SPIRAL IN JAPAN
A "whirlwind of rising prices" has hit Japan, threatening to touch off political repercussions.
The Asahi Evening News reported October 23 that "Price hikes have been particularly noticeable in clothing, fuel and water, and it is certain that the ‘storm' of rising prices will become the focus of political debate as it gains momentum toward the year-end."
The price of rice to consumers was increased October 1. There is a pattern of steady increases in the prices of such staples as cooking oil, beef, pork, eggs, mackerel, tuna, sugar, soybean products and, in some areas, vegetables.
With winter approaching, prices of propane gas, oil-stove fuel, briquettes, charcoal and coal are all rising. The Asahi Evening News gave the price of coal as an example. In Fukushima prefecture the increase has been 700 yen [almost U.S. $2] a ton -- about seven percent.
Prices of towels, shirts, sheets and handkerchiefs have gone up ten to twenty percent in Tokyo and Osaka.
"To counter these price hikes," the Asahi Evening News reported, "consumers are banding together throughout the nation. Not only in Tokyo and Osaka, but also in smaller cities throughout the nation, people living in apartment complexes are forming joint purchasing cooperatives to buy in bulk at lower prices and pass on the savings to individuals.
"Livelihood protection cooperatives are also being formed by housewives to purchase various food items, fuel oil and other daily necessities at lower prices."
A NEW INDUSTRIAL