Hidden inflation drives Japan consumers to price-tracking sites

[TOKYO] After three decades of falling prices, Japanese consumers are facing a new phenomenon known in other parts of the world as shrinkflation. To cope, they are turning to grassroots websites that track how items such as laundry detergent and instant noodles are getting smaller and more expensive.

Neage.jp, which translates as “price increase” in Japanese, gets about 2,000 visits each day from people seeking pricing and product data, according to Masayuki Iwasa, who created the website after he noticed his favourite chocolate bars getting shorter.

Shoppers in the island nation are facing higher living costs for the first time since the burst of an asset bubble in the early 90s ushered in decades of deflation. Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 3.1 per cent in July from the previous year. Major food and beverage companies in Japan are set to increase prices for over 1,010 items in August, 50 per cent more than a year ago, according to a report by Teikoku Databank.

“My generation has lived entirely under deflation, so I assumed prices would never go up,” Iwasa, who said he works part-time jobs, said. “Even small hikes, or shrinkflation, made me sensitive enough to start this website.”

The price of Koala’s March, chocolate-filled crackers sold by Lotte, has jumped by 70 per cent since 2022, when a standard box shrank to 48 grams from 50 grams, according to Neage.jp.

Although reducing a product’s size or quantity while keeping the price the same is a common retail tactic across the globe, it was rare during Japan’s deflationary era. Calbee Inc, a Japanese snack food maker, has cut the weight of its main potato chips by 20 per cent since 2008, while its price went up by 15 yen (S$0.13), according to the price-tracking website.

Nayu Asao, a university student in Tokyo, said that she’s now buying three onigiri rice balls instead of two for lunch because of shrinkflation. “I need to buy more items of food at most stores,” she said.

Japan may find itself under pressure to curb shrinkflation as the trend hits households already grappling with squeezed budgets, including the surging price of rice, the country’s staple food.

Other countries more used to inflation and shrinkflation have tried to help consumers navigate the trend, including neighbouring South Korea, which has announced fines for food makers who hide shrinkflation. In the US, more than a dozen states and territories require unit prices on products.

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Australia’s consumer and competition regulator wants supermarkets to publish notifications when instances of shrinkflation occur, while in France, retailers must warn shoppers when sizes drop without price cuts.

‘Feels unfair’

Other websites such as Kakaku.com, Hikaku.com and Saiyasune.com also offer retail data and product reviews. All of their names refer to prices in one way or another. Saiyasune, which translates to “lowest price”, garners about 2.5 million visitors each month, and has seen more repeat visitors since 2020, when inflation began to return, according to Webspire, the company behind the portal.

“I extensively research different websites, such as Rakuten, Zozotown, and other e-commerce sites to get the best deal,” said Masahiko Naka, a coffee shop owner in Tokyo. “Shopping has become time-consuming, but rewarding actually, because there’s more emotional value to what I choose to buy.”

Average incomes in Japan have not kept pace with inflation. Wages in Japan rose by just 3.5 per cent over the last three decades, compared with 50 per cent in the US, 45 per cent in Britain and 30 per cent in France, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Although compensation has been on the rise in Japan, including starting salaries for college graduates, those with more modest income gains are being hit harder by rising prices.

The Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare raised benefits for 40 million pensioners by 1.9 per cent from April 2025, but with inflation picking up at a faster pace, the rise is not enough to sustain their living standards, according to Taro Kimura, senior Japan economist at Bloomberg Economics.

Masayuki Iwasa, who spends several hours each day updating Neage.jp, said that he’s having trouble keeping up with price changes and shrinkflation.

Although he has no plans to expand his portal, Iwasa said that he hopes to continue bringing more transparency to consumers. Neage.jp generates about 40,000 yen a month from ads and affiliate links, he said.

“I understand that companies have to reduce product sizes because of inflation, but it still feels unfair,” Iwasa said. “It’s pretty frustrating.” BLOOMBERG