Japan's new farm minister spurs hope for rice price drop: poll

Tokyo, May 25 (IANS) Nearly 60 per cent of Japanese believe rice prices will decline following the appointment of Shinjiro Koizumi as farm minister, according to a Kyodo News poll.

The change comes after former minister Taku Eto resigned for saying he never buys rice as his supporters have sent him enough, a remark that sparked public outrage amid record-high rice prices, Xinhua news agency reported.

Rice prices have doubled over the past year despite government efforts to stabilise supply. Koizumi plans to lower prices to the 2,000-yen (about 14 U.S. dollars) range by selling stockpiled rice directly to retailers.

The Kyodo survey also showed support for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's Cabinet rose to 31.7 per cent, though 52.6 per cent still disapprove.

In the upcoming upper house election, 28.6 per cent plan to vote for the ruling party, while 14.3 per cent support the Democratic Party for the People and 13.6 per cent back the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, according to the poll.

Shinjiro Koizumi has been serving Japanese Minister of Agriculture since May 2025. He previously served as the Minister of the Environment from September 2019 to October 2021.

He also serves as a Member of the House of Representatives for the Liberal Democratic Party.

He is the second son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and the younger brother of actor Kotaro Koizumi.

After the election of the Abe Government in 2012, Koizumi was appointed as a Vice-Minister for Reconstruction, focusing on the northeastern region of Japan that was devastated by the March 2011 tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster.

He publicly opposed his father's calls for Japan to abandon nuclear energy immediately.

In 2019, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appointed Koizumi to the Cabinet as Minister of the Environment, a role he retained when Yoshihide Suga succeeded Abe as prime minister in September 2020.

--IANS

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