Agricultural Banzai Cliff

President of Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives, Akira Banzai, announced that he would step down this summer, leaving his tenure of two more years. He explained the reason that the decision of Shinzo Abe Cabinet on agricultural reform had put a period. It is fair to say that he took responsibility on his handling of agricultural reform, in which his opinion had been dismissed by Abe administration and failed in protect current structure of agricultural syndicate. However, Japanese agriculture looks to be going nowhere even with his resignation.

In the press conference on Thursday, Banzai stressed new era for agriculture in Japan. “Agriculture gets into new stage. I hope CUAC to show a new shape under the leadership of new president,” told Banzai. He said he decided his resignation by himself and revealed it at the meeting of Board of Governors earlier on the day.

The decision of Abe Cabinet determined to amend the Agricultural Cooperatives Law, depriving power of CUAC to oversee regional cooperatives. CUAC will be stripped its progressive role in agricultural policy. From the time of administration of Democratic Party of Japan, CUAC has been firmly opposing Trans-Pacific Partnership. Basically as a supporter of Liberal Democratic Party, the organization criticized DPJ and kept on frustrated with LDP administration continuing TPP negotiation. For Abe administration, CUAC became too negative for his administration to keep the organization as one of the LDP’s supporters.

While agricultural reform of Abe administration is aimed to make Japanese agriculture sustainable. Prime Minister Abe believes that farmers will be active free from leadership of CUAC. But, agriculture is not so simple. Sustainability is achieved through competitiveness in international trade. TPP will urge foreign agricultural products coming into the market in Japan. Farmers cannot obtain higher competitiveness with the reform as long as cost of Japanese agriculture, based on expensive soil and labor, remains to be high.

So, Banzai’s protesting and even suicidal resignation did not make any epoch, but simply symbolized discretional politics of Abe on whom he did not like. Next leader in agricultural community will not be so protestant against the policy of Abe administration. This is not a struggle for more competitive agriculture in Japan, but a power game between farmers and political leaders, which had been weaving a history of Japan from the era of middle age, when farmers often rebelled against feudal government.