Japan farming reforms a test of Abe's resolve

Tokyo

AFTER December's landslide re-election, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's programme to revive the nation's economy is set to meet perhaps its stiffest challenge, the nation's sclerotic farming industry.

He will soon submit legislation to reform agriculture, a sector where a dwindling band of ageing farmers works tiny plots, while conducting gruelling negotiations to sign up for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which would cut towering import tariffs that shield domestic farmers.

Standing in his way is Japan Agriculture (JA), a lobby group that controls most aspects of pricing and distribution through its network of about 700 farming cooperatives, and also supplies feed and mach…