Long lines formed in Japan after cheap, emergency-use rice was made available at some retailers.
Japan is selling stockpiled rice directly to stores to ease high prices.
Supermarket costs dipped for the first time in three weeks but are still averaging nearly $13 a pound.
Stockpiles are low, but the Farm Minister says that the government is ready to release more if needed.
Those stockpiles are expected to be replenished this fall with the harvest of Japan’s 2025 crop.
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