Lawmakers on Thursday fiercely criticized the huge retirement payment allocated to Hideaki Kumazawa, the former vice farm minister who stepped down this month amid criticism of the ministry's handling of the recent outbreak of mad cow disease.
Kumazawa's 88.74 million yen retirement payment was reported during a meeting of the committee on agricultural policy affairs at the House of Representatives.
"The former vice minister gave up his post effectively to take responsibility for the scandal," protested Nobutaka Tsutsui, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Japan. "Is it not public sentiment that the sum of the retirement allowance should be reduced?"