Dear Prime Minister Taro Aso,
I'm writing to suggest that you adopt an agricultural policy that would lessen Japan's dependence on imported food and increase the proportion of homegrown foodstuffs consumed within the country.
Japan's present food self-sufficiency rate is only 39 percent on a calorie basis, compared with 79 percent in 1960. While it's true that Japan's topography and high population density prevent it from becoming a major agricultural exporter, it's also true that much more of Japan's food could be grown here. Importing 61 percent of its food, Japan has one of the lowest self-sufficiency rates in the developed world.