Japan moves to rein in soaring rice prices

Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has begun accepting bids in the second round of an auction for government stockpiled rice in an effort to stabilize distribution, with supermarket prices having more than doubled over the past year.

The average price for 5 kilograms of rice in supermarkets between March 10 and 16 was 4,172 yen ($27.70), the ministry said, after the 11th consecutive weekly increase and double the price a year ago.

For the latest round of bidding beginning Wednesday, the ministry plans to release 70,000 metric tons of rice, consisting of 40,000 tons from last year's harvest and 30,000 tons from the previous year.