Japan’s consumer prices unexpectedly rose in February, a gain that may not be enough to ease pressure on the central bank for bolder action to end deflation. Consumer prices excluding fresh foods climbed 0.1 percent from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said today in　Tokyo. The median estimate was for a 0.1 percent decline, in a Bloomberg News survey of 29 economists. Some members of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan say they’re opposing the nomination of BNP Paribas SA economist Ryutaro Kono to the Bank of Japan (8301)’s policy board because they doubt his commitment to ending deflation. Governor Masaaki ... (full story)