HOKKAIDO: A Foreign Journalist’s ViewERIC JOHNSTON

Deputy Editor

The Japan Times

Sept. 5th, 2014

First Impressions of Hokkaido in the West:

Isabella Bird

Published in 1880, this series of letters to her sister from Isabella Bird, an adventurous English woman who traveled with only an interpreter to Hokkaido, is the first recorded account of the island and of the Ainu by a Westerner.

-Isabella Bird’s description of seeing Hokkaido (Hakodate) for the first time.

``I find the climate here more invigorating than that of the main island. It is Japan, but there is a difference somehow. When the mists lift, they reveal not mountains smothered in greenery, but naked peaks, volcanoes only recently burnt out.

``Hokkaido Reminds Me Of . . .’’

CANADA

Pretty Much Everywhere.

SWEDEN

Much of eastern Hokkaido,

especially around the lake areas

FINLAND

Central Hokkaido (Asahi-dake)

northeastern Hokkaido

The WEST COAST of IRELAND

Rishiri, Reibun, Kiritappu,

Akkeshi, parts of Nemuro

ALASKA

Shiretoko, Monbetsu, the Hidaka

mountain range

PROVENCE

Biei,

parts of Furuno

Nobody ever seems to say ``Hokkaido reminds me of central Shikoku’’ or

``Hokkaido reminds me of northern Kyushu’’.

Central Shikoku Northern Kyushu

So, then, if that’s what Hokkaido ``looks like’’, what are the attitudes

toward it?

SOME WESTERN ATTITUDES

TOWARD HOKKAIDO:

``I didn’t come to Japan to experience Canada. I came to Japan to experience `Japan’ (i.e. ultra-modern Tokyo or traditional Kyoto)

SOME RESIDENT WESTERN ATTITUDES TOWARD HOKKAIDO:

``Too far, too expensive’’

. . .they say as they board the plane for Southeast Asia, Oceania, Europe, or the U.S. for a three night, four day holiday.

北海道ようこそ！Welcome to Hokkaido!

SOME WESTERN ATTITUDES

TOWARD HOKKAIDO:

``Hokkaido? Why?

I don’t ski and I don’t like cold

weather.’’

SOME RESIDENT WESTERN

ATTITUDES TOWARD HOKKAIDO:

``It’s not as historically important or interesting as the rest of the country.’’

RESIDENT WESTERN ATTITUDES TOWARD

HOKKAIDO:

``I’m not into hiking or camping that much and I’m not going to spend a lot of money to go look at trees and mountains.’’

SOME RESIDENT WESTERN

ATTITUDES TOWARD HOKKAIDO:

``It’s just easier and more convenient to stay in and around Tokyo/Kansai/the major urban center where I live.’’

SOME RESIDENT WESTERN ATTITUDES TOWARD HOKKAIDO:

`LOVE IT! The food, the people, the nature, the open spaces, the healthy lifestyle. . .

. . .maybe someday. I’ll go back in the winter just to see what it’s like!”

HOKKAIDO: The Food Capital of Japan

Freshest ingredients, simply prepared.

Realization of

Greater DiversityTraditional images of Hokkaido food like ``Ghenghis Khan’’, soft cream, and Sapporo Ramen now giving way to realization of how good salmon, cod, and other fish is, as well as potatoes, corn, asparagus, onions, and, of course, Hokkaido beef, locally-raised ``Suffolk’’ lamb, and all forms of cheese or diary-based desserts.

Foodie Heaven New generation of Hokkaido chefs, farmers, and restaurants now offering gourmet items like smoked rainbow trout or smoked tofu, and –the next big thing? - artisanal cheese. ``Local Production, Local Consumption’’ philosophy growing stronger. Better hotels, even international chains, feature French or Italian meals prepared mostly with Hokkaido ingredients.

MICHELIN GUIDE HOKKAIDO, Published in 2012 in Japanese but translated, online, into English.

699 restaurants, including French chef Michel Bras TOYA Japon, located at the Windsor Hotel, where the 2008 G-8 Summit was held, as well as Sushi Tanabe, Nukumi, and the Sapporo French restaurant Moliere.

MicrobeersAbundant supplies of fresh water, local foods that go well with beer, and a cool climate that encourages brewers and customers to try a wide variety of ales, pilsners, lagers, porters, wheat beers, and stouts makes Hokkaido Japan’s most important microbeer location after the Kanto region.

Hokkaido: Asia’s Pantry?In 2013, for the first time ever, over 1 million foreigners visited Hokkaido. Of these, about 386,000 were from Taiwan, 137,000 were from South Korea, slightly more than 100,000 were from mainland China, and another 73,000 were from Thailand, thanks to introduction of direct flights to Sapporo. Due to relaxed visa restrictions, the number of Malaysian tourists is increasing.

Hokkaido merchants in some areas are reporting shortage of certain foods like Suffolk lamb and melons because of tourists from Asia are buying it in greater numbers. Evidence suggests that Hokkaido food in particular is prized by mainland Chinese tourists because it’s both delicious and, more importantly, safe.

Of course, when it comes to restaurants and the service industry, Hokkaido does have a certain reputation. . . .

Ingredients: 1st Class

Facilities: 2nd Class Service: 3rd Class

And Speaking of Food, That Brings Us To the

Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement

(TPP)

The TPP 1) There is a general perception among

pro-TPP media outlets (foreign and Japanese) that JA Hokkaido because it simply wishes to protect its position and that Japan joining TPP means more choice, and cheaper options, at the local supermarket.

2) There is a general perception among anti-TPP media, or those who are skeptical of official claims, that joining TPP means a loss of food security. This means (a) increased reliance on foreign imports that might be cut off suddenly; and (2) a greater danger of contaminated food from Asian TPP countries with lower health regulations than Japan; and (3) food from non-TPP countries with very low countries that is processed in a TPP country and then sold to Japan as being from that country.

Hokkaido produces:

2/3rds of Japan’s wheat86 percent of its salmon100 percent of its sugar beets60 percent of its onions49 percent of its pumpkins51 percent of its milk47 percent of its sweet corn77 percent of its spuds

FACTS AND FIGURES

Hokkaido: 25 percent of Japan’s cultivated area for agriculture

12% of Japan’s total agricultural output

Two-thirds of Hokkaido farmers are under 65 years old (37 percent nationally)

72 percent are business farmers (21 percent nationally)

HOKKAIDOCalorie-based food self-sufficiency ratio is 191%, the highest in Japan.

Output-based food self-sufficiency ratio is 201%-- fourth in the nation after Miyazaki, Kagoshima, and Aomori prefectures

Effects of TPP on Hokkaido (as predicted by the Hokkaido prefectural government)

DIRECT AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION 476 billion yen

Dairy Industry 167 billion yen

• Fishing Industry 45 billion yenTotal # of Hokkaido Farms: 43,000 23,000

Dairy Industry: 56,000 people lose their jobs

Rice Industry: 14,000 people lose their jobs

Is Most of Hokkaido Opposed to the TPP?

Opposed

Support

Unsure

HoKKAIDO SHIMBUn, March 2013

50%

47%

Comments heard in Hokkaido about TPP•``JA is corrupt and doesn’t want to change. Younger farmers and those who want to the system to change probably support TPP negotiations as a way to put pressure on JA to change its ways.’’

• - Forest ranger in Kurodake, July 2011

•``Opposition to TPP is less strong in western Hokkaido, where the cities of Sapporo, Otaru, Niseko, and Hakodate are, and where large-scale agricultural isn’t as powerful as it is in the central and western parts of the prefecture.’’

• - Hokkaido politician in Sapporo, March 2013

•``Hokkaido produce, dairy, and meat products are the best, and healthiest, in Asia. If a TPP allows more Hokkaido farmers, especially younger Hokkaido farmers, to sell more Hokkaido agricultural products to high-end customers in other parts of Asia, they can make a lot of money.’’

• - Restaurant owner in Kushiro, July 2013

``The TPP would be disaster. Not because of cheap foreign foods but because it would allow huge U.S. agricultural businesses like Monsanto into Japan. The TPP is not really about the food you eat. It’s about imposing U.S. corporate desires regarding seed patents and crop development in Japan.’’- Hokkaido prefecture bureaucrat, in Sapporo, April 2013

The Ainu: Policy and Reality

The Basic Situation2006 Hokkaido prefecture survey showed that 24,000 Ainu people live in Hokkaido, and a few thousand more live in Tokyo.

 

No Ainu people are believed to use the Ainu language for daily conversation. There are no Ainu settlements of the type Native Americans, for example, have.

 

The ratio of Ainu household receiving public assistance was 2.5 times the national average. College entrance rate among Ainu under 30 was half the national average.

Main English sources on Ainu

`Our Land Was a Forest’ by Kayano Shigeru was translated into English, and, along with Isabella Bird’s book, is one of the few works about the Ainu known among Westerners with an interest in Japan.

Report by NGO Network for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Japan to the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (August 2014)

PROBLEM:Insufficient guarantee of Ainu participation in relevant government bodies, especially the Council for Ainu Policy Promotion.SUGGESTIONSGOJ should guarantee at least half the members of the Council for Ainu Policy Promotion are Ainu representativesSupport for Ainu living outside of Hokkaido 

Good Suggestions, but. . .Efforts by both Tokyo and Hokkaido to promote Ainu culture have been made in the past few years. But questions about traditional fishing and hunting rights remain a sore point for some Ainu groups, who find themselves up against politically powerful fishing and agriculture lobbies if they try to assert their rights. To return to traditional practices in a wide area of Hokkaido will mean legislation exempting Ainu from current hunting laws and regulations -- not an impossible task but one that will take time.

The Four Disputed Islands. . .

Japan’s Position• The 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Declaration did not apply to the Northern Territories because those islands had never belonged to Russia even before 1904–1905.

• Russia had not previously claimed the disputed islands, not in all the time since it began diplomatic relations with Japan in 1855. Therefore the disputed islands could not be considered part of the territories acquired by Japan "by violence and greed".

• The Yalta Agreement "did not determine the final settlement of the territorial problem, as it was no more than a statement by the then leaders of the Allied Powers as to principles of the postwar settlement. (Territorial issues should be settled by a peace treaty.) Furthermore, Japan is not bound by this document, to which it did not agree."

• Russia's 1945 entry into the war against Japan was a violation of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact, and the occupation of the islands was therefore a violation of international law. The Soviet Union repudiated the neutrality pact on April 5, 1945, but the pact remained in effect until April 13, 1946.

• Although by the terms of Article (2c) of the 1951 San Francisco treaty, Japan renounced all rights to the Kuril Islands, the treaty did not apply to the islands of Kunashiri, Etorofu, Shikotan and the Habomai rocks since they are not included in the Kuril Islands. Also, the Soviet Union did not sign the San Francisco treaty.

Russia’s Position•Russia maintains that all the Kuril Islands, including those that Japan calls the Northern Territories, are legally a part of Russia as a result of World War II, and that this acquisition was as proper as any other change of international boundaries following the war.Moscow cites the following basic points:

•The explicit language of the Yalta Treaty gave the Soviet Union a right to the Kurils, and the Soviet Union upheld its own obligations under that treaty.

•Russia inherited possession of the islands from the former Soviet Union, as its successor state, in accordance with international law.

•The Japanese assertion that the disputed islands are not part of the Kurils is simply a tactic to bolster Tokyo's territorial claim and is not supported by history or geography.

•Russia has said it is open to a negotiated "solution" to the island dispute while declaring that the legality of its own claim to the islands is not open to question. In other words, Japan would first have to recognize Russia's right to the islands and then try to acquire some or all of them through negotiations.

Why are the islands important?•Personal Reasons: Many people in

eastern Hokkaido in particular were born on one of the four islands and their family graves are still there. Now, two or three generations of Russian settlers have also lived on the islands.

•Economic Reasons: The islands have mineral resources, which include offshore hydrocarbon deposits, gold, silver, iron, and titanium. Etorofu is the only source in Russia of the rare metal rhenium, which has important uses in electronics. The waters off the islands are an exceptionally rich source for fish and seafood production, worth an estimated 4 billion dollars a year.

•  

•Defense/Strategic Reasons: The deep channels between the southern Kuril Islands allow Russian submarines to transit to the open ocean underwater. Russian military planners have argued that the loss of these channels would reduce the effectiveness of the Russian Pacific Fleet and thereby reduce Russian security in the region. Control of the islands by either Russia or Japan also serves as a check on Chinese navy moving into northeast Asia.

•Diplomatic Reasons: The islands represent a form of diplomatic chess between Japan and Russia, which still not have signed a peace treaty, and who both have some concerns about China. But neither side wants to blink first.

The Two-Island Compromise

During negotiations in the 1950s, Japan was prepared to the return of only Habomai and Shikotan, before the U.S. stepped in and told the Japanese government it would keep Okinawa if it made such a deal with Russia. Japan. Since then, Japan has demanded the return of all four islands.

This has formed the basis for the stalemate every since.

NEMUROThe Front Line of the

DisputeFoggy, chilly Nemuro feels like Another Country. Here, the desire for the Four Islands to be returned is at its strongest, yet there is also a strong desire to get along with the Russians. People here see the Russians more as neighbors than as distant foreigners. Lots of marriages between Russians and local Japanese. Large numbers of visiting Russians from the Four Islands give Nemuro a feel unlike any other city in Japan. Whatever deal Japan and Russia eventually reach, Nemuro is likely to play a very large role in shaping.

Finally. . .Hokkaido and Renewable Energy

Renewable Energy Potential The Best in Japan

•By some estimates, there is enough offshore wind in Hokkaido to generate the same amount of electricity as 556 nuclear reactors

•For solar and on-shore wind, Hokkaido is estimated have the greatest potential for any of Japan’s 47 prefectures.

•Biomass and Biogas plants, especially in central Hokkaido, have huge potential and local farmers are moving into these areas even as the national government shows little enthusiasm.

In Conclusion• Hokkaido is an incredibly diverse, fascinating place with a very high quality of life, natural

beauty, the greenest and cleanest environment in the country, excellent food, and a population that has something of a pioneer spirit. It is especially attractive to people who are exhausted with the grey, dense urban jungles of Honshu.

• Hokkaido may remind Western residents of somewhere else. But many like Hokkaido because it gives them a chance to enjoy a Japan that is similar to what they grew up with, while tourists, especially from Asia where the climate is very different, love Hokkaido because you have to go to far-away Europe or Canada to find a similar environment.

• Hokkaido’s future lies primarily in both traditional and specialized agriculture, tourism, and renewable energy. Heavy investment in these three areas will attract Japan’s, and the world’s, best and brightest.

• Controversial issues that direct effect Hokkaido like TPP and the Northern Territories issue are unlikely to be resolved anytime soon, but whatever the solutions, they will be ``Hokkaido-based’’

• AS HOKKIADO RESIDENTS, YOU LIVE IN A WONDERFUL PART OF JAPAN. PLEASE DO YOUR PART TO PRESERVE ITS ENVIROMENT THROUGH SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATIVE, ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY BUSINESS VENTURES.

THANK YOU!!!ご清聴ありがとうございます。

イヤイライケレ（アイヌ語）