Pro-Yasukuni Dietmember appointed as new Agriculture Minister

   Prime Minister Abe Shinzo on June 1 appointed Liberal Democratic Party House of Representatives member Akagi Norihiko as the Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Minister. Former Agriculture Minister Matsuoka Toshikatu killed himself on May 28.

   Akagi is a member of the Japan Conference Dietmembers’ Council as well as the Young Parliamentarians’ Group Supporting Prime Minister’s Visits to Yasukuni Shrine. He also takes part in the Parliamentary Group to Promote Value-Oriented Diplomacy that is promoting “genuine conservatism.”

   From 2003 to 2005, Akagi, an ex-Agriculture Ministry official, received a total of 260,000 yen in the form of party tickets from a political body of contractors that were involved in bid-riggings led by the Japan Green Resources Agency, a semi-government organization under the jurisdiction of the ministry. The political body also donated to Matsuoka.

   As the minister having responsibility for investigating the bid-rigging scandals, Akagi is obliged to make clear why he accepted the contribution as well as his relations with those contractors.           - Akahata, June 2, 2007