Since last summer rice prices have soared as supplies have fallen short of demand and the government has long paid farmers to cut back on rice acreage, and change to other crops to keep rice prices relatively high.

When Japan's farm minister declared that he never had to buy rice because his supporters give him "plenty" of it as gifts, he hoped to draw laughs. Instead Taku Eto drew outrage - and enough of it to force him to resign.

An off-the-cuff remark about never paying for rice has cost Japan’s agriculture minister his job, as pressure mounts on the government to solve the nation’s rice crisis.