Japan Households Savings and Golden Week. Ideas later.

Japan household savings hit record high, but 'zero yen' tops Golden Week budget plans

Article to be deleted after ideas.

Article:

TOKYO -- Despite household savings reaching a record high in Japan, the most common budget plan for this year's long Golden Week holiday period is "zero yen," highlighting a growing preference for savings amid concerns that rising crude oil prices driven by heightened tensions in the Middle East will keep inflation high.

According to a survey released on April 16 by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co., nearly half of respondents plan to spend the holiday period at home.

Asked how much they plan to spend during Golden Week, 29.3% chose "zero yen," the largest share, followed by 17.8% who plan to spend "10,000 yen (around $63) or more but less than 20,000 yen (around $126)" and 12.8% who said "50,000 yen (around $314) or more but less than 100,000 yen (around $630)." While 21.7% said they would spend less than last year, only 4.3% said they would spend more.

At the same time, polarization in spending has become more pronounced. Among those who plan to spend more, the average increase was 79,514 yen (around $500), about 20,000 yen higher than last year.

As for how they plan to spend their holidays, "staying at home" was the most common answer at 46.7%, followed by "undecided" at 22.5% and "domestic travel" at 14.4%. Average household savings rose by 2.84 million yen (around $17,860) from a year earlier to 18.47 million yen (around $116,120), marking a record high for the second consecutive year since the survey began in 2017.

The survey, which asked about household finances, was conducted online from March 9 to 16 among 1,620 men and women ages 20 to 79 nationwide.

Takafumi Fujita, chief researcher at the Meiji Yasuda Research Institute Inc., said, "People are directing increased income toward savings to protect their own livelihoods, and there seems to be limited room to channel it into consumption." He also voiced concerns that surging crude oil prices could further drive inflation, adding, "Stable global conditions are essential for sustainable growth in consumption."

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260421/p2a/00m/0bu/022000c