Japan's 2026 Consumer Trends

For expats living in Japan, the Neo Marketing 2026 Trend Survey is an interesting read and a bit of a glimpse into how people feel about life here. It was conducted in December 2025 with 1,245 people nationwide, and shows that people are feeling squeezed by everyday costs while becoming more aware of personal health and intentional spending.

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The top two worries that respondents had for 2026 were rising prices and personal health, which were almost neck and neck. An interesting nugget from the research is that people are more worried about day-to-day price hikes than long-term income or assets, suggesting a shift toward watching the yen at the checkout rather than just on investment apps.

On the health front, health-related anxiety seems to start young here, especially for us women. Among women in their teens and twenties, concern about health was already close to their concern about prices, and it stays high well into middle age. 

Spending priorities also tell a story. Food and drink and travel were the two biggest areas people want to spend on in 2026, showing that even with the high cost of living, people are reluctant to give up certain things that bring joy. Savings and investment also ranked strongly as areas where money was being directed, especially by men in their 30s and 40s.

Tech habits are shifting, too. While smartphones and laptops are still widely used, fewer people want to prioritize them in 2026. At the same time, the research found that the use of AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot continue to grow, which seems to be a bit of a global trend whether we like it or loathe it.