NHK Japanese economy news segment summary (my words):

1. Inflation app

2. Wages up

3. Prices outpace wages

4. Consumers “stuck” in deflationary mindset, refuse to spend. (Gee I wonder why …)

5. solutions: a) cash handouts (seriously), b) consumption tax cut, c) incentives for cashless payments - praise South Korea for being 95% cashless.

So… while cost of living is outpacing wages, you want people to spend? This makes no sense. Of course people will save whatever they earn and cut back just to pay for necessities…

My guess for what happens next: a push for cashless payments. A push for CBDC. Disincentives for hanging on to your savings. Handouts to encourage dependency (probably in a form of CBDC enrollment incentive).