Japan's Agriculture Minister to Sell Reserve Rice at Half Price... 59.8% of Japanese Expect Rice Price Drop

Japanese citizens are expressing high expectations for the new Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Shinjiro Koizumi, and his policy to lower rice prices.

According to an emergency telephone poll conducted by Kyodo News on May 24 and 25, 59.8% of respondents said they believe rice prices will "fall" following Koizumi's appointment. In contrast, 35.1% responded that they do not expect prices to fall.

Shinjiro Koizumi, the new Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (left), received his appointment certificate at the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Tokyo on the 21st and took a photo with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Photo by AFP Yonhap News

Koizumi, who took office as Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on May 21, has expressed a strong commitment to reducing rice prices. On the day of his inauguration, he announced that the government would halt the competitive bidding schedule for government-held rice reserves and declared, "We will release unlimited quantities as long as there is demand."

On May 23, he stated his intention to swiftly implement a new release method using private contracts, aiming to make government-held rice available in supermarkets as early as early next month at a price in the 2,000-yen range per 5 kilograms. On May 24, he announced that the rice would be supplied at 2,000 yen (approximately 19,000 won) per 5 kilograms. Considering that the average price of rice sold in Japanese supermarkets in early May was 4,268 yen (about 41,000 won) per 5 kilograms, this represents roughly half the previous price.

Koizumi comes from a political dynasty, being the fourth generation in his family to serve in politics, starting from his great-grandfather. He is also the second son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who led the Liberal Democratic Party from 2001 to 2006. With his good looks and youthful image, he has often been mentioned as a rising star within the LDP and even ran against Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the LDP leadership election last September. However, during his tenure as Minister of the Environment in 2019, he sparked controversy both domestically and internationally by saying, "We should respond to big issues like climate change in a fun, cool, and sexy way," a remark criticized for being overly frivolous. In South Korea, he earned the nickname 'Peonculsekjwa' as a result.

Meanwhile, the Kyodo News poll found that approval for the Ishiba Cabinet remains low at 31.7%, though this is a 4.3 percentage point increase from the previous week.