Latest news with #米
NHK
5 days ago
- Business
- NHK
Japan panel to probe cause of soaring rice price
Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has assembled a top-level task force to investigate the ongoing rice crisis. He is calling for long-term solutions that bring down the price of the country's staple grain. Prime Minister Ishiba is heading the ministerial panel. It will hold its first meeting on Thursday. The panel will investigate what caused the price surge and how the government has handled the situation. Its ultimate goal is to fix problems in the supply system. This is the government's latest attempt to stabilize rice prices. Agriculture Minister Koizumi Shinjiro last week began selling stockpiled rice through no-bid contracts, a first in the country. Ishiba said earlier that the government needs to ensure a continuous supply of the grain. "It is necessary to provide rice at a price that will reassure consumers," he said. "For that to happen, sustainable production needs to be achieved through improving efficiency." Agriculture Minister Koizumi also stressed the need to get to the root of the problem. "I think it is important at the ministerial meeting to thoroughly examine why this latest surge in rice prices happened," he said. Ministers will focus on mid- to long-term policies. Possible topics include increasing exports, production adjustments and subsidies for farmers.
South China Morning Post
03-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Japanese shoppers queue for hours to buy cheap rice as prices soar
Japanese shoppers braved the rain on Saturday morning to secure cheap rice from the government's stockpiles, as it hit supermarket shelves amid soaring prices for the staple. Advertisement Household goods supplier Iris Ohyama began selling the rice – procured through a direct contract with the government – at two of its locations at 9am. It became the first bricks-and-mortar retailer in the country to release the stockpiled grain, narrowly beating supermarket chain Ito Yokado, which launched sales at its branch in Tokyo's Ota ward an hour later. In spite of steady rain, a queue began forming early at the Iris Ohyama store in Matsudo city, according to The Japan Times newspaper. It snaked from the store entrance around the building and into the car park, with about 100 people in line by 6am. Some customers had begun lining up as early as 8pm the previous evening. People queue up to buy government-stockpiled rice at an Ito Yokado outlet in Tokyo on Saturday. Photo: Reuters Numbered tickets were distributed at 8am, with each person limited to one bag of rice. Advertisement The 5kg (11lbs) bags were sold for 2,000 yen (US$14) each before tax – less than half the average price in recent weeks. All of the 65 bags prepared for the day sold out quickly, with many leaving empty-handed.
South China Morning Post
21-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Can Japan's Ishiba weather political storm after rice remark buries farm minister?
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba accepted the resignation of his agriculture minister on Wednesday over a tone-deaf remark about rice donations – a political blunder that analysts say could further erode public trust in his leadership ahead of two make-or-break elections this summer. Taku Eto stepped down less than 24 hours after Ishiba insisted he would not dismiss him, following public outcry over comments in which the minister boasted that he never needed to buy rice because supporters regularly sent him sacks of it. The gaffe , made during a speech in Saga city on Sunday, drew fierce criticism at a time when Japanese households are grappling with rice shortages and soaring prices. Critics said the remark illustrated how out of touch the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) had become, as families across the country ration a staple many now find increasingly unaffordable Japanese agriculture minister Taku Eto enters Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's office in Tokyo on Wednesday to tender his resignation. Photo: Kyodo The resignation adds to a string of political headaches for Ishiba, whose approval rating is tumbling amid economic anxiety, diplomatic tensions and growing divisions within his own party.
Japan Times
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Ishiba to dismiss Agriculture Minister Taku Eto
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has decided to dismiss agriculture minister Taku Eto over his recent gaffe regarding rice, according to people familiar with the matter. Eto, 64, is likely to become the first cabinet minister to be dismissed since Ishiba took office in October last year. During a speech in Saga on Sunday, Eto said that he never bought rice as he receives so much of the staple from his supporters that he could sell it. This drew criticism from both ruling and opposition lawmakers. On Monday, Ishiba reprimanded Eto over the remarks, while expressing his intention to keep the agriculture minister in his post. On Tuesday, however, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and four other opposition parties agreed to demand the dismissal or resignation of Eto and consider submitting a no-confidence motion against him. Ishiba changed his mind, given that a no-confidence motion, if introduced, could pass as he leads a minority government, people familiar with the matter said. He also apparently wants to limit the impact of Eto's remarks about rice — which has been of great interest to the public — before an election for the House of Councillors, Japan's upper chamber of parliament, which takes place this summer. Eto, who was elected eight times to the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, became agriculture minister in November 2024. Among other ministers in the Ishiba cabinet, Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki was reprimanded earlier this year by the prime minister for distributing mooncakes to ministry staff. Ishiba himself has been criticized for distributing gift certificates worth ¥100,000 per person during a meeting with new lawmakers of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party at the prime minister's official residence.
