September is bringing another hit to the household budget

It feels like there's always something getting more expensive here at the moment, and this month is bringing another sizeable round of price increases.

According to Teikoku Databank (reported on via the Japan Times), the prices of 4,923 food and drink products from 195 major manufacturers are set to rise this month. That's around three times as many products as were affected in September last year, making this the biggest monthly increase so far in 2026.

There's set to be more pain at the supermarket checkout this month...

Unfortunately, these aren't necessarily luxury items you can easily do without. Seasonings such as soup bases and mayonnaise are making up the largest category of increases, followed by processed foods including frozen meals and fish paste products. Things like the weaker yen, higher crude oil prices, and rising logistics costs are being blamed for the increases.