Three weeks have passed since Shinjiro Koizumi was named agriculture minister, and it’s hard to think of a day when he didn’t make the headlines — for anything from an impromptu announcement to the press to a visit to a local supermarket.

It’s not just about his photogenic looks and deft use of traditional and social media. What’s often depicted is a man taking on one of the most politically influential groups in the country — Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA).

“Never in my life have I thought about rice so much every day, from morning to night,” he said in an interview published in Bungei Shunju, a monthly magazine. “I am prepared to take any measure without being bound by precedents.”