Long regarded as a key support base for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, farming communities across Japan are increasingly showing signs of distress.
After spending months in the eye of the storm — with the price of rice making headlines and fueling debates in parliament — rice producers feel left in a limbo. Yamagata Prefecture, the country’s fourth largest rice producer, is no exception to this trend.
Standing in front of a crowd of 1,500 people in the city of Shinjo on July 3, the day the Upper House election campaigns kicked off, farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi promised rice producers he was on their side.
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