Japan appoints new agriculture minister

Japan's former environment minister Shinjiro Koizumi said on Wednesday that he has been appointed as the country's new agriculture minister, replacing Taku Eto, who stepped down following public outrage over remarks he made about rice.

Speaking to reporters after he met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Koizumi said his immediate priority will be to ease public anxiety over surging rice prices.

The 44-year-old Koizumi previously served as chairperson of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Election Strategy Committee and as director of its agriculture and forestry division.

Eto tendered his resignation earlier in the day amid a wave of criticism that his comments were out of touch with both consumers and farmers. He becomes the first Cabinet member to resign under the Ishiba administration for reasons unrelated to the October 2024 general election defeat.

At a fundraising event hosted by the LDP's Saga prefectural chapter on Sunday, Eto said, "I have never bought rice myself. Frankly, my supporters give me quite a lot of rice. I have so much rice in my pantry at home that I could sell it".

His remarks were widely criticized for appearing insensitive amid soaring rice prices and growing economic pressure on consumers and farmers alike.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the average price for a 5-kilogram bag of rice at roughly 1,000 supermarkets nationwide rose to 4,268 yen ($29.7) in the week ending May 11 — up 1.3 percent from the previous week and more than double the 2,108 yen recorded during the same period a year earlier.

While Eto was regarded as one of the leading experts on agricultural policy within the ruling party, Prime Minister Ishiba ultimately reversed his initial decision to keep him in office due to mounting public backlash and escalating political pressure from opposition parties.

Contact the writers at jiangxueqing@chinadaily.com.cn