The Minister of Agriculture of Japan resigned Wednesday in the middle of a tumult on his remark that he had never bought a bag of rice, the basic grain of his nation, which is in shortage nationally.
The comment attracted more attention to the government’s inability to resolve the rice shortage, which increased the cost of a food consumed by almost all Japanese households. Prices remained high despite the release of thousands of tonnes of rice from emergency storage.
The frustrations boiled after the agricultural minister Taku Eto, made the casual comment on Sunday.
“I have never bought rice myself,” Eto said during a speech on agricultural policy. “Frankly, my supporters give me a lot of rice. I have so much rice at home that I could sell it. ”
The shortage was charged to the policies of decades, intended to protect small farmers, who blocked new arrivals against the purchase or use of agricultural land, leaving thousands of non -cultivated acres. The efforts to change the system were blocked by the National Farming Cooperative and other rural interests, which are solid supporters of the Liberal Democratic Director Party.
It put Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba between a rock and a hard place. Urban voters have rubbed the prices and shortages that have sometimes been forced by supermarkets. The problem led the lamentable approval notes of Mr. Ishiba even lower before the elections for the upper room of the Parliament, which is scheduled for July.
Mr. Eto was immediately criticized for his comment, which made him appear away and disconnected at a time when Japan begins to feel, if on a small scale, some of the populist tremors that have shaken other advanced democracies.
“We do not need a Minister of Agriculture who does not understand the point of view of consumers or producers,” said Kazuya Shimba, secretary general of the Democratic Party for the people, a small right -wing populist party.
Although Mr. Eto quickly apologized, the backlash only grows. Seizing a political opening, the opposition parties intensified their pressure, threatening a motion without confidence in Parliament against the Minister of the Farm. The tumult has become a responsibility for Mr. Ishiba, whose approval ratings fell into the bass 20.
“If the confusion on his remark continued, this would affect the implementation of agricultural policies,” said Mr. Ishiba on Wednesday, explaining Mr. Eto’s decision to resign.
Stressing the political importance of containing the fury, Mr. Ishiba said on Wednesday that he had asked one of the rising stars of the Liberal Democrats, Shinjiro Koizumi, the photogenic son of a former Prime Minister, to replace Mr. Eto.
Kiuko NotoyaAnd Hisako Ueno Contributed reports.
