Consumers Voice Inflation Worries ahead of General Election

Tokyo, Jan. 24 (Jiji Press)--Japanese consumers have expressed worries about rising prices of goods ahead of the Feb. 8 general election for the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, the country's parliament.

A 31-year-old company worker who visited midsize supermarket chain Akidai's main store in Tokyo's Nerima Ward with her children, aged zero and 4, said she usually plans meals for the week to avoid purchasing excess ingredients.

"I almost always buy the same ingredients, but their prices are gradually rising," she complained.

"My income doesn't increase even as prices rise," a 41-year-old employee of an organization from the ward said. She expressed hope about ruling and opposition parties' pledges to cut consumption tax on food items to zero, saying, "Nothing will improve if things stay the same, so I think some kind of change is necessary."

Akidai President Hiromichi Akiba, 57, called on the government to clarify a long-term strategy, such as increasing Japan's food self-sufficiency and reducing reliance on imports, instead of seeking short-term results.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]