Hidden inflation is creeping across Japan

Price factor: An employee arranging a sneaker at a store in Kawasaki. With wage growth stagnant, price increases will be a headwind for consumer spending. — Bloomberg

TOKYO: As winter descends on Japan, the soaring energy prices squeezing budgets around the world are starting to hurt the nation’s consumers and companies. Bathhouse owner Atsushi Tsukui is just one of many whose business is under pressure.

The 29-year-old and his wife took over the family sento, a type of public bath that’s common in Japan, in July. The kerosene used to heat its large, communal bathtubs in Gunma prefecture, 90km from Tokyo, has since become so expensive that they are considering substituting some of it for firewood.