Japan is facing economic and diplomatic challenges, with rising prices hitting everyday life hard. One of the biggest concerns for many Japanese citizens is the steep increase in rice prices. Rice, a staple food in Japan, now costs about twice as much as it did a few years ago.
The previous Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Taku Eto, was leading efforts to control rice prices. However, on May 18, Eto made a serious mistake. He said, “I’ve never bought rice. My supporters have given me so much rice that I have so much I could sell it.” This comment caused many to doubt his suitability for the job. Just a few days later, on May 21, Eto resigned.
On the same day, Shinjiro Koizumi was named as the new agriculture minister. Koizumi is a well-known member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. He is relatively young but has already held important government positions.
Koizumi is best known for introducing a charge on plastic bags when he was Minister of the Environment. Since then, customers have had to pay about three yen (around US$0.02) for plastic bags in stores. This history shaped the public reaction to his new appointment.
Soon after the announcement, many people joked online about the possibility of having to pay for rice bags. Comments included:
“Oh no! Now we’ll have to pay for rice bags.”
“Are they going to charge us for rice bags next?”
“Will charging for rice bags actually help?”
“I guess I need to buy an eco bag for rice now.”
“I just hope they don’t charge for rice bags.”
“Maybe they will lower rice prices by charging for bags.”
“I hope all this rice bag charging talk is just a joke.”
Within hours, the phrase “charge for rice bags” trended on Twitter with thousands of posts, as many people raced to make the same joke.
Another popular joke was about making rice “sexy,” referring to a comment Koizumi made when he was Minister of the Environment. At that time, Koizumi said solving problems like climate change should be “fun, cool, and sexy.” Many Japanese people did not take this well and made fun of him, with some even suggesting he had a strange obsession with the word “sexy.”
Koizumi has often faced criticism for being a “nepo baby” — a politician benefiting from family connections without real ability. However, whether people liked his plastic bag policy or not, he did take action that brought real change. This is something not commonly seen in Japanese politics.
Still, Koizumi also seems like someone who might “never have bought rice” in his life. His appointment feels like a typical LDP move to place a loyal party member in the role, rather than choosing someone with deep knowledge of Japan’s agricultural issues.
Only time will tell if Koizumi can handle the job well or if he will just provide more material for online jokes.
