key takeaways
- After a gaffe that suggested insensitivity to rising rice prices, Etō Taku resigned as agriculture minister on Wednesday, 21 May.
- Etō’s ouster showed both Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru’s weakness on cost-of-living increases and the opposition’s strength, in that the threat of a no-confidence motion made the minister’s exit inevitable.
- In turning to Koizumi Shinjirō to replace Etō, the prime minister showed the urgent need to change the narrative on rice prices ahead of the upper house elections.
Japan Foresight 