Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tapped a veteran of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations as his new agriculture minister as he seeks to wrap up an agreement this year that will require wringing concessions from the powerful farm lobby.
Abe reappointed Yoshimasa Hayashi as farm minister just five months after he was replaced in the job by Koya Nishikawa, who quit Monday following assertions he took donations from a company in the sugar industry. His alleged misdemeanor would have been in conflict with his role in negotiations over agricultural tariffs in the TPP free trad talks.
The Abe administration on Tuesday played down the impact of the third resignation of Cabinet member in less than six months on the TPP talks and Abe's drive to reform the agriculture sector.