Inflation In Japan A SteemitExclusive

I was in Famima aka Family Mart, today and went to grab my favorite coffee, but it was .10 yen more expensive!

A few months ago it was 1.26 yen, today it was 1.36 yen. Now that's not a huge difference, but prices are rising across the board on many goods and it is starting to add up. Keep in mind, on top of this last year Japan raised it's consumption tax rate to 10%, which includes food.

Here are some price increases that just flashed across TV as I was typing this.
In this image it shows a large Japanese dairy producer, my wife actually used to work for, Yukijirushi(Mega Milk). They are raising prices 1.9 - 12.2%. 1.9% is manageable, but 12.2%?!

This one is from Meiji. Their increase is a little worse.

Then we have AGF which makes Key Coffee. a 20% increase!

This is Yamazaki Pan, a large bread manufacturer. They are raising prices 7%.

Electricity & Gas are also going up. I wasn't able to catch the rate because TV flashed it too quickly, but my guess is it is at least 10%.

These inflationary prices increases come at the worst time possible. The country has been in a state of emergency for the past 5 months forcing many businesses to close their doors and lay people off. Wages are not rising and in the 20 years I have lived off and on in Japan, this is the worst I have seen it. I'm extremely concerned about the pressure these price increases are going to put on the already struggling Japanese people.

Japan just elected a new Prime Minister who is talking about addressing many of Japan's problems, but he has a serious uphill battle ahead of him with this inflation news coming out. Japan has been in and out of recessions for decades. When you add inflation you get stagflation, which America is also moving into. It's a vicious circle no one knows how to get out of. When these things happen, wars often follow. I hope the new PM has some magic trick up his sleeve, because we are going to need it in Japan.