What Japan's proposed food tax cut could mean for budgets

Living in Japan, it's hard not to notice how often food prices come up in everyday conversation, especially over the past few years. A recent survey by Reshi-Challenge, (a money-saving app run by Kurashiru) put some concrete numbers on what many households are feeling, and I thought I'd share some of their findings here!

According to the data, a family of four pays around 54,000 yen a year in consumption tax on food, and with a proposed tax cut being discussed ahead of the 2026 election, that could mean some pretty substantial savings.

In saying that, the survey results showed that people are remaining pretty cautious. More than half of respondents said they wouldn't change their spending habits even if the tax is reduced. Rising prices seem to have already eaten into any sense of relief a tax cut might bring, particularly for fresh produce and everyday food items.

That said, there was one point I did think was interesting about a spending jump! When asked about possible indulgences, the most common answer was upgrading to beef. This feeling shows up in real behavior too, with beef recipe searches on Kurashiru jumping about 1.5 times compared to last year.

Will you be changing your spending habits if the proposed food tax cute is implemented? [Image created via Canva]