Diet member Shinjiro Koizumi faced a dilemma when a group of farmers angry over the government¡¯s trade policy and aware of his dislike of tomatoes handed him a bag of them to try.
¡°Actually, I don¡¯t like raw tomatoes but I¡¯m trying to overcome this,¡± said the son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at the meeting in the city of Kasai, Hyogo Prefecture. ¡°But I¡¯ll try them later, and let you know what I think.¡± For the farmers present it was an important moment of honesty.
Getting the agricultural community on board is the first big political test for the 34 year-old who has spent most of his six years as a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker in low-key roles, focused on recovery work after the 2011 tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan. Now he is being mooted as a potential future leader.
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