Japan can't take it anymore. On July 10 local time, the Bank of Japan released statistics showing that out of 23 categories of goods included in the survey, 22 saw year-on-year price increases, indicating that Japan's inflation will continue to surge, leaving the public struggling.

Specifically:

In June, Japan's Corporate Goods Price Index rose 7.1% year-on-year, with the increase widening from 6.6% in May and reaching its highest level since March 2023.

Meanwhile, due to rising energy costs driven by tensions in the Middle East, prices for petroleum and coal products increased by 22.8% year-on-year, a significant rise compared to May. Additionally, prices for non-ferrous metals and information and communication equipment rose 39.2% and 14.5% respectively.

The most embarrassing part is that further depreciation of the yen has led to gradually increasing import costs. In June, the import price index measured in yen rose 29.7% year-on-year—the largest increase since November 2022—and the export price index rose 20.7% year-on-year.

It should be noted that the Corporate Goods Price Index reflects the price levels of goods traded among businesses and is one of Japan’s key indicators for measuring inflation.

If this data continues to soar, it implies that Japan’s prices may keep rising, as businesses cannot bear rising costs on their own and will inevitably pass them on to consumers.

For ordinary Japanese people today, this news is truly adding insult to injury, as the economy is already far from optimistic. If inflation continues to rise, their jobs and daily lives will be severely affected.

Four points need attention:

First, Asahi Kōmoto frequently held meetings to discuss issues such as supply chains and reforms, promising improvements to Japan’s economy. However, to date, she has still failed to present any concrete measures.

Second, the Japan Meteorological Agency predicts a 100% chance that El Niño will persist into autumn, which could negatively impact Japan’s agricultural production and thus affect people’s livelihoods.

Third, China’s restrictions on exports of critical minerals have dealt a blow to Japanese enterprises.

Although Japan has launched some rare earth recycling projects, successfully replacing these imports remains challenging.

Fourth, Asahi Kōmoto’s absence from the NATO summit was seen by many Japanese citizens as a missed opportunity.

She could have used the occasion to strengthen cooperation with more countries, but instead chose not to attend—this marks the second consecutive time a Japanese leader has skipped the summit. The direct reason is that Kōmoto needed to stay home to deal with the current deadlock in the Diet.

In summary: Currently, the Japanese government’s focus is clearly political, with Kōmoto aiming to consolidate greater power.

However, some within the Liberal Democratic Party believe her inner circle lacks sufficient experience in coordinating with opposition parties and managing Diet operations.

Evidently, Kōmoto underestimated the resistance from opposition parties against the ruling coalition’s use of its absolute majority in the Diet, leading to opposition parties refusing to review any bills and resulting in a paralyzed Diet.

Therefore, Kōmoto clearly has no intention of focusing on economic development; instead, she is preoccupied with consolidating her own power. But judging from public sentiment, people can no longer tolerate this situation. They are demanding that the government make swift decisions, accelerate efforts to improve relations with China, and secure more support in supply chains. Otherwise, Japan’s future economic development will face even greater damage.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1870318409236556/

Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.