The key consumer price index fell 1.2 percent in May from a year earlier for the 15th straight monthly decline, the government said Friday, underscoring that deflationary pressure persists.
Meanwhile, the government said price levels in Yokohama in 2009 surpassed those of Tokyo's 23 wards for the first time on record, data for which have been compiled since 1963, because food prices fell in the capital but remained almost flat in Yokohama, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said.
The pace of the price decline narrowed from the 1.5 percent fall the previous month, mainly because the margin of declines in electricity prices narrowed as a result of sharp cuts the previous year and rises in other energy prices, including gasoline. Part of the decline also stemmed from high school tuition waivers.