New farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi plans to move from auctioning stockpiled rice to using no-bid contracts, with prices set through negotiation, in an effort to bring down record-high prices.
Koizumi, who took over after his predecessor, Taku Eto, stepped down over a gaffe about rice, faces the urgent task of bringing down prices. Public dissatisfaction has grown following Eto’s comment that he never buys rice because his supporters give him so much he can sell the surplus.
“I’ll focus on rice, considering myself as the rice minister,” Koizumi told reporters at the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday.
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