【News】 Anti-TPP lawyers establish a network to address TPP’s threat on the nation’s legal systems (July 30, 2013)

  Hiroko Obara 318 lawyers nationwide created a network to support the movement against the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks by analyzing and addressing the risks which the pact could impose on Japan’s legal systems, the representatives of the group announced Monday, July 29. The group, jointly headed by three lawyers including Kenji Utsunomiya, former president of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, submitted a letter of request to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe the same day, urging the government to withdraw from the TPP negotiations. “The TPP agreement poses a threat to all aspects of the people’s lives, including food, employment and environment,” Utsunomiya said. “It is an agreement which places … Continue reading

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【News】 Number of tourists to Fukushima rebounds, Japan Agricultural Cooperative’s tour company reports (July 29, 2013)

  The number of people traveling to Fukushima Prefecture during a period between April and June this year by participating in tour programs offered by the Japan Agricultural Cooperative (JA) group’s Nokyo Tourist Corporation grew 60% from a year before to 12,035, according to the firm. Reflecting increased attention on the region, the number went up 40% even from the same period in 2010, a year before the triple disaster –- an earthquake, a tsunami and a nuclear meltdown – struck in March 2011. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s subsidies for Fukushima-bound tours and the popularity of “Yae no Sakura (Yae’s cherry blossoms),” a public broadcaster NHK’s historical drama series inspired … Continue reading

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【News】 More scarecrows than people (July 28, 2013)

  Takuo Fukumoto An old man smiling with his friend, a farmer working in a field, an old lady sitting on an open corridor and a man trying to open the door of a warehouse – they are some of the 95 scarecrows put up in a small mountainous village with 20 residents. Known as Okuharima Kakashi no Sato (the Scarecrow Village of Okuharima), Seki district in Yasutomi, Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture attracts visitors with humorous stuffed characters in work clothes and straw hats standing here and there in farmyards and farm fields, looking just like human beings. Masato Okaue, 61, who was born in Seki and now lives in Takarazuka, … Continue reading

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【News】 An agricultural cooperative in Kumamoto to air a TV commercial in a Kumamoto dialect opposing TPP (July 27, 2013)

  Japan Agricultural Cooperative in Kumamoto (JA Kumamoto) will run a 30-second television advertisement starting on Tuesday, July 30, to inform audience of the adverse impacts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks. The new ad, the seventh version of JA Kumamoto’s anti-TPP campaign advertisement, is scheduled to be aired a total of more than 130 times until the end of October on four commercial TV channels which can be viewed in Kumamoto. The ad, which comes in 30-second and 15-second versions, features a local TV personality Koichi Otaguro whose Kumamoto accent is familiar to viewers in the region. “What is TPP after all? I hear it is not just a … Continue reading

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【Editorial】 Immediate withdrawal from TPP negotiations behind closed doors will be in the country’s best interest (July 27, 2013)

  The 18th round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks, with Japan on board for the first time, ended with member countries agreeing to accelerate discussions in such areas as market access including tariffs. As was expected, the negotiations were kept strictly confidential. All the Japanese government could do was to make a debut and gather information on the talks, without being able to put forward concrete policy proposals. Let us make one thing clear. There is no reason for Japan to join the agreement which leads to deterioration of this country, placing priority on the interests of global enterprises and ignoring the will of the people. There is no room … Continue reading

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