Remarks by Japan’s farm minister Taku Eto that he does not need to buy rice because he receives it from supporters sparked public fury and criticism on Monday, with many calling him out of touch amid soaring prices of the crop.
Eto’s remarks surfaced as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s government has come under fire for failing to take effective measures to stabilize the rice market, even though the average price has roughly doubled from around the same time last year.
“I’m refraining from eating rice because it’s expensive,” said Kumi Matsuyoshi, a homemaker in her 60s visiting a grocery store in Osaka. “His comment is incredibly distasteful and lacks common sense.”
Chie Nakamura, a 53-year-old part-time worker in the same city, said the farm minister needs to “think before he speaks,” noting that she has recently visited a number of stores to find rice at a cheaper price.
A 40-year-old woman in Aichi Prefecture said her husband and two university student children were cutting back on food expenses, adding, “I would like the minister to be replaced with someone who is more in touch with the common people, but I’m not optimistic.”
During a fundraising party for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s local chapter in Saga Prefecture on Sunday, Eto was quoted by a participant as saying, “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.”
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AloJapan.com