Koizumi Vows to Be "Rice Minister"

   Tokyo, May 21 (Jiji Press)--Shinjiro Koizumi expressed eagerness Wednesday to concentrate on bringing down high-flying retail rice prices after succeeding Taku Eto as Japan's agricultural minister.
   "I'll focus on my work as a minister in charge of rice," Koizumi, former election chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, told reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
   Eto was effectively dismissed due to his recent remark that he had never bought rice, which drew strong public criticism amid soaring rice prices.
   At the meeting, Ishiba told Koizumi to consider selling stockpiled rice under negotiated contracts, not through bidding, for swift distribution of the rice to consumers.
   "I'm determined to do whatever I can do to dissipate public anxieties about rice supply shortages and stabilize market prices at affordable levels," Koizumi said.

(2025/05/21-18:41)

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