The average price was down by 256 yen from the previous week, declining for the 4th straight week and marking the first drop exceeding 100 yen since March 2022, when the ministry started releasing weekly rice prices.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba aimed to lower rice prices to the 3,000-4,000 yen range by as early as mid-June.
The significant drop likely reflected the distribution of government stockpiled rice released under discretionary contracts.
AloJapan.com