Tainted rice scandal swallows Ota

Farm minister Seiichi Ota resigned Friday to take responsibility for the tainted rice scandal.

Gone to seed: Disgraced farm minister Seiichi Ota faces reporters Friday in Tokyo following his resignation announcement. KYODO PHOTO

"The tainted rice scandal has developed into a huge social problem, and I have determined that I need to clarify the responsibility of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry," Ota told a news conference.

Ota's announcement followed his controversial remarks last week, when he said that he did not intend to "wriggle and raise a rumpus" over the sale of tainted rice for edible use.

Rice traders, including the now notorious Osaka-based Mikasa Foods, purchased imported rice tainted with poisonous mold or pesticide residue for nonfood use from the farm ministry and sold it to other firms as edible.

Also on Friday, the Cabinet accepted the resignation of vice farm minister Toshiro Shirasu over the same scandal.

All of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's Cabinet ministers will leave office next week in any case, after the Liberal Democratic Party appoints a new president, who will become the new prime minister and appoint his or her own Cabinet.

As a result of the sudden resignations, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura is now doubling as farm minister.

At a separate news conference, Machimura expressed regret over the tainted rice scandal, saying he will "reflect on stirring public concern about food safety."

The scandal ignited consumer fears about food safety. The tainted rice resold by Mikasa Foods was found to have been used in a number of products such as "shochu" distilled alcoholic beverages, sake and rice crackers.

These products were consumed or sold in various places, including hospitals and nursing home facilities.

The problem prompted many liquor makers and other food producers to recall products, including major beverage maker Asahi Brewery Ltd.

In addition, one company president committed suicide after the farm ministry publicized the names of more than 370 companies found to have been involved in the distribution of the tainted rice, although many had no knowledge of the rice's origin.

On Thursday, Ota apologized about his ministry's failure to prevent tainted rice from being sold for edible purposes. The ministry has admitted it was not able to detect the illegal act of Mikasa Foods due to lax inspection procedures, including giving advance notice of its inspection plans to the company.

Commenting on the resignation of vice farm minister Shirasu, Machimura said the top bureaucrat feels responsible for causing concerns about food safety and for making remarks that suggested the ministry was not responsible for the scandal.

Shirasu had expressed his intention to resign to his now disgraced boss after apparently digging his own grave last week.

Shirasu told a news conference last week that traders involved in illegal resale of the tainted rice were to blame for the scandal, denying the ministry was to blame.

The comment angered Machimura, who summoned Shirasu to the prime minister's office to reprimand him. "The magnitude of the scandal has been amplified by your comment," Machimura was quoted as telling him.

At a news conference Thursday, Shirasu acknowledged the comment was inappropriate.

Shirasu will be succeeded by Michio Ide, the director general of the Forestry Agency, Machimura said.

Ota's resignation Friday dealt another blow to the farm ministry, which has lost several bosses to scandals since Toshikatsu Matsuoka, farm chief for the Cabinet of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, committed suicide in May last year.

After Matsuoka hanged himself over his office expenses — and his suspected involvement in bid-rigging — Norihiko Akagi and Takehiko Endo both exited over their own money scandals.

Akagi attracted media attention when he failed to clearly explain the large bandage on his face when he appeared at a news conference at the height of his office-expense scandal in July 2007.