Japan minister 'disqualified' for job over rice gift gaffe, but no legal breach: expert
TOKYO -- Consumers feeling the pain of rising rice prices in Japan are voicing anger at agriculture minister Taku Eto over recent remarks that included the comment, "My supporters give me plenty of rice, so I have enough to sell."
One expert said that if Eto does not understand the pain of most people, it disqualifies him from his role as minister.
Eto, who was speaking publicly in the southwestern Japan city of Saga on May 18, apologized and retracted the comment the next evening, saying he had "greatly exaggerated." Yet, the question has arisen as to whether politicians could face legal action if they receive rice from supporters.
Eto made the comments during a lecture at the "Saga political and economic seminar," which followed the ruling coalition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)'s Saga Prefecture chapter convention. After mentioning that brown rice is "more nutritious than polished rice," he said, "I have never bought rice myself," and continued, "It's also a lot of work to receive rice. Sometimes there are even stones mixed in it."
The next day, Eto explained that he had wanted to encourage people to "buy brown rice, polish it, and enjoy eating it," because reserve stocks are sometimes sold as brown rice. However, Eto also noted that his wife told him, "It's not as if we cover all our needs with what's given to us," and he did not deny receiving rice from supporters.
The Political Funds Control Act requires political organizations to record and disclose the receipt and expenditure of political funds in their reports. The question is whether rice could constitute "political funds."
Hiroshi Kamiwaki, a professor at Kobe Gakuin University and an expert on the Political Funds Control Act, stated that rice was most likely received privately, and he believes it would not constitute political funds.
If a politician were to receive large quantities of rice from a specific individual or company, it could be viewed as a bribe depending on the content of their duties as agriculture minister or the timing of the gift. Still, Kamiwaki noted, "If rice was given by a rice dealer, it could raise suspicion, but I think it would be regarded as (an issue of) whether it's a matter of political ethics."
Kamiwaki also criticized Eto's words and actions as careless in light of "ministerial norms" which forbid acts that invite the people's distrust through close business ties: "There's no penalty, but this involves political responsibility, and he should not have received rice from supporters."
Touching upon the issue of rising consumer prices of late, Kamiwaki concluded, "Eto's statement is honest in a sense, but he does not understand the lives of the common people. If he does not understand the pain of the majority of the people, it disqualifies him as a minister."
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