The key gauge of consumer prices fell a record 0.9 percent in 2002 for the third straight year of decline, the government said Friday in a preliminary report.
The data show Japan has been deep in deflation with no clear signs of recovery in domestic demand.
Meanwhile, January's core consumer price index in Tokyo fell 0.6 percent from a year earlier to 97.2, extending its falling streak to a record 40 months, the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications said in the report.