Ms. Yagi uses the word ‘patriotic’ instead
of ‘patriot.’ She has a way with words. I am not a patriot, either, but I think I could
call myself patriotic.
I’d like to define as patriots those who
are narrow-minded enough to think that Japan alone is an important country.
Strange enough, so-called patriots are
those who work for U.S. for some reason as the country wants them to do. I understand that it means that such people
can easily be caught with the bait of money and power.
Masatoshi
Takeshita
December
9, 2012
Nobuyo Yagi – Vocalist & Writer
Photo from Official Biografy
English translation of an excerpt from a
Japanese article: Nobuyo Yagi’s Monologue – December 9, 2012 –
Patriotism,
Nuclear Power Generation and TPP
Please don’t misunderstand me. I am patriotic.
I am good at cooking Japanese cuisine and
love Japanese national costume ‘kimono’, which I often wear in wintertime.
Then, why do I, a patriotic person, oppose
nuclear power generation and TPP?
Needless to say, nuclear power plants have not only damaged the
beautiful nature of Japan and its safety on an incomparably larger scale than
the Senkaku Islands and Takeshima Island issues but carry a finite risk in the
future. This is the biggest reason. With regard to opposition to TPP, I don’t
simply speak for Japan Agricultural Cooperatives. Of course, issues on mixed treatment
(treatment partially covered by insurance) and ISDS (Investor State Dispute
Settlement) are not negligible, but the biggest problem is that introduction of
TPP will devastate Japan’s rice farming.
As I spend a couple months a year in Mexico,
I know well that California rice is very cheap, one-fifth the price of Japanese
rice, and is not of poor quality. If conclusion
of TPP results in import of California rice, even though by gradual process,
Japan’s rice can’t win.
In 1994, Mexico signed
the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) with the U.S. with great
fanfare. At that time Mexico greatly
expected the agreement to create a big economic growth in the country. Compared with the U.S., labor costs are
overwhelmingly lower and agricultural products are cheaper in Mexico. Mexico expected that they would be able to
export their agricultural products and other products to the U.S., which would
work to the benefit to the U.S.
And needless to say, this
fell far short of their expectations.
Most Mexican agricultural products, almost
everything but tomatoes and some fruits, was exploited by the U.S. Even the corn,
Mexican staple, for which self-sufficient ratio was 100 percent and which was considered
rather as exports, (whose free trade, as you might expect, was not
allowed at first for the reason that the corn is the staple food of Mexico, the
foundation of the country, but later liberalization of the corn market was
gradually carried out), have lost ground to American
corns with a decline in self-sufficient ration to some 60 percent.
Why is the corn produced
in Mexico with advantage of far more cheaper land cost and labor cost defeated
in price competition by that produced in the U.S.? Compared with small-scale farming in Mexico, American
farmers not only grow corns like industrial products mass-produced on a large
scale but also are subsidized by the U.S. government to
make international corn prices cheaper than Mexican corn price. This subsidy system caused Mexican corns to
be defeated in competitiveness.
It can be said to be the way in which
so-called big super market has a special sale with the slogan of slashed price
immediately after expanding its business to destroy retailed businesses in the
neighborhood.
In a word, Mexico was trapped.
Additionally, most of
distributors in Mexico have been bought out by Walmart. The work force has been changed into
temporary workers and the disparity between the rich and the poor has been
wider. Finally, as a result of
insecurity and aggravated conflict among mafias, many civilians have got
involved in drug wars.
Looking back, Japanese rice is already
expensive. If the government introduces
measures for deregulation without subsidizing farmers, it is perfectly clear
that rice farming in Japan will be devastated in no time.
What will happen then?
It is not only an emotional problem that we
will lose our culture (though it is also an important problem).
This is a problem on what we think about
the fact that it is highly likely that we will depend on the U.S. for almost
100 percent of staple food in ten years’ time.
I can’t help wondering why people who call
themselves conservatives or patriots could be indifferent to this problem which
is strategically and diplomatically important.
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