Over-the-phone sorry rejected, prompting face-to-face apology to farmers.
Earlier this month, Kanta Nakagawa, mayor of the town of Joetsu, became embroiled in scandal following a controversial statement. Many would say it was obvious that Nakagawa’s choice of words would incite anger, but sadly it’s not unusual for a high-ranking politician to lose sight of how their comments could be considered inappropriate by those outside their immediate circle of people eager to agree with them.
And so it was that on the morning of July 29 Nakagawa appeared at a press conference and offered an official apology for saying that the rice grown in the town of Sanda tastes bad.
▼ Video of Nakagawa making his apology at Sanda City Hall
The scandal started on July 1. During a conversation Nakagawa was part of at Joetsu City Hall, the topic of sake came up, and by extension rice. At some point Nakagawa felt the need to make his opinion known, saying the rice from Sanda, where he’d lived during his high school years, tastes bad. He then doubled down on this declaration two days later when speaking to students at a trade school in Joetsu, saying of the rice from Sanda “I shouldn’t really say this, but it isn’t very good.”
▼ Once again, “I shouldn’t really do this, but I’m gonna do it anyway” turns out to be a poor strategic decision.
There’s actually quite a bit to digest here. First, agricultural work commands a position of respect in general in Japan, where societal memories of post-war food shortages and poverty still remain strong. Rice growing in particular is seen as a highly honorable endeavor, as it’s famously the foundation of the traditional Japanese diet and is often seen as a symbol of Japanese culture itself. So while it’s not uncommon for Japanese people to express dissatisfaction with the quality of overseas strains of white rice, it’s very rare to hear someone make a disparaging comment about domestically grown rice.
Then there’s the fact that, as mentioned above, Nakagawa used to be a resident of Sanda, having lived there for a time in his teens, so his former neighbors didn’t take kindly to him throwing their rice under the bus, and making the comments sting even more is that Sanda and Joetsu are in different prefectures. Sanda is in Hyogo Prefecture, but Joetsu is part of Niigata Prefecture, which is considered one of Japan’s best rice-growing regions, so Nakagawa’s scathing assessment of Sanda rice came with an air of looking down on another prefecture’s agricultural abilities.
Add it all up, and the farmers of Sanda weren’t at all happy about Nakagawa’s comments, and neither was Katsuya Tamura, Sanda’s mayor. On July 10, Tamura held a press conference demanding Nakagawa apologize. Nakagawa then called Tamura on the phone to do so, but the Sanda mayor said that wasn’t good enough and refused to accept the apology unless Nakagawa came to Sanda in person and delivered his statement of contrition directly to Sanda’s rice farmers.
▼ It’s a five-hour train trip from Joetsu to Sanda, by the way.
So that’s what Nakagawa did on the morning of July 29, first appearing at city hall where he said:
“I wish to deeply apologize for the distress caused to the people of Sanda, its farmers, and other related parties by my inappropriate remarks. My actions were inexcusable. I deeply regret causing distress to so many people from my childhood memories.”
Nakagawa also paid a visit to rice fields in Sanda, and took part in a rice tasting in front of members of the local agricultural industry and press, saying that the rice he ate was “delicious.”
▼ The Sanda rice tasting
“I want to do all I can to restore [any damage I may have caused to] the reputation of Sanda’s rice,” said Nakagawa, adding that he intends to fold a promotion for Sanda-grown rice into an upcoming promotional event for Joetsu agricultural products to be held in Tokyo soon.
Source: NHK News Web, Yahoo! Japan News/YTV, Yomiuri Shimbun
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
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