TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese farm minister Taku Eto said on Wednesday he has resigned to take responsibility for remarks he made this week about rice that angered voters reeling from historically high prices of the staple food.
Public broadcaster NHK and other media reported that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba would appoint former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi to replace Eto.
Eto has been in hot water this week since media reports exposed comments he made at a political fundraising party on Sunday that he had “never had to buy rice” thanks to gifts from supporters.
The comment led to a frenzy of criticism from opposition party members and ruling coalition lawmakers alike, threatening Ishiba’s already-shaky grip on power ahead of key elections in July.
“I made an extremely inappropriate remark at a time when citizens are suffering from soaring rice prices,” Eto told reporters early Wednesday morning after handing in his resignation at the prime minister’s office.
Eto’s would be the first resignation from Ishiba’s cabinet, which was formed in October.
The doubling of rice prices from a year ago to multi-decade highs has become a top concern for Japanese voters. The government has taken steps since March to tame prices but to little avail so far.
(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim and Mariko Katsumura; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Lincoln Feast)
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