Japan’s Ruling Bloc Hopes New Agriculture Minister Koizumi Will Resolve Rice Issue, Raise Election Prospects

By Takahito Higuchi and Takafumi Yamasaki / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

15:27 JST, May 22, 2025

The ruling parties have expressed hope that newly appointed agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi could achieve a breakthrough on high rice prices, an issue that may directly impact a Tokyo metropolitan assembly election in June and a House of Councillors election this summer.

Koizumi, who was previously the environment minister, is under pressure to deliver results quickly, but he faces a high barrier to success.

“I will do everything I can to respond swiftly to soaring rice prices,” Koizumi told reporters Wednesday after meeting Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the Prime Minister’s Office.

“We have paid too much mind to organizations, leading to a delay in consumer-oriented reforms,” Koizumi said about the government’s existing rice policy.

Lowering rice prices is an urgent issue for Ishiba’s Cabinet. Hiroshi Moriyama, the Liberal Democratic Party’s secretary general, admitted Wednesday that high rice prices could affect the two upcoming elections when he was asked about the link by reporters.

“The fate of the administration is tied to two ‘rice’ issues: rice prices and the U.S. [tariffs],” said an official close to Ishiba. (One of the kanji for “the United States” is the character for rice.)

In the past, Ishiba teamed up with Koizumi and former Foreign Minister Taro Kono and tried to have Kono elected president of the LDP in 2021. The prime minister now seems to be entrusting the fate of his administration to Koizumi.

Koizumi previously tried to reform the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (JA Zen-Noh) when he was the director of the party’s Agriculture and Forestry Division from October 2015.

Komeito has high hopes for Koizumi, with its Chief Representative Tetsuo Saito saying that Koizumi has “vision and a knack for communication.”

Meanwhile, opposition parties are concerned that the high-profile Koizumi could shift momentum away from them. “Things will get tough if he produces results as agriculture minister and campaigns nationally in the upper house election,” said a mid-ranking member of the Japan Innovation Party.

However, the opposition parties believe it may be difficult to lower rice prices in the short term.

“[Koizumi] will soon face a very difficult situation if he does not quickly present ways to deliver rice at fair prices to many consumers,” Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki said at a party meeting.

Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, told reporters in the Diet Building, “We will have thorough deliberations on rice pricing and improving distribution.”