unprecedented triple disaster that hit Japan in March and reminded the world that the unpredictability and force of nature rank among the biggest threats to human security.

The fact that a highly developed country like Japan - known to be Asia's best example for disaster preparedness and technological capabilities for predicting, monitoring and dealing with frequent earthquakes, as well as a key proponent of a Human Security approach - is struggling to manage disaster relief operations and mitigate the subsequent nuclear crisis, has led some to question how the Human Security framework is relevant to prepare for, and respond to natural disasters.

The UN University in Tokyo also held a workshop on Human Security and Natural Disasters this month, with experts from academia, NGOs, government and UN agencies, to analyze how a human security approach can be applied, and identify policy recommendations and avenues for the future.

During this month's debate and panel discussions at the UN, Member States considered how to define human security beyond the outline agreed at the World Summit in 2005. Indeed, discussions on Human Security have so far essentially focused on war, development and human rights, based on the three pillars of "the freedom from fear, the freedom from want and the freedom to live in dignity."

Yet, today's immense human suffering caused by natural disasters (with 200 million people around the world affected by natural disasters last year alone) calls for a broader definition of Human Security that would include natural disasters as a possible fourth pillar.

Based on his deep involvement in the recovery process of Japan's most affected area, Human Security Advisor to the UN Secretary General Takasu Yukio emphasizes the importance of human dignity along with basic human needs, and insists on the need to agree on a common understanding on what Human Security means and entails. Negotiations towards a UN resolution are expected to start this coming May.

Indeed, as part of the UNGA discussions, some delegations warned against replacing the concept of development by the one of Human Security, expressed concerns about possible linkages with the concept of responsibility to protect, and rejected the use of force in relation to Human Security.

Though comments on the use of force were not directly related to disaster relief operations, concerns over resorting to the military in this context are also relevant, and in fact have been raised in the current Japanese context.

Indeed, while disaster response is generally seen officially as a civilian responsibility, military forces often take the lead in case of large scale disasters, due to their great organizational capability and ability to react promptly. Like in the 1991 cyclone in Bangladesh, in the US in the wake of 2005 Hurricane Katrina or in the aftermath of the earthquake in Sichuan, China in 2008, Japan has been relying on its military at a level unseen since the Second World War with more than 100,000 of its Self-Defence Forces (SDF) - or 40% of its total military - deployed.

In light of the growing trend for military engagement in relief activities, and though it is more contentious in conflict settings and in the case of foreign military involvement in relief activities, voices, such as the one of the ICRC, are being raised to caution that this trend tends to "blur the lines between humanitarian and military actors [compromising] the neutrality and independence, restricting humanitarian access and increasing security risks" and to call for the maintenance of a clear distinction between the respective roles of military bodies and humanitarian actors.*

While some politicians and analysts have chosen to highlight the role played by the SDF in disaster relief for political ends, the current situation has on the contrary made clear that SDF alone cannot do much without the crucial assistance of local civilian authorities, community-based workers and volunteers playing a vital role. The tragic situation has also served as a bleak reminder that the military is powerless stop threats such as the one currently posed by nuclear reactors, thus bringing people to question whether SDF can really defend the people when it needs it the most and wondering what they have thus been trained for, in light of the country's pacific constitution that renounces war as a means of settling international disputes and prohibits the maintenance of armed forces and other war potential.

On April 21, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organization, Nihon Hidankyo, submitted a petition to the Japanese Government in which they demand that the concept of protecting people through military means be replaced by comprehensive health care and monitoring systems, as well as a major transformation of energy policy from reliance on nuclear energy to renewable energy, as nuclear energy and technology represent a man-made hazard that come in the way of preparedness and safety precautions. They also notably urge the government to "discard the notion that military might can secure Japan's safety, adhere to Article 9 of the constitution, and commit to human co-existence through the prioritization of peaceful and safe diplomatic policies."

In light of the lessons learned from the current disaster in Japan and the current debate on Human Security, the Global Article 9 Campaign joins its voice to call for a shift of priorities - from military defense to people-centered human security; from buying weapons to preventing disasters; and from expanding armed personnel to training community workers.

Read more about the UN General Assembly Informal Thematic Debate on Human Security here.

Read the full Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organization (Nihon Hidankyo)'s petition here.