‘We are puzzled': how Japan's rice crisis got so bad
Rice is essential to Japanese culture, tradition and politics. People take pride in the oval-shaped sticky Japonica grain, which is still a staple even though total consumption has fallen over the decades.
But since last summer,
prices have soared as supplies have fallen short of demand. The government has long paid farmers to cut back on rice acreage, and change to other crops to keep rice prices relatively high.
To cope with shortfalls this year, the government has released rice reserves. But the grain has been slow to reach supermarket shelves. Anger over that was part of the reason the
agriculture minister quit this week. Consumers are frustrated and wondering where's the rice?
Why did the farm minister resign?
Agriculture Minister Taku Eto resigned on Wednesday after he raised an uproar by saying he 'never had to buy rice' because his supporters give it to him as gifts.
The remark was seen as utterly out of touch with the realities of ordinary people struggling to make ends meet and to afford rice to eat. Eto apologised, but he was obliged to step down as damage control by Prime Minister
Shigeru Ishiba , whose minority government faces a big challenge in a crucial national election in July.
Eto's successor is former environment minister Shinjiro Koizumi, who has taken part in reforming
Japan 's powerful agriculture lobby. He has been tasked with investigating and resolving the rice problem.
What's happening to rice in Japan?
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