From ridicule to redemption: Rice crisis returns Koizumi to the spotlight

Japan Times

2 days ago

Until recently, agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi was out of the spotlight, sometimes a figure of ridicule said to be long on image and short on substance.
In 2019, as Environment Minister, he faced backlash after saying the fight against climate change needed to be made sexy to attract younger people. Last year, as a candidate for the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election, he was criticized for calling for the deregulation of Japan's labor market, and he ultimately lost to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
Now, he's back, winning applause for bringing the price of rice down and being praised by veteran LDP colleagues for his leadership on the issue, as the party looks to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election later this month and the Upper House election in July.
Koizumi's appointment was a surprise move, but it's brought results. After taking office last month, he announced the goal of bringing the cost of a 5-kilogram bag of rice down to the ¥2,000 ($13.90) range and that the government would release stockpiled rice and sell it through no-bid contracts, which took place last week.
A Kyodo News poll on May 24 and 25 that asked respondents who they thought was the most worthy person to be the next prime minister showed Koizumi finishing second behind former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi. A Nikkei poll from May 23 to 25 showed 65% of respondents expressing hopes for Koizumi's success in dealing with the rice crisis.
Until he took over from predecessor Taku Eto, who resigned over a gaffe related to soaring rice prices, Koizumi's political career seemed to be going nowhere. His last government post was as Environment Minister between 2019 and 2021.
His return to government as farm minister marks a return to a topic he knows a lot about, which gives him a degree of credibility among the public and within the party when discussing rice prices and agricultural reform.
Koizumi eats a rice ball made of stockpiled rice during an event in Tokyo on May 29. |
REUTERS
In 2015, Koizumi was appointed director of the LDP's agriculture and forestry division. He attempted to reform the agricultural sector at a time when he was relatively inexperienced and faced stiff opposition from those in his party who were backed by the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA), the country's main agricultural organization, including Hiroshi Moriyama, the current secretary-general of the ruling party, who was agriculture minister at the time.
Last year, Koizumi's criticism of the party's faction system and pledge to deregulate Japan's labor market — if he became LDP president and prime minister — rankled party veterans. He lost the race, received no government or party posts from Ishiba, and largely disappeared from public view.
The current version of Koizumi — the man who successfully lowered the cost of rice but is also calling for further agricultural reforms — has put him in the crosshairs of LDP members in the party's powerful farm lobby, which heavily relies on votes that JA delivers. If the price of rice once again spikes, his current popularity in and out of the party could quickly evaporate.
'Koizumi is a lot like his father (former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi). He makes decisions without consulting others and then announces them to the media. He needs to learn the rules,' Tetsuro Nomura, a former agriculture minister, said in a May 31 speech.
Koizumi replied a day later, 'If the party is consulted on every single decision a minister makes, no minister could make bold decisions with a sense of urgency. If we'd needed to consult the party about switching to no-bid contracts, rice reserves would not have reached the shelves by May 31.'
How the LDP might deal with Koizumi's calls for further agricultural reform in the coming weeks, which would appeal to many urban voters, while at the same time placate members who rely on support from the reform-wary JA, is unclear.
But even veteran LDP farm lobby members not keen on Koizumi's reform agenda are looking ahead to next month's Upper House election. They need to boost the party's popularity before then with a younger, charismatic face and are offering him words of support.
'Koizumi is also a former chairman of the LDP's agriculture committee, and I have served as agriculture minister. We understand each other well, and I believe Koizumi has handled the release of stockpiled rice in an appropriate manner,' Moriyama told reporters on Monday.
For the moment, at least — and after having shown that, unlike last year, he can indeed get things done — Koizumi is basking in his success at lowering the cost of rice while his critics within the party remain relatively muted.