Despite increase in rice production, prices are above 4,000 yen for 5 kg bag as JA is competing to gather more rice

TL;DR: This year's rice are appearing in supermarket shelves, but prices remain high with typical price over 4,000 yen for 5 kg bag. Effects of Koizumi releasing reserved rice brought prices down but only for a short period.

The current high prices are attributed to JA's advance payment method of paying 30,000 yen for 60 kg to farmers to secure supply. This price effectively locks retail price to be above 4,000 yen per 5 kg.