Japan is one of the most protectionist countries in its agricultural policy, represented by imposing 780 percent tariffs on rice sectors. In the talks of free trade liberalization in the WTO, the Doha Development Agenda, the leading countries in the talks such as the US, EU, Brazil and Japan are reluctant to offer a compromised plan of their agricultural policies and thus the WTO has remained incapable of reaching an agreement for concluding negotiations among the 151 member countries. As one of the major member countries of the WTO, Japan is now mandated to conduct an agricultural policy reform for the sake of developing countries in the talks of free trade liberalization. In addition, the emergence of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) has changed the landscape of international trades. The number of RTAs around the world has been steadily increasing over the past decade, and sluggish progress in multilateral trade negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda appears to have accelerated further rush to forge RTAs. With regard to Japan's trade policy, although its main framework is through the multilateral trading system centered on the WTO, in fact, Japan began to place high emphasis on a multi-layered external economic policy that utilizes various approaches, including regional and bilateral measures. Being free trade agreements (FTAs) and economic partnership agreements (EPAs) important tools for invigorating the economy in the global trading system, in this regard, Japan has been intensifying its pursuit of reaching economic partnership with its trading partner in East Asia where it is rapidly gaining bigger economic presence in the world. The ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (AJCEP) emphasized its relations with ASEAN. Japan's first free trade agreement, the Japan-Singapore Economic Partnership Agreement (JSEPA) concluded in January 2002, could be seen as a prompt response to the regionalism emerged in East Asia. In order to pursue the AJCEP in line with a partnership with ASEAN as a whole. Being successfully concluded Economic Partnership Agreement with Malasia, Thailand, Japan also continues to pursue bilateral measures for the individual ASEAN members, such as the Philippines and Indonesia, in parallel to accelerate the overall partnership in that it would not be easy to establish FTAs network in East Asia where there are enormous diversities among the nations. The prospect has also spurred a debate about whether Japan should open agriculture to market mechanisms and competition while maintaining its traditions and culture. Despite being While Japan is Asia’s most industrialized nation and the world’s second largest economy, however, trade barriers in the agriculture sector are putting its firms extract a high price from the rest of the economy and in trade talks with other nations at a competitive disadvantage everywhere. Uncertainty has set in after the humiliating defeat in the Diet upper house for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has ruled Japan almost uninterrupted since 1955. A primary impetus for the defining victory of Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the main opposite party, was that the DPJ showed it agricultural manifesto beaking long-standing policy deadlocks by introducing a direct income payment to whole farmers in a response to Free-trade deals and the Doha Development Agenda. There is the criticism stemming from its re-occurence of protectionism, though, strong political leaders who are capable of embracing the fundamental changes are currently required in the influence of opening up its agricultural markets.