TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the increasingly popular opposition party in Japan, apologized Saturday for having referred to the government's rice stockpiles as "animal feed," days after drawing criticism on social media.

Tamaki, who heads the Democratic Party for the People, said on a TV program, "I regret that I caused discomfort to those who have been waiting for the government's stockpiled rice" amid soaring prices of the Japanese staple food, adding, "I would like to apologize."

During a parliamentary session on Wednesday, Tamaki, whose party has pitched policies aimed at appealing to younger voters, said, "Even if you say you're selling at a low price something that would end up as animal feed in a year, it's not something people truly need."

Tamaki was apparently pointing to stockpiled rice from the 2021 harvest, which the government is releasing to the public in an effort to curb surging prices across the country.

On Saturday, Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said at a meeting in Kagoshima Prefecture, where agriculture is a core industry, that Tamaki was "disrespectful to the farmers who put their heart and soul into their work."

Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, also criticized Tamaki's remark at a press conference on Friday, calling it "not appropriate."