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.

Japanese farm minister Taku Eto said on Wednesday he has resigned to take responsibility for remarks he made this week about rice that angered voters reeling from historically high prices of the staple food.

Japan’s agriculture minister has resigned after making an inappropriate remark about buying rice. Taku Eto said at a party seminar Sunday that he never had to buy rice thanks to his supporters’ gifts,