A: Hey there! Guess what? Anything new in the news?
B: Not really, what's up?
A: Well, check this out - you know how much we love our sushi and onigiri rice balls in Japan? Turns out they've become quite a bit pricier!
B: No way! Why is that?
A: Seems like the price of rice has skyrocketed. It nearly doubled compared to last year, making it the highest increase since 1971!
B: Whoa, that's crazy! So, how does this affect our favorite dishes?
A: Onigiri is up by 18.1% and sushi in restaurants went up by 5%. Overall, prices are up by a whopping 3.5% compared to last year!
B: That's not good... What else is affected?
A: Egg prices also saw an increase of 10% due to bird flu outbreaks all over Japan. Beer was priced 4.6% higher too.
B: Household expenses are getting out of hand! How about electricity and city gas bills?
A: Those went up by 13.5% for electricity and 4.7% for city gas. This happened because the government cut back on energy subsidies.
B: Sounds like we should start saving pennies, huh? Thanks for telling me about this! I'll have to budget more carefully.
----------------
A record surge in the price of rice drove Japan's consumer inflation higher in April. The country's staple crop nearly doubled in price compared to the same month a year earlier.
The internal affairs ministry says the 98.4 percent jump was the highest since the government started keeping comparable data in 1971. It was 6.3 points higher than in March, extending a record for the seventh-straight month.
Japan's consumers paid more for popular rice-based dishes. Onigiri rice balls were up 18.1 percent and restaurant sushi increased 5 percent.
Overall, Japan's consumer price index rose 3.5 percent from a year earlier. It was the fifth-straight month for the reading to be at or above 3 percent.
Egg prices rose 10 percent due to a series of bird-flu outbreaks throughout Japan. Beer was up 4.6 percent.
Households paid 13.5 percent more on their electricity bills and 4.7 percent for city gas. Those rises came after the government cut back on energy subsidies.
B: Not really, what's up?
A: Well, check this out - you know how much we love our sushi and onigiri rice balls in Japan? Turns out they've become quite a bit pricier!
B: No way! Why is that?
A: Seems like the price of rice has skyrocketed. It nearly doubled compared to last year, making it the highest increase since 1971!
B: Whoa, that's crazy! So, how does this affect our favorite dishes?
A: Onigiri is up by 18.1% and sushi in restaurants went up by 5%. Overall, prices are up by a whopping 3.5% compared to last year!
B: That's not good... What else is affected?
A: Egg prices also saw an increase of 10% due to bird flu outbreaks all over Japan. Beer was priced 4.6% higher too.
B: Household expenses are getting out of hand! How about electricity and city gas bills?
A: Those went up by 13.5% for electricity and 4.7% for city gas. This happened because the government cut back on energy subsidies.
B: Sounds like we should start saving pennies, huh? Thanks for telling me about this! I'll have to budget more carefully.
----------------
A record surge in the price of rice drove Japan's consumer inflation higher in April. The country's staple crop nearly doubled in price compared to the same month a year earlier.
The internal affairs ministry says the 98.4 percent jump was the highest since the government started keeping comparable data in 1971. It was 6.3 points higher than in March, extending a record for the seventh-straight month.
Japan's consumers paid more for popular rice-based dishes. Onigiri rice balls were up 18.1 percent and restaurant sushi increased 5 percent.
Overall, Japan's consumer price index rose 3.5 percent from a year earlier. It was the fifth-straight month for the reading to be at or above 3 percent.
Egg prices rose 10 percent due to a series of bird-flu outbreaks throughout Japan. Beer was up 4.6 percent.
Households paid 13.5 percent more on their electricity bills and 4.7 percent for city gas. Those rises came after the government cut back on energy subsidies.
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Summary
Japan's consumer inflation reached a record high in April due to a surge in rice prices. Rice nearly doubled compared to the previous year, marking the highest increase since 1971. This price hike affected popular dishes like onigiri rice balls (up by 18.1%) and restaurant sushi (increased by 5%).
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ID: 9729e2b0-394d-4401-be43-cfdfeaaa5fdd
Category ID: nhk
URL: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20250523_B5/
Created: 2025/05/25 07:11
Updated: 2025/12/08 03:57
Last Read: 2025/05/25 09:31