Tokyo's rice prices surge 90% in March on year: CPI data

Prices of rice in Tokyo jumped around 90 percent in March from a year earlier, with the government's recent release of stockpiles having limited impact, consumer price data showed Friday.The 89.6 percent increase, bigger than the 77.5 percent year-on-year growth in February, was the largest rise since 1971, when comparable data became available, according to the government's preliminary data for Tokyo's 23 wards.Among prices of rice-related items, rice balls climbed 11.8 percent, "bento" boxed meals increased 8.4 percent, while those of sushi served at restaurants rose 8.7 percent, the Mini…READ FULL ARTICLE