Japan's Ishiba Seeks Probe on High Prices at 1st Rice Meeting

   Tokyo, June 5 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba called for a probe to identify the reasons for soaring rice prices and examine government response at the first ministerial meeting on stable rice supply Thursday.
   Urging agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi to launch the probe, Ishiba requested that his government also consider short-term and medium- to long-term measures to tackle the rising prices.
   A key issue in future discussions at the ministerial council will be how to optimize rice distribution. Another point is whether members will decide radical reform to agricultural policies, including a change to the rice production adjustments still in place even after the government scrapped its policy on rice paddy acreage cuts, or "gentan."
   Speaking to reporters after Thursday's meeting, Koizumi said, "We'll be able to come up with medium- to long-term policies through the investigation."
   He said establishing a safety net so that farmers' businesses are not threatened by rice price fluctuations and creating a way to improve the transparency of rice distribution will be on the agenda of future meetings.

(2025/06/05-22:55)