Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda held a meeting Thursday with lawmakers from his Democratic Party of Japan in an effort to ease their opposition to Japan taking part in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.
It was the first time Noda met with DPJ Diet members since returning from a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Honolulu earlier this month, where he informed the international community of Japan's desire to join the TPP free-trade pact talks.
The meeting was requested by former farm minister Masahiko Yamada and his allies, who fiercely oppose Japan's entry to the TPP negotiations. The group fears the TPP, which aims to eliminate tariffs on all imports in principle among its member states, will allow cheap agricultural imports to flood the domestic market and devastate the farming sector.