Old and tired, some Japan farmers see trade pact jolt as only answer

Pro-TPP farmer Kazushi Saito looks at rice bags at his storage in Tsuruoka, Yamagata prefecture, July 24, 2015. REUTERS/Kaori Kaneko

TSURUOKA, Japan (Reuters) - Far from dreading the prospect of a Pacific trade deal that would open up Japanese markets to higher grain and meat imports, rice and pig farmer Kazushi Saito embraces it.

The 58-year-old, whose lush paddy fields in the Shonai plain overlook the Sea of Japan, is in the minority among farmers generally opposed to a pact being negotiated in Hawaii this week that could make selling their products harder.