Consumers in Japan have been watching prices at supermarkets steadily rise, which has quickened the pace of increase in the overall consumer price index.

The internal affairs ministry says the CPI excluding fresh food in June was 3.3 percent higher than a year earlier. The jump was slightly bigger than the previous month's increase of 3.2 percent.

Prices for many food items increased sharply, causing the food index to rise by 9.2 percent. Fresh items are excluded from the index because they vary widely in price based on the weather.

The increase was the same as the rise in May, which was the biggest jump in over 47 years.

The price of eggs was up by 35.7 percent. Carbonated drinks increased by 17.4 percent and hamburgers by 17.1 percent.

Energy prices actually went down by 6.6 percent, due to government subsidies and smaller increases in fuel prices. Electricity bills fell by 12.4 percent.

One analyst predicts inflation in Japan is now at its peak and will gradually taper off. Kuga Naoko, senior analyst at the NLI Research Institute, says that's because inflationary pressure is being absorbed down the chain.

Kuga says import prices for raw materials peaked last summer, and companies are now passing on those higher costs in the prices of their products and services. She says that's the main factor behind Japan's current inflation.

Kuga says although companies are still passing on the higher costs to customers, that transition will eventually lose steam.

She expects inflation will fall below 3 percent in coming months, and the figure for the whole of fiscal 2023 will be under 3 percent.