Regarding the June 28 editorial "How will Japan's farms survive?": It seems to me that the Japanese government is planning to expand farms in the future and will fight to save rice, wheat, beef, sugar and dairy products. But what do the old farmers think about this?

As someone who lives next to rice fields and a vineyard, I'm afraid that other countries won't agree to Japan's stand. What the government says is just lip service. This was demonstrated before when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi adopted the policy of deregulation. All the retailers in our neighborhood disappeared!

I don't believe what the government says. Industrialization in the 1960s deceived farmers. I don't want to see Japanese farmers deceived again. Self-sufficiency in farm products will enrich Japanese people physically and psychologically, but if no country sells farm products to Japan, what will the Japanese do?

masayuki aihara
fukushima

The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.