Rice Prices Fall a Fourth Week, Back Under 3,600 Yen per 5kg

Average supermarket rice fell to 3,588 yen per 5kg, down 56 yen on the week and a fourth straight decline — the first time in about ten months it has returned to the 3,500-yen range. For households squeezed by high rice prices, it is welcome relief at the dinner table. Rice is among Japan's most sensitive cost-of-living gauges; its recent surge stoked broad anxiety over supply and prices, and the steady fall signals supply and demand stabilizing. But it doesn't contradict the earlier CPI point that food is propping up inflation — one staple easing isn't the end of food inflation. For visitors, steadier rice is one sign of calmer meal costs; for those watching Japan's domestic demand, the price of a bowl of rice is an honest window into household purchasing power.