Japan Food Prices: Updated April 4, 2025.

 

Japan food, drink items facing April price hikes highest in 1.5 yrs

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250331/p2g/00m/0na/017000c#cxrecs_s

Ideas:

The Japanese yen is very weak now and as Japan is a resource-poor country has to import much of what it needs including raw materials to make some Japanese food.

Some years ago many Japanese companies were reluctant to pass-on their increased costs to the next in the supply chain including the final customer but those days might be long gone, as Japanese company profit margins keep decreasing which is forcing Japanese companies to now pass-on their costs.

With 11,707 items going to see price increases it will be hard for Japanese consumers to look for reliable substitutes which is what happens to many consumers when prices of items they like reach a a certain threshold.

The price hikes might be noticeable or maybe not that noticeable depending on how much of an increase increases will be but for sure the lower-income and fixed income groups will definitely feel the price increases while the upper-income definitely will not and maybe for some items the middle class or middle income groups might not see or feel much of a difference.

A fair question to ask is when is inflation going to either stop and or reach a point that prices won't increase again, if ever.

And for the good of Japanese society when is the Japanese government going to put into place price controls on some food items such as bread, some meat, milk, eggs, and rice which are everyday basic staples that everyday Japanese households need to survive.

Unfortunately the Japanese government seems to be letting inflation just run its course without much interference, and not even from the Bank of Japan which is suppose to control inflation but increasing the key rate which is supposed to dampen demand in the economy.

All of the reasons given for the price increases are reasonable and raw material costs are out of control in Japan as is logistics costs including shipping of raw materials, and of course labor-related costs at 45.1 percent as companies have been increasing wages to keep their current workers and to try and recruit new workers as there is significant labor shortage now in Japan.

And again, what is really going on Japan as is this just a market correction to the many years of deflation and stagnation and the Japanese economy is finally waking up and prices are going up to correct the many years again of deflation in the Japanese economy.

Every Prime Minister says he is going to do something about inflation and each time they have not done much or what they have tried do with supplements and or cash handouts had a negligible affect on prices in the Japanese economy.

Most likely he will, like other Prime Ministers resort to some kind of cash handout, or supplements to more even price controls on energy prices. 

Japanese consumer prices at 2.7 percent is more than the 2 percent target that the Bank of Japan wants to see for the Japanese economy. Most central banks prefer an inflation rate at 2 percent or just a little lower as they feel 2 percent is controllable number and the an economy is moving at a decent rate.

Many central banks feel anything over 3 or 4 percent is too much for an economy has it affect the lower-income groups too much and an economy is maybe getting close to overheating and or moving too fast. In this case a central bank might increase the key rate to try and slow down the economy.

And if inflation is only at 1 percent a central bank might think an economy is moving too slow and consumes are not buying much and businesses are not investing enough in the economy. In this case a central bank might decrease the key rate as a way to get consumers to start borrowing money and using money in the economy and get businesses to borrow money for investment in the economy, which ultimately increases the speed of the economy. 

Have a nice day!