After decades of deflation, Japanese consumers are now grappling with rising costs and shrinkflation. In response, they are turning to community-driven websites to monitor the shrinking sizes and increasing prices of everyday goods, from laundry detergent to instant noodles. One such website, Neage.jp, which translates to “price increase,” attracts approximately 2,000 daily visitors seeking detailed information on product pricing and sizes.
Masayuki Iwasa created Neage.jp after noticing his favourite chocolate bars becoming smaller. For the first time since the collapse of Japan’s asset bubble in the early 1990s, shoppers in Japan are experiencing higher living costs. Consumer prices, excluding fresh food, increased by 3.1 per cent in July compared to the previous year.
According to a Teikoku Databank report, major Japanese food and beverage companies are planning to raise prices on over 1,010 items in August, marking a 50 per cent increase compared to the previous year. Iwasa stated that his generation has only known deflation, assuming prices would remain stable indefinitely.
“Even small hikes, or shrinkflation, made me sensitive enough to start this website,” Iwasa noted, explaining his motivation for creating the price-tracking resource. He currently works part-time to support the site and his own living expenses.
