The average price of rice sold at some 1,000 supermarkets across Japan in the week through Sunday dropped ¥63 from the previous week to ¥4,142 per 5 kilograms, the agriculture ministry has said.

The average was down for the fourth straight week, but it remained above ¥4,000 for the sixth week in a row.

Ahead of the release of the latest average prices on Friday, agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi told a news conference, “We’re concerned that persistently high prices may lead consumers to increasingly turn away from rice.”

The average price was pushed down by a higher sales share of blended rice, including government-stockpiled rice, which rose 4 percentage points from the previous week to 29%. The average price of blended rice was ¥3,419 in the week to Sunday, down ¥171 from the previous week.

The sales share of brand rice, such as newly harvested rice, fell from 75% to 71%.

But since newly harvested rice was traded at high prices, the average price of brand rice climbed ¥29 to ¥4,440, up for the sixth straight week.

A separate survey of about 1,200 supermarkets showed that the average price went down ¥72 to ¥3,450. Meanwhile, a survey of about 6,000 drugstores and other retail shops found that the average price was ¥135 higher at ¥4,210.

Published Date: October 19, 2025