Japan’s farm minister Taku Eto on Monday came under fire after saying that he does not need to buy rice because he receives so much of it from supporters, at a time when soaring rice prices have squeezed households.
Eto’s comments, made Sunday during a fundraising party, came as his ministry has been looking at steps to help lower surging prices of the staple food in Japan, including releasing some of the government’s stockpiles of rice.
Japanese agriculture minister Taku Eto (standing) speaks during a House of Representatives budgetary committee session in Tokyo on May 19, 2025, as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (far L) looks on. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Despite emerging signs of stabilization, the average rice price has roughly doubled from around the same time last year, partly because of a poor harvest.
“I’m not buying rice. Thanks to my supporters giving me plenty of it, I have so much of it in my house that I could sell it,” he was quoted as saying by a participant at a meeting of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s local chapter in Saga Prefecture, southwestern Japan.
The government of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has been facing criticism for waiting until March to start releasing stockpiled rice, though prices had begun rising in the fall of last year.
After his remarks were reported by the media, Eto told reporters on Monday, “I went too far when I said I had so much rice that I could sell it.”
He said he feels “regret for causing trouble” and wants to “correct” his statement. He also said he will strive to produce results as the farm minister, ruling out stepping down over his controversial remarks.
Bags of rice are sold at a supermarket in Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture, on April 21, 2025. (Kyodo)
Some 87 percent of respondents in a weekend Kyodo News survey expressed dissatisfaction with how the government has been coping with soaring rice prices. The public support rate of Ishiba’s Cabinet hit a record low since he took office last October.
The average price of rice sold at Japanese supermarkets from late April to early May cost 4,214 yen ($29) per five kilograms, falling for the first time in 18 weeks but still up around twofold from a year earlier.
The government auctioned 312,000 tons of reserve rice in three tranches between March and April. It plans to release an additional 300,000 tons by July.
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AloJapan.com