Prices in Japan did not rise in February, reinforcing just how far the nation remains from reaching the Bank of Japan's 2 percent inflation goal.

Consumer prices excluding fresh food didn't budge for a second consecutive month, as forecast. Stripping out energy and food costs, the gauge rose 0.8 percent from last year, according to a statistics bureau report on Friday.

Time is ticking for BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda, who is forecasting that inflation will accelerate to reach 2 percent in about a year. Even with the central bank's adoption in January of a negative interest rate alongside the its already unprecedented asset purchases, prices aren't rising.