July 24, 2025

Akahat ‘current’ column (excerpts)

U.S. President Trump on July 22 announced that the U.S. reached an agreement with Japan on trade and tariffs. Calling the agreement the largest deal in history, Trump posted on social media in a proud tone, “Japan will invest, at my direction, $550 Billion Dollars into the United States, which will receive 90% of the Profits. This Deal will create hundreds of Thousands of Jobs.”

He, in his post on Truth Social, also wrote that most importantly, Japan will “open their Country to Trade including Cars and Trucks, Rice and certain other Agricultural products, and other things.” He added that this is an “exciting time for the United States of America.” Does the conclusion of a one-sided agreement like this translate to what Prime Minister Ishiba calls building a “win-win relationship”?

If Japan increases imports of U.S. rice as promised to the U.S, this will damage the already-weakened agricultural production base in Japan. Japanese farmers, who have been forced to reduce rice paddy acreage and rice production over the years, will suffer even more. They will lose their livelihoods, which will accelerate the trend of farmers being forced off their land. The government’s decision is tantamount to totally abandoning the supposed goal of improving Japan’s food self-sufficiency rate.