[captioning made possible by democracy now!] ♪ >> broadcasting from tokyo, japan this is democracy now. nearly 70 years ago, the u.s. took over the japanese island of okinawa after one of the bloodiest battles of world war ii. more than 200,000 people died, mostly japanese civilians. today the u.s. operates 34 bases on the island and is planning to build a new state of the art marine base despite mass protests.

we'll get the latest. then we will talk to a founder of peace boat, one of japan's most prominent anti-war groups. peace -- who will make the piece? it will be us. >> and as the u.s. congress holds a key hearing on the tpp or transpacific partnership, we'll look at why many japanese activists oppose the trade deal. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from tokyo, japan. tens of thousands of west virginia residents remain without tap water one week after

a chemical spill in the elk river. the state's water ban has been lifted in stages over the past several days for about half the 300,000 residents in the effected areas. but that still leaves close to 150,000 without tap water for drinking, bathing, or cooking. dozens of people have been hospitalized with symptoms related to chemical exposure. speaking to cnn, west virginia attorney general patrick morrisey vowed a probe of the spill and the company behind it, freedom industries. >> the reality here is that no one could argue that the water supply should not be protected. we had an absolute, unmitigated disaster here for six days where people are without water area this is not only utterly unacceptable, it is outrageous on every level. whenever we are engaging in a conversation about chemicals, we need to make sure basic protections are put in place. part of this review is about examining what protections were in place and what may need to be

changed. a storage facility behind the spill in charleston is just a mile upriver from the state's largest water treatment plant. inspectors hadn't visited it since 1991. freedom industries has now moved its chemicals to a different site, but one that has previously been cited for multiple violations of safety rules. like the charleston site, the new site 10 miles away in nitro also has holes in its containment wall. the senate has failed to renew the jobless benefits that expired last month. some 1.4 million americans have lost their aid for long-term unemployment after republicans refused to extend it without an equal amount in spending cuts. hope was stirred for a renewal last week after a handful of republicans agreed to open debate. but a critical motion to advance the measure failed on wednesday after it failed to win the needed 60 votes. the house has approved a new $1.1 trillion dollar spending bill that would avoid a government shutdown at least through september.

the bill passed with overwhelming bi-partisan dispute that forced -- support, signaling a potential end to the partisan dispute that forced the government's two-week closure last year. in a defeat for the tea party, the bill would increase spending by $45 billion dollars over the cuts that would have been forced by the sequester. but it preserves several key republican demands, including the de-funding of high-speed rail projects and a ban on funds to hold guantanamo bay prisoners in the united states. iraqi prime minister nouri al- maliki has appealed for international support amidst spiraling violence and a fight with militants. on wednesday, maliki said he'll need the world's help in a long fight against sunni militants, particularly the islamic state in iraq and the levant, an al qaeda group. maliki's warning came as 86 people were killed in nationwide

violence in baghdad, baquba, and mosul. maliki has ruled out reconciliation talks and is pursuing an offensive against sunni militants who have captured parts of fallujah and parts of ramadi. the pentagon has opened a probe following the publication of graphic photographs appearing to show u.s. marines burning dead bodies in iraq. the website tmz says the images were taken in fallujah in 2004. they show u.s. soldiers pouring gasoline on the bodies of victims described as slain iraqi militants. others show the bodies' charred remains and a u.s. soldier posing next to a skull. egyptian voters have overwhelmingly approved a new constitution in a two-day referendum. the military government reported a turnout of 55 percent in what many expect to pave the way for

a presidential run by army chief general abdel fattah al-sisi. the muslim brotherhood had called for a boycott of the vote in protest of the coup that ousted president mohamed morsi last year and the ensuing crackdown on his supporters. the justice department is reportedly preparing a major expansion of its definition of racial profiling in order to curb the targeting of different groups. under the new rules, federal agents will be barred from considering religion, national origin, gender and sexual orientation during the course of investigations. profiling was banned under the bush administration in 2003, but with exceptions for national security cases and also with a more limited definition. critics say the exceptions have allowed for significant profiling of two key groups -- muslims in counterterrorism cases and latinos in immigration

cases. it's unclear however if the new rules will undo the national security exemption. the supreme court heard arguments wednesday about the issue of buffer zones around abortion clinics. the case concerns a massachusetts law that creates a 35-foot protection area around a clinic's entrance , a distance that takes roughly seven seconds to walk. the law was enacted in 2007 following decades of intimidation, blockades and violence by anti-choice extremists, including a shooting rampage at two boston-area clinics that killed two workers in 1994. pro-choice advocates say the buffer zones are crucial to ensuring safe access to healthcare and guarding against harassment by anti-choice demonstrators who routinely gather outside clinics. the air force unit responsible for overseeing the country's nuclear missiles is facing a major cheating scandal amongst its ranks.

at least 34 officers have lost their security clearances over allegations they helped each other cheat on a monthly proficiency exam last year. the entire force will also be subject to re-evaluations as a result. air force chief of staff general mark welsh announced the suspensions. >> cheating, or tolerating others that cheat, runs counter to everything we stand for. we have decertified all 34 officers involved. they are restricted for missile duty. their security clearances have been suspended and the investigation to the level of their individual involvement will continue. >> the suspensions follow the firing of the head of icbm force, air force major general michael carey, for intoxication and other inappropriate behavior while leading a delegation to nuclear security talks in russia.

a new senate report echoes previous findings that the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya was preventable. ambassador christopher stevens and three other americans were killed when militants overran their compound on september 11th, 2012. the senate intelligence committee faults the state department for failing to bolster security in the face of warnings and for a communication breakdown with the cia. on wednesday, state department spokesperson marie harf acknowledged the breakdown but said there was no specific intelligence warning of an impending attack. >> as we have repeatedly said, there was no specific threat indicating an attack was coming. obviously, we talked at length about the fact that we knew there were extremists and terrorists operating in libya and benghazi but we had no specific information indicating attack was coming.

we cannot go back and say what could've been prevented and what could not have been. >> the archdiocese of chicago has agreed to release thousands of internal documents that detail its internal handling of child sexual abuse by clergy members. the documents will be turned over to victims' attorneys as part of settlement in scores of cases. bishop francis kane of chicago called the documents' release a step toward healing past crimes, while victims' advocate barbara dorris said they could help uncover predators who escaped punishment. >> by offering these documents, we hope to heal all of those afflicted by this terrible, terrible crime. we hope it will bring healing to the victims and their families, and to all the good and dedicated people that serve the faithful of the archdiocese every day. >> the community here needs to know where these predators are.

many of these predators have never been sued and will therefore not be on the list, and that leaves children in chicago at risk. >> attorneys for the victims say they expect to make the documents public next week. three people are dead after a shooting at a supermarket in elkhart, indiana. a young female store worker and a female shopper were killed before the gunman engaged in a firefight with police. -- gunmen died in a firefight with police. new york city has finalized a settlement to resolve dozens of lawsuits over the mass arrest of protesters at the 2004 republican national convention. over 1,800 people were detained during the rnc, many held in squalid conditions and for far longer than legally allowed. the $18 million dollar settlement would end all pending lawsuits after a decade of legal wrangling and bring new york city's total tab for rnc abuses to $34 million dollars. it awaits final approval from a federal judge.

and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are on the road in japan, broadcasting from tokyo for the second of three special broadcasts. our visit to japan comes less than a month after thousands of people rallied on the japanese island of okinawa to protest plans to build a new u.s. military base. demonstrators surrounded a government building and staged a sit-in inside. the protests came after local officials agreed to a deal in mid-december that will relocate one of the existing u.s. bases from a densely populated urban area to a more remote location. but a multi-decades movement of okinawa residents has opposed the base altogether and pushed for ousting u.s. forces off the island, citing environmental concerns and sexual assaults by u.s. soldiers on local residents. one protester explained how the presence of the okinawa base caused a major tragedy in his family.

>> i have never been able to accept any soldiers to be stationed here. reasons goes back to 1954, or 1955, when i was in eighth or ninth grade. i had a five-year-old relative. an american soldier kidnapped her in broad daylight. he took her to a field and stripped her naked. then raped her, murdered her, and discarded her body. >> the united states has been using okinawa as a key military site since the bloody battle of okinawa in 1945 when more than 200,000 people were killed, most japanese civilians. the u.s. now maintains 34 bases and 18,000 troops on okinawa.

for more, we're joined in our toyko studio by two guests. kozue joined by akibayashi, a professor and activist in japan and with the women's international league of peace and freedom and the women's international network against militarism. john junkerman is documentary filmmaker living in tokyo currently working on a film about u.s. military bases in okinawa. his past films include "japan's peace constitution," also "hellfire -- a journey from hiroshima," which was nominated for an academy award, and "power and terror -- noam chomsky in our times." welcome to democracy now! explain the latest. >> there was a relocation to a and people have

protested for longer than 15 years by now. the latest development, to our surprise, is the governor approved the reclamation of the , to build the new facility, like you said, a state-of-the- art marine corps facility. yourll that change position on the governor? >> yes and no. in his first term, he was clear the relocation was necessary. , and this is term the end of his second term, he said the relocation needs to be outside of okinawa, because people protested so hard

and so long and that was the will expressed for several years. , if you couldman talk about the history of these , which arein okinawa been following for decades. can you go back to why it has been there to begin with? >> the u.s. seized the island of okinawa in 1945 after a battle that lasted for two and a half months, where over 200,000 people were killed. literally, the entire island was drenched with blood. the island is the size of long island, off of new york. the u.s. sees that, and in the weeks after that, the months after that, dropped two bombs on japan and the war ended. >> the atomic bombs. >> the atomic bombs on hiroshima

and not the sake. -- nagasaki. at first, it was a place where they could stage large numbers of troop or they could maintain peace during the american thatation, but soon after the korean war started, and when the korean war started, the u.s. engaged in a massive base building campaign. the occupation ended in 1952, but the occupation continued for 20 years after that, in which the u.s. had full control of the bases on those islands. is island of okinawa strategically located. you can send bombing missions to china,nto vietnam, into and, in fact, the

u.s. did use the air force base inokinawa as a base to bomb korea and also in north vietnam. >> so, using it for vietnam, was their opposition expressed at that time and how did that go forward? >> sure. and the thing about okinawa, which is why it is important to see this in the long perspective, having that many citizens killed in world war ii, deeplyple have a okinawa seated pessimism toward war. they tolerated u.s. presence because they had no choice for many, many years, but it rankled them, and when against their own to bes and conscious involved in u.s. wars in asia. it is not like that, and there was strong opposition during those years. okinawa mounted a campaign to be

japan in the hope that because japan is a peace constitution, they would be returned to japan and the bases would be removed. they would become like the rest of japan with the peace constitution was in effect. did revert to japan in 1972, but the bases remained. they were not removed whatsoever. in fact, the percentages on okinawa has increased since that time. there is a concentration of almost 75% of the american presence on this island that landmass.s .6% of the explain akibayashi, what happened in the 1990's with the rape scandal that led to the intensification of the opposition to u.s. bases.

1995, it is often cited as a trigger of the island-wide protest. characterize to the incident that way because women's movements that i have been working with for 15, 17 years by now, they were the ones that first raise their voice in public to call for more attention to the history, long history of sexual violence. in 1995 rape was not the only one. because of the coverage of the young victim, it was reported to the police and reported in okinawa, and the people knew about that, and that, in fact, led to the wide range -- rage among the people of okinawa because they had had enough. sexual violence cases, other

cases by the people of -- against the people of okinawa by the soldiers. >> why was 1995 the trigger, as you said, it was not the only rape? >> i think the people -- >> the girl was 12 years old? >> yes, and the criminal justice system required the case to be open, and she said she did not want any more victims like her. that attracted more public support for protection of women morehildren who are almost,and sacrificed, because of keeping the u.s. military on their island, and the reason is for security. they always get this reason --

for the security of the region, japan, we need to have the military bases, but what about our security? the very presence of the u.s. military makes their life weecure, and i think in 1995 realize that ousting military bases is actually the source of their insecurity -- hosting military bases is actually the source of the insecurity. >> what happened to the soldiers in that rape? >> they were apprehended and tried in japan and they served for almost two and a half years. >> and the base is ultimately closed because of the outcry? >> no, that was the announcement by the two6, governments, that the air base to-l be closed within five-

seven years, but there was a condition that a replacement facility needs to be built. reported that the new rape case was the seventh arrest of american servicemen since the united states returned to okinawa in 1972. >> to that case, many women's groups of tested. there are more cases, many more cases unreported and reported. hundreds. >> that was an egregiously mistaken report aaron since night -- report. since 1972, there have been over 120 cases reported. it might be there are only seven american soldiers tried in japanese courts, but the number of cases themselves is much more, much more widespread. >> this just came out this week -- the u.s. army reportedly

conducted field experiments of biological weapons that could harm rice cropping in okinawa in the 1960's. do you know about this? >> the u.s. stored chemical and biological weapons and there were cases where leaks from these barrels of biological weapons leaked into the water sources. there has been a great deal of environmental damage done to okinawa. it was just recently, in the last year, they were digging to build a soccer field, and they dug up some 20, 30 rusted out barrels that had traces of dioxin in them. >> john junkerman, why is okinawa so important to the u.s., and also, if you could talk about china in this regard? >> as i mentioned, strategic location is important, and it is

also very close to the islands where china and japan have come to loggerheads over competing claims to that territory, which is now controlled by the japanese, but the chinese and the taiwanese also claim that territory. it is a very small, very, very unimportant use of property -- uninhabitable, very small, but it has been used as an excuse for maintaining u.s. troops in japan. the other thing that makes okinawa appealing to americans is that the japanese government covers nearly 100% of the costs of maintaining those bases in japan. utilities, the workers who work on those bases, ,he cooks who cook the foods the golf courses, the swimming

pools -- it maintains everything. the u.s. burden to have the bases there is very slim. there is hardly any financial burden whatsoever. they get a free ride. it is the best situation for u.s. bases in any country in the entire world. fit into thekinawa u.s.-japanese increasing military cooperation agreement? >> a lot of the cooperation is happening right there in okinawa , happening in the waters around okinawa and near disputed territories. >> how do you have a situation where most of the population in okinawa is opposed to the base, and the governor ran on a platform against this base, but now has changed, though the mayor is still opposed? the mayor as opposed. he is running for reelection. he is very strongly opposed to

the base. if he wins, roadblocks will be put in building those bases. it is an untenable situation. many say despite japanese pledges, despite the u.s. being stubbornly committed to building this new blaze -- base on okinawa it can never be built because 80% of people do not want it to be billed. i have tolerated bases for a .ong time -- built they have tolerated bases for a long time. another 20 years have passed. if a building new base and a very large base, that base will be there for another 70 years, and this is what okinawa will not tolerate. , what isakibayashi ultimately the plan of the activist groups of which you are a part at this point with the announcement that they are moving forward?

>> our ultimate goal is to remove all bases from okinawa, and we have been building communitiesh other of the u.s. military in the area because we realize it is important to know their situation because when there have been plans to relocate to guam, forinawa troops, we did not want on small islands. our international network -- our women's network against militarism is to close down all of the bases, convert them to a more civilian, more beneficial to local people's use, and demilitarize the system. as john explains, the geopolitical importance of securitys within them

framework of the minister of security, and we are looking for better diplomatic relationships with corporations, other neighboring countries and military might is not a solution. military might has been sustained at the suspense -- expense of the people of okinawa . within all of japan, the political power is very small. military bases are in other built in less politically powerful areas. their voices are not heard in the central government, and we oppose the political system as well. , thenally, john junkerman government of the prime minister abe, the most conservative since world war ii, how does the u.s. determine governments in japan,

and how does article nine of the constitution, that the u.s. pushed forward that japan should not have its own army, fit into -- of uggle ofo -- ofo okinawa? a democracy, said they do not shape the government of japan, but they have an influence on policy, and the structural relationship is one of dependence and it has been built and maintained that way throughout the cold war and a piece of this is the japan security agreement, which allows japan and the u.s. to base military in japan, and keep japan under the nuclear umbrella and defense umbrella of the united states. and, it also keeps japan identified with the militarist policies of the united states, to -- postureter

with thes aligned united states, so other than finding peaceful existence with close and armed neighbors, it aligns itself with the united states and the containment of china, and basically a military- based confrontation. japan has not found a way to extricate itself from that relationship and that posture. >> we will talk about article next segment,ur the article within the japanese constitution that says japan cannot have its own army with the founder of east --peace boa t. i want to say thank you to both of you for being here. kozue akibayashi and john junkerman, currently working on

. film in okinawa his past films include "japan's peace constitution," also "hellfire -- a journey from hiroshima," which was nominated for an academy award, and "power and terror -- noam chomsky in our times." this is democracy now!, democracy now!.org, the war and peace report. we will be back in a moment. when i was most beautiful fallingere following -- and from unexpected places blue skies were seen when i was most beautiful people around me were killed and for paint and powder

i lost the chance when i was most beautiful gifts gave me kind two salutely and when to wave when i was most beautiful warountry lost the i paraded the main streets with my blouse sleeves rolled high when i was most beautiful ♪ was most beautiful,"

a musical adaptation of the antiwar poem by noriko ibaragi that appears on pete seeger's album "at 89." we are broadcasting from tokyo, japan. we turn now to the founder of one of the largest peace groups in japan. in 1983, tatsuya yoshioka and a group of other students formed peace boat as a response to to government censorship of history books regarding japan's past military aggression in the asia-pacific. they chartered a ship to visit neighboring countries and build people-to-people exchanges. three decades later peace boat now operates a chartered passenger ship that travels the world on peace voyages. the group also organizes against the use of nuclear weapons, nuclear power and other forms of militarism. after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the peace boat's disaster relief volunteer center organized thousands of volunteers to help in the relief and rebuilding effort. peace boat founder tatsuya

yoshioka joins us here in tokyo. welcome to democracy now! >> thank you very much. >> tell us more just what peace boat and what you are trying to do to make sure history is told accurately? >> we are organizing the cruise voyage by passenger ship like anyway., we try to bring young people to learn history through their own experience there had it is very difficult, especially for young people to study or to understand the reality of the history. they are only just learning in a

classroom or university. an active way of learning about the past issues and issues. that is my strong belief. us about what you are doing onshore here in japan, what you are doing in the schools. >> that is one of the biggest problems, the government and the teachers -- they are quite on telling the truth about the past history, especially japanese invasions and aggression in the past. course, is view, of if we would really like to make a relationship with the koreans and chinese, of course we have to understand what has happened in the past. >> for a u.s. audience, an

american audience outside of japan or asia, they might not be familiar with the history you are talking about. if you could summarize it for us most concerned gets told. >> that is one of the most important points, we have to face the truth. basically what we have done, committing war crime or such ugly things. avoidise, if we try to nobody will respect us, whatever we say about peace because peace is coming from a strong will not to repeat again. >> talk about the massacre of 19, which at the time was the chinese capital. know thatople do not hundreds of chinese people were

killed by the japanese soldiers this issue fornd the chinese people is a very serious and hard memory. >> what was happening in 1937? how did this take place? occupiedpanese troops capital, and they everything they can do there, and several hundred thousand were killed. the the point is in japanese society, including the government, started to delete and history from textbooks in public discussion. i really worry about that.

>> so, talking about the number of people that were killed in the massacre, we are talking to-ut the range of 200,000- 300,000 chinese people? >> there are a lot of opinions, but quite reasonable historians 100,000 inbetween 200,000. i think it is something like that. to me, human life is not a number. 50,000, it is a tenement. >> is the narrative that happened there, what is taught in japanese schools, has that changed over time? >> it is quite changed.

so-called commentators, or critics, these people start to say maybe that did not happen in japan, and that was in the butnning of the 1980's, now, there are quite a lot of people that avoid saying massacre or strong words. they mention it as an incident. is -- sad herere is to make the vague our history. that is my feeling. moreis more and provocation for the chinese people against the japanese apathy. >> how does this all fit in with the current prime minister, the most conservative since world war ii, prime minister abe

visiting the shrine. explain the significance of that visit and the shrine. >> even for the japanese, that was an unacceptable action for himself. including the seven war criminals who had been judged by trial -- warhese are class a criminals. >> a class. that means they committed the and they are there. >> how did the prime minister explain this visit, one that recent prime minister's head not made? >> that is the most tricky point. it is justified for

the victims, the japanese shoulders, but they are not victims, especially these seven. they force japanese soldiers to go there to china and many asian countries and kill other people, and japanese soldiers also died. point, theimportant shrine is including the leader of the war, the aggressor, and the victims. >> can you talk about article nine of the constitution, the one that says japan should not have an army? the u.s. ensured that was in the japanese constitution after world war ii, yet the u.s. is pushing for it to be removed, as is the current government. explain the significance of article nine and what peace boat is pushing for. >> ok. organized at, we

global conference for article nine. it is a peace constitution. >> you call it the peace constitution. >> yes, the peace constitution, and article nine is the most important part to renounce war and also the military. it is an historical item. , the u.s.inning wanted complete demilitarization, and after world war ii, they started forces -- forced. >> the ones that demanded article nine are pushing for the removal. >> exactly. government they used -- they pushed government to militarize and model the u.s. military.

>> will article nine be removed? >> yeah. article nine is annoying for u.s. policy right now, and this is a very strong struggle for japanese peace organizations to try to protect this to really keep peace and stability in this region. article nine is a strong peace message from the experience with terrible war, and more than 20,000 people died in the asia- pacific, and i think the stories of these people is becoming article nine. , finally, yoshioka talk about nuclear power. just this week, as we are here,

the japanese government has announced they're going to push for more nuclear plants, but clearly the population is opposed to more nuclear power with fukushima and the meltdown at the plant. talk about what peace boat did in the aftermath of fukushima, and your feelings about nuclear power. organized at the conference in 2012, and the is japan why -- why experienced hiroshima and now we have fukushima. like -- those who suffered so much, but we still insist on nuclear power plants. i think we send the wrong message to the world.

with ay insist that nuclear weapon experience, hiroshima, nagasaki, and the fukushima experience, and we are letting contaminated water into the pacific ocean -- or we have to do is very clear. thered also like to add people that would like -- for people that would like arms. politicians have started discuss the necessity of the nuclear armed for the japanese. we cannot accept that. >> it is quite remarkable when you look at recent japanese

history, the book endings, the only country to have two atomic bombs dropped on it by the united states, and now, close to you have japan, what, 30% of the energy comes from nuclear power with a push 2030, and then tokushima happens, so how are people organizing -- and then fukushima happens. so, how are people organizing? are going to the nuclear wayr society, and the only is we really have to promote to people in the nuclear power plant society. , thank youyoshioka for being with us. cofounder and director of peace

boat. he has been organizing people to promote reconciliation and peace. peace boat was critical after the synonymy in 2007. tpp andback, we look at the u.s. hearing in congress. stay with us. ♪ ♪

♪ >> the japanese band, albatrus. japan has been a hotbed of

-- this is democracy now! we just got this breaking news. oscar nominees have been named, and among them is "dirty wars" produced by jeremy scale of it is ay now!, and remarkable film about u.s. secret wars in somalia as well as in yemen, and afghanistan as well. it is among the five named. "cutieactive killing," and the boxer," and "20 feet from the start of." you can go to our website to see interviews with some of these directors. we are broadcasting from tokyo. japan has been a hotbed of protest against the trans-

pacific partnership, which would establish a free trade zone stretching from the united states to chile to japan, and encompass nearly 40 percent of the global economy. now, new documents released by wikileaks show the white house may be ready to backtrack on a series of critical regulations in order to secure a deal on the trade pact. these include legally binding requirements for pollution limits, logging standards, and a ban on the harvesting of shark fins. the draft version of the "environmental chapter" also reveals that the united states and 11 other pacific rim nations that are party to the tpp would rely on trade sanctions instead of fines if a country violates its obligations. the sierra club responded to the latest news saying that if the draft report were to be finalized, quote "president obama's environmental trade record would be worse than george w. bush's." all of this comes as hearings begin today in congress on legislation to establish fast

track authority that would allow obama to sign the tpp before congress votes on it. for more we're joined in our tokyo studio by nobuhiko suto, a former member of the committee on foreign affairs in japan's house of representatives where he was among the first legislators to point out the dangers of the tpp. he's the secretary-general of the group, "citizen's congress for opposing the transpacific partnership". welcome. >> i'm happy to be here. >> why are you opposed to the tpp? >> i was an economist, and a teacher, so my first impression of the tpp -- tpp was the enlargement of a free trade system, which is good, but just before the opening aipac meeting , which was held in yokohama wase years ago, there

interrogation with the ministry of commerce and others, asking me, knowing me i am a friend of k therime minister, to as prime minister not to join in tpp or -- negotiations. i was surprised. they responded that initially the islands, compose a different ethnicities -- this is a sensitive issue. different strategies and policy for each ethnicity. tpp will be on the mind by and that is the reason for not participating. i was surprised, and started to to study.e -- started

many pointed out the problems of free trade agreement with the united states, and because of andfta, korean industries korean farming industries are , and when ied visited the united states to everyonepp issues, said please study the u.s.-korea free trade agreement, and the tpp will be a higher standard. i saw the difficulties. >> how specifically will tpp affect japan? >> well, at the initial phase, the widespread, you know,

if japanding of tpp -- puts duties on rice, and japanese rice is seven times higher than international rice -- as a result, japanese farming industries and rice cropper's, they will be devastated. so, tpp is an issue between the theculture industry and export industry. nobuhiko suto, we have lori wallach, director of public citizen's global trade watch. thank you for joining us. can you talk about why you are so concerned about the transpacific partnership that would expand from tokyo, japan,

all the way to chile? >> the agreement is having some interesting times in the senate today because there is a hearing, a first hearing on fast track, the authority that president obama is seeking to railroad the tpp through congress. tpp has such potentially damaging elements that the president decides he needs this dreadfully extreme, nixon-era process that basically takes away all of congress normal blocks to legislation, and it has barely been used, but it was pushed to push nafta through objections. last week submitted to implement fast track again. butas not been in effect for five years in the last 20,

and now obama is trying to get it back to be able to get tpp enacted and the hearing is in the senate finance committee. >> and the significance, lori wallach, of the wikileaks release of the draft document? >> explosive. i will be a big heart of the hearing. -- that will be a big part of the hearing. wikileaks has made public the environmental chapter of the ppp. it has been a secretive process. when these chapters, out, it basically allows everyone for the first time to see what has been done, and enormous new dutch -- news, front page of "the new york times," the obama administration, if this is finalized, would roll back even what the bush administration had done on its trade agreement on environmental standards, and specifically all the tpp countries are insisting the environmental standards are not enforceable at the same level

as, say, the commercial standards, and the chapter also falls direly short on a bunch of conservation measures having to do with timbers and fisheries are the really struggling development yesterday was not only sierra club, who has been leading the fight for environmental groups, but they were joined by the environmental groups that supported nafta, the world wildlife fund, and the environmental union is basically unified same for god sakes, the democratic president can not roll back with a republican president had in a trade agreement. >> lori wallach and nobuhiko suto, we will have to leave it there. we will continue to follow the transpacific partnership. that does it for our broadcast. we are here in tokyo japan. i will be speaking at the university at 10:00 a.m..

sunday, i will be in kyoto at 7:00 p.m. and monday, at the foreign correspondents club of japan for a noon talk. a special thanks to the nhk international crew. international crew. go to our website at democracy

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