Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Tuesday he does not plan to sack farm minister Taku Eto despite mounting criticism from ruling and opposition party lawmakers over his remarks on rice, deemed out of touch with the public’s struggle over high prices of the staple food.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba apologizes during a House of Representatives plenary session in Tokyo on May 20, 2025, over farm minister Taku Eto’s gaffe on rice. (Kyodo)
Eto told a parliamentary committee that he was “ashamed” of himself for saying that his supporters are giving him plenty of rice and he does not need to buy any. But he also said he wants to continue in his job and take the necessary steps to lower rice prices, which have roughly doubled over the past year.
The minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries is in the hot seat at a time when the ruling coalition of Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito party is considering ways to mitigate the blow from inflation and higher U.S. tariffs in the run-up to the House of Councillors election this summer.
“I apologize deeply for the comments (made by Eto) that were insensitive and inappropriate from the standpoints of consumers and producers,” Ishiba told a plenary session of the House of Representatives.
But the prime minister added, Eto “should give his all to tackling the myriad challenges we face in the field of agriculture.”
Agriculture minister Taku Eto holds a press conference at his ministry on May 20, 2025, to apologize for his controversial comments about receiving rice from supporters.(Kyodo)
The opposition camp has ramped up pressure on Eto and Ishiba, who appointed him to the Cabinet post.
“An agriculture minister who does not understand the feelings of ordinary people should immediately resign,” Kazuya Shimba, secretary general of the Democratic Party for the People, an opposition party, told a different parliamentary committee session.
Eto’s gaffes were made Sunday at a fundraising event organized by the LDP’s local chapter in Saga Prefecture. “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 said.
The remarks started to cause a huge stir the following day.
After being reprimanded by Ishiba, Eto on Monday retracted the comments.
At a press conference Tuesday, the minister said he had checked the public reaction from social media and news outlets and “realized how infuriated people were.”
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Japan farm chief slammed over “plenty of rice” remark amid shortages
AloJapan.com