Japanese farm minister Taku Eto resigned on Wednesday after remarks he made this week about rice triggered a firestorm of criticism from voters and lawmakers, posing a fresh challenge to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's embattled government.
Eto has been in hot water since media reports exposed comments he made at a weekend political fundraising party that he had "never had to buy rice" thanks to gifts from supporters.
The comment led to a frenzy of criticism from voters, already angry about the historically high price of the staple food due to a poor harvest and elevated demand from a boom in tourism.
"I made an extremely inappropriate remark at a time when citizens are suffering from soaring rice prices," Eto told reporters after handing in his resignation at the prime minister's office.
Public broadcaster NHK and other media reported that former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi would replace him.
The doubling of rice prices from a year ago has become a top concern for Japanese voters, long accustomed to years of deflation and suffering from stubbornly low inflation-adjusted wages.
The government has taken steps since March to tame prices by releasing rice from its emergency stockpile, but the moves have had little impact. Data on Monday showed retail prices rising again in the week through May 11 after falling for the first time in 18 weeks. That has increasingly led to retailers and consumers seeking out cheaper, foreign rice.
Attacking Eto for being tone-deaf and Ishiba for initially refusing to sack him, opposition parties had agreed to consider submitting a no-confidence motion against the farm minister.
"I bear full responsibility for making the appointment," Ishiba told reporters after accepting Eto's resignation. He added that he had yet to decide on Eto's successor.
Social media lit up with angry comments directed at both Eto and Ishiba, with one user responding, "then quit", referring to the premier's apology for naming Eto to the post.
Eto's departure threatens Ishiba's already-shaky grip on power ahead of key upper house elections in July. His Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito lost their majority in the more powerful lower house in a snap election Ishiba called in October shortly after taking office.
Eto's resignation is the first from Ishiba's cabinet excluding ministers who had lost their seats in those elections.
"Minister Eto's resignation was inevitable from the moment the gaffe occurred," said Hiroshi Shiratori, a political science professor at Hosei University in Tokyo. "The decision to replace him only after five opposition parties had planned their no-confidence motion was too slow, exposing Prime Minister Ishiba's lack of leadership."
A Kyodo News opinion poll on Sunday showed support for Ishiba at a record low 27.4%, with nearly nine out of 10 voters dissatisfied with the government's response to soaring rice prices.
