JAPANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced yesterday that Japan will join talks on a Pacific trade pact that would oblige the country to open up sheltered industries including farming, long a bastion of protectionism.

The decision to seek participation in the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, raised protests from farmers, who are a traditional bastion of support for Abe's Liberal Democratic Party. In a national address, Abe said Japan has no choice but to opt for the growth that comes with freer trade or lose out to other countries that are capitalizing on such market opening.

"Japan has run into a big wall - low birthrate, aging and lingering deflation - and we have turned inward looking," he said. "If Japan becomes the only one that turns inward, there is no chance for our growth. No businesses would want to invest in such a country and talented people would not be interested."

"Joining TPP would be the beginning of a new Japan," Abe said.

He repeatedly pledged to guard Japan's national interest and ensure that the trade pact would benefit farmers.

"What we really should fear is doing nothing," Abe said. "I promise you that we will guard our sovereignty as we pursue our national benefit through these negotiations."

Despite such promises, Japan's tariffs on farm products would likely have to come down: the average tariff on imported rice is nearly 800 percent, while rates for butter and sugar are more than 300 percent.

The decision to join the talks dovetails with his "Abenomics" economic strategy, which is based on easing monetary policy, boosting public spending and longer-term reforms.

"TPP is a core issue for Japan right now. The main thing is that Abenomics, the plan of getting Japan moving and growing again, does not only depend on printing more money or on fiscal spending, but really depends on liberalizing the economy," said Martin Schulz, an economist at Fujitsu Research Institute.

"For that, TPP is a core part because it involves all sectors, from energy, to agriculture, insurances, the car industry as well. That would be a big step for Japan," Schulz said.

Japan's agricultural lobby is small but politically powerful. However, after two decades of stagnation, calls by big business groups to join the trade pact or miss out on easier access to key export markets appear to have outweighed objections from farmers.