TL;DR On Oct. 10, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced average price of 5 kg of rice was 4,075 yen, up 80 yen from the previous week. The price increase is thought to be shipment of this year's rice from Tohoku and Hokuriku regions.
Price of this year's rice is higher because JA Group has risen provisional payments to farmers.
by MagazineKey4532