Yesterday here in town the parking lots were jammed. The shelves for toilet paper, oil, butter, cheese, imported can goods, snacks of cheap imported rice crackers, well the list goes on.
McDonald's hamburger now is 130 yen. Not worth it, but coffee, which I was told comes from Vietnam is still 100 yen and its better then the 400 yen mud at Starbucks down the street. Why people pay 400 yen for a cup of mud gets me.
Gas went down for 167 a liter to 162 a liter. Bus fare went up 10 yen per section. We live in an area where vegetables are grown so its not expensive, 12 cucumbers for 198 yen at the moment. Tomatoes 58 yen each. Potatoes at around 58 to 79 yen each. Watermelon has always been expensive. I can't see them raising it about the top price of 3400 yen each.
A word of caution, stores have increase their security against shoplifting.