By Kaori Kaneko and Chang-Ran Kim
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s farm minister Taku Eto apologised on Monday after saying he had “never had to buy rice” thanks to gifts from supporters, angering consumers grappling with sky-high prices for the staple food.
After Kyodo News first reported the remarks, made during a political fundraising party on Sunday, other local media quickly followed, sending social media into a frenzy of angry comments.
“You are done. Hurry up and resign,” one user posted on X.
Responding to reporters’ questions on Monday, Eto apologised for the comments, saying he had misspoken and may have exaggerated to please the crowd. He skirted a question about whether he intended to step down.
Footage aired by public broadcaster NHK showed Eto at a lectern making the comments at the event on Sunday, including how he “had enough (rice) to sell.”
“I just got scolded by my wife over the phone,” Eto told reporters. “It’s just the two of us so we generally have enough but she told me that when we run out, she actually does go out and buys rice.”
The reaction to Eto’s comments underscores the extent to which rice has become a hot-button topic for voters, boding ill for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party ahead of key upper house elections in July.
A Kyodo News opinion poll on Sunday showed support for Ishiba at a record low 27.4%, with nearly nine out of 10 voters dissatisfied with the government’s response to soaring rice prices.
After falling for the first time in 18 weeks, retail rice prices were back up again in the week through May 11, data showed on Monday, and remained at double what they were a year ago after extreme heat hit crops and a tourism boom added to demand.
For a 5 kilogramme bag, supermarket rice prices averaged 4,268 yen, up 54 yen from the previous week.
The government has been releasing rice from its emergency stockpile since March to try and lower prices, but to little avail.
(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko and Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Hugh Lawson)
