The EU-Japan economic partnership agreement in Japanese print media: a “cars-for-cheese deal” or “the black ships of European cheese”?

Tine Walravens () and Ivar Padrón-Hernández ()
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Tine Walravens: ReD Associates
Ivar Padrón-Hernández: Institute of Innovation Research, Hitotsubashi University

Asia Europe Journal, 2025, vol. 23, issue 1, No 1, 22 pages

Abstract: Abstract The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EJEPA) entered into force on February 1st, 2019. The agreement was quickly coined the “cars-for-cheese deal”: Agri-food seemed to be the largest winner on the European side while Japan stood to gain most from automotive exports. Up until the final negotiations, however, agri-food was a major stumbling block. Through a qualitative content analysis of EJEPA coverage in five Japanese newspapers with different political and industry profiles, this article examines media treatment of food as a controversial part of the EJEPA. While narratives differed depending on political and industry leanings, we find that the perceived threat from the EJEPA regarding food was often placed within a larger social imagery of a new global order and disadvantageous trade deals, through a conflation with the recently established Trans-Pacific Partnership and its widely reported impact on agriculture. Lastly, beyond a strongly defensive or even victimized narrative in some specialized media, mainstream newspapers also divert attention toward the potential opportunities the EJEPA brings to Japanese exporters and manufacturers.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s10308-025-00715-6

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