Behind the Scenes” of “Miyaneya’s” furious protest from JA over Shiro Tasaki’s “Tondemo” commentary, which was later corrected with an apology.

‘There was an error in a comment made by one of the performers’

On June 4, a female announcer on “Miyaneya” (produced by Yomiuri TV and hosted by NTV), an information program hosted by Seiji Miyane (62), reportedly made the following comment.

In the broadcast of the day before yesterday, there was an error in a comment made by one of the actors regarding JA Zen-Noh’s response to the stockpiling of rice.

The female announcer apologized and corrected the mistake. What in the world happened? ……

On June 2, Miyaneya aired a program titled “‘Koizumi Rice’ Battle in Various Areas” about the release of stockpiled rice by Shinjiro Koizumi, 44, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries.

The program was titled “Cutting through the Reiwa Rice Riots” and introduced guests Makiko Tanaka (81), who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the past, and political journalist Shiro Tasaki (74), who appeared on the program via a live broadcast. Taizo Sugimura and others were in the studio.

Mr. Tasaki commented that while “Koizumi rice” was quickly released to the public, the stockpiled rice that former Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Taku Eto, who resigned due to his gaffe, had put out to bid was slow to appear on store shelves.

Mr. Tasaki said, “95% of the rice stockpiled by former Minister Eto was purchased by Zen-Noh. Then it doesn’t flow.

Tasaki then developed his own theory. Miyane, the host, then asked.

Why doesn’t it flow when JA buys it?

Why doesn’t it flow when JA buys it? In response, Tasaki replied, “I don’t think JA is selling them,

Tasaki replied, “I don’t think JA is selling this. To the wholesalers.

Mr. Tasaki replied, “I don’t think JA is selling these to the wholesalers.

Does that mean it stops at the collector?”

Mr. Sugimura asked, “Do you mean that it stops at the collector? Mr. Tasaki responded, “JA still only sells about 20% of its products.

Mr. Tasaki replied, “Even now, JA is only paying out about 20% of its sales.

Tasaki explained, “Even now, (JA) only pays about 20%.

When Miyane pressed him further, Tasaki replied, “That’s because they want to sell as much rice as possible at the highest possible price.

I think they are trying to sell as much rice as possible at the highest possible price while creating a sense of desperation in the market.

He went on to further develop his own theory.

It turned out that he was speaking mostly on speculation.

However, the TV station “immediately” received a phone call complaining about this. According to a Yomiuri TV source

A public relations official for JA Zen-Noh called us angrily and said, “Mr. Tasaki’s statement is completely untrue. The caller was furious and said, “Mr. Tasaki’s statement is completely untrue. After corroborating the call with the facts, we found that Mr. Tasaki was speaking mostly on speculation, and two days later we had to make a correction. To a certain extent, cross-talk is improvised, so there was no way to prevent him from speaking without evidence and in an appropriate manner. We still should have called in a rice expert. I guess you could call it a casting error.”

He clarifies, “I think it was a mistake in casting.

According to the corrected information, “JA bought up 95% of the rice,

JA bought up 95% of the rice” => “JA participated in a competitive bidding process and won the bid.
No rice has flowed” => “All the bids have been sold.
Only about 20% of the rice has been sold” ⇒ “A total of 64% of the rice has already been shipped.”
“The intention is to sell at a high price” ⇒ “Only the necessary expenses are added to the price”

The number of “sales contracts” is quite a lot.

This website therefore asked Yomiuri TV to confirm whether or not JA had protested against Mr. Tasaki’s statement,

The answer was, “We do not answer questions about the production process of the program.

“We do not answer questions about the production process of our programs,” was the reply.

JA is being demonized by journalists and some media outlets, but they are only paying 1,050 yen per 60 kg of stockpiled rice, or 87 yen per 5 kg. It is not reasonable to say that JA is cutting out the middleman or trying to make a profit. According to a survey by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 80% of all JAs in Japan are in the red in their agriculture-related businesses. They are unable to make money in their “core business” and are making up the deficit by managing savings and selling mutual aid insurance. There are even rumors that Minister Koizumi is trying to reform and dismantle JA. In the face of such “verbal attacks,” JA is no doubt eager to dispel its image,” said a news reporter from a TV station.

Just because it is a news program does not mean that they are telling the truth. Still, it is no wonder that Mr. Tasaki is considered an unqualified commentator if he makes statements based on assumptions and without evidence.