Freeing up trade, in any country, always seems to bring up objections from entrenched interests; in Japan its no different:
INTERVIEW: Japan may not decide on US-led trade talks by July poll
Many businesses want Tokyo to join the pact so that exporters can better compete with overseas rivals, but powerful agricultural lobbies oppose participation for fear of the influx of overseas farm products.
Japan is already the world’s biggest net importer of agricultural products of over 6 trillion yen ($66 billion) a year as Tokyo has gradually opened the market to imports, including beef.