Newsfrom Japan
Sep 12, 2025 22:13 (JST)
Tokyo, Sept. 12 (Jiji Press)–The average price per 5 kilograms of rice sold at some 1,000 supermarkets in Japan last week topped 4,000 yen for the first time since early June, the agriculture ministry said Friday.
The average price rose 264 yen from the previous week to 4,155 yen in the week through Sunday, up for the second straight week.
This is the steepest increase since data began in March 2022, reflecting the start of sales of this year’s new harvest and a decrease in the availability of cheaper government-stockpiled rice.
On Thursday, agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters that prices have settled down “to a certain degree,” given that the average price was at 4,200 yen when he took office in May.
However, the average price released on Friday suggests that the price-curbing effects of government-stockpiled rice are beginning to wane.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]