Gasoline price in Japan rises for 6th straight week

The ministry launched the subsidy program on Jan. 27. The government reviews the subsidy amount weekly.

If there is one thing that the LDP loves it is subsidies to those sitting on hoards of cash, which rarely ever trickle down to any benefit to the public.

Costco membership card coming in handy, finally.

The article fails to mention the 50% government Tax on fuel sales. If the government lowered the Tax by 5% or more that’s would ease things overnight. But they would rather give money to fuel companies than do that.

It's a great time to not be a car owner.

Gasoline or energy price can easily rise other goods price. Does someone will be satisfied with this inflation now? It's been waiting for years in Japan all this time.

https://jp.reuters.com/article/japan-economy-abe/japan-pm-abe-inflation-must-be-accompanied-by-strong-economy-idUST9N0AS05B20130212

Imagine if all that money wasn't wasted on Abe no mask !!

They could have used the money properly and given people a meaningful tax deduction.

But then again the LDP only knows how to line it's own pockets and waste our tax!

I love watching my taxes evaporate.

Keep sending your reserves to Europe so that Biden can shine…

I guess my Supra stays in my parking lot from now on. I'll drive my wife's Yaris Cross instead.

Currently my local fuel is 227 Yen per liter (£1.45)here in the UK

Up about 32 Yen in the past 3 months

It has been 10 years, maybe more since it was as low as 171 Yen

@ Azzprin nearly all of that is tax!

Thank Boris .

It's a great time to not be a car owner.

I echo the above and am glad I live near train stations and a bus stop, plus have good walking shoes. I have no desire to see any more of my money go to MbS, MbZ, Putin, Larry Fink or any of the other global masters of oil and war.

If you live in a big city with good public transportation a car is not necessary, but for many of us living outside of the Golden Triangle, a car is absolutely necessary, and there is nothing we can do about it, but pay through the nose.

I don’t even know what the average wage is here in Japan? I only make ¥1,500 an hour at my work. I know that’s not enough so I’m working two jobs. What do you all think should be a good living wage for Japan?

I’m glad I didn’t own a car, can’t imagine having to pay for gas now.

Car ownership isn't some kind of "evil" certain conscientious folks make it out to be. Having said so, if taking a bus instead of driving (God forbid) a car, makes you "feel good" about yourself, then GO FOR IT!

On the contrary, if you lived near a train station in the golden city, chances are you are paying high in rent, and those who live out where rent is half the price can see that a car might come in handy when doing grocery shopping, travelling with kids, etc. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

zichi

I have noticed many people are selling their second cars.

Used car prices are at an all-time high due to high demand. That is a big reason people are selling 2nd cars.

The two main reasons for the high demand are:

-Desire to avoid public transportation.

-Long waits of ~1 year for new car delivery.

Additionally, a 2nd car isn't a true necessity for most households here.

So, it isn't just the price of fuel.

Jay

Costco membership card coming in handy, finally.

Finally? My "local" Costco didn't even have a gas station until recently. But, my membership has been worth every penny for all of the grocery and household products they carry that aren't otherwise available in Japan, or, available at a much greater cost elsewhere.

Wouldn't be such a problem if Abe hadn't resorted to manipulating the value of the yen several years ago.

It was only a matter of time before oil prices increased again after having fallen to very low prices of yesteryear.

When the central bank manipulated the currency exchange rate (devalued the yen artificially) vs USD, that assured that the ticking time bomb would go off. Now, the time has come to pay the piper for the currency manipulation. Of course, it's the peons who will bear the brunt of it.

Oh, and thanks for also DOUBLING the consumption tax!

Gasoline prices in Japan rose for the sixth consecutive week despite government efforts to stem the rise with subsidies, government data showed Wednesday.

Stem the rise.

Geniuses, even my 17 year old son knew it won't do jack.

The purpose was never to help stem the rise at the pump but

rather a hidden motive to compensate the gas wholesalers from lose

of sales due to reduced consumption as a result of the increased price.

Why did the gov't not just reduce the tax on gasoline that it takes and

it would have been a big relieve to consumers, you get a 5yen discount for

every liter that you buy and the wholesalers gaining from consumption not

falling.

We've been running our car on waste veggie oil (WVO) for the past 16 years. Cost per litre 0 yen. No reliance or support of big oil - the two largest benefits.

Good. It's still too cheap here. Hope it doubles.

Glad I bought the 660cc Jimny and not the 1.5 L Sierra.

No buses or trains around here. Paid ￥165 at the pump yesterday for high octane, with a members' card. Was expecting it to be more.

We do have two cars available, but usually only drive the smaller one for shopping etc. so apart from the static expense of maintaining two, the effect on the environment is really just the same as one.

These price rises will be hardest on daily long-distance commuters or businesses that rely on high mileages.

ifd66

We've been running our car on waste veggie oil (WVO) for the past 16 years. Cost per litre 0 yen. No reliance or support of big oil - the two largest benefits.

Is bio-diesel a thing in Japan? Even in "woke" Northern California, it wasn't that readily available when I had a diesel vehicle there in the mid-2010's.

there are two solutions to lower price:

-lower government taxes on fuel so prices for public will be lower

-import oil from cheaper sources say from Russia/its closer than say Saudi Arabia,so delivery faster,cheaper and possibly with good contract price of oil lower=final price for us lower/

why this will not happen.

government is greedy and will never lower tax on fuel so no way get cheaper oil this way

government is "ready to support" Europe with LNG gas/against Russia/and yes there is some kind of so called "pride" which will never allow to make good real deal with Russia because of japanese side mind setting,dont need to mention uncle Sam and his interests from behind.so again now ay get petrol cheaper here.

times when there was a lot of oil stolen from Syria and offered via Turkey thorugh brokers and we have paid some 100JPY for petrol/years 2014-2015 before russian involvement in war against terrorism in Syria/are definitely over.

there are two choices.

make more money and be ready spend more money for fuel/and sponsor this jpn gov more/,buy smaller car-pay less for petrol but not to enjoy recent car or leave cars and walk or use bicycle if can commute to work this way/but this may not work for many/.

about so called "subsidies" mentioned these are money from our taxes went to "right hands" but did make petrol even same price as last week.

Fumio you and your team are just bunch of greedy empty suits...dont need to say more!

factchecker:

It's a great time to not be a car owner.

EV cars can still charge for the same price both at home and on the roads.

sakurasuki:

Does someone will be satisfied with this inflation now? It's been waiting for years in Japan all this time.

demand driven-inflation and supply-driven inflation are two very different beasts. This, scarier of the 2 inflation types, is the latter.

Cricky:

The article fails to mention the 50% government Tax on fuel sales. If the government lowered the Tax by 5% or more that’s would ease things overnight.

100% agree! Sadly for us plebs the LDP is a political machine for all the big businesses they and their supporters own stock in.

Eastman,

your assessment is pretty accurate. Another reason Japan won’t go to Russia for oil is because Russia snubbed Japan a decade ago when Japan was lobbying for a pipeline to be built to Vladivostok as opposed to Harbin. LDP pride took a serious hit and ever since, Japan shunned Russian oil and LNG offers. SMH … so yes Pride is another stupid factor.

Retail gasoline prices have risen in Japan in tandem with rising crude oil prices amid heightened Russia-Ukraine tensions,

There you have it, Putin/MbS/MbZ, Larry Fink and all the other masters of big oil and war get richer, while ordinary people stuck in the world controlled by their masters pay more to keep their masters Maybach's tanks full and their palaces heated or cooled. But that seems to be fine with so many ordinary people who have come to believe their masters that there are no alternatives to oil/gas and gasoline.

Gas-and-dash can save you a few bucks

Porsche GT3 RS sits and waits in the garage, while my wife gets to drive the GLE 300D all day long.

Guess, I will look for a Tesla this weekend. Probably buy used as don't want to wait 5 months for a new one, and I will have to park it outside as the garage is full. Wish Tokyo had more 3 car garage houses.

'@Mark EToday 11:38 am JST

Eastman,

your assessment is pretty accurate. Another reason Japan won’t go to Russia for oil is because Russia snubbed Japan a decade ago when Japan was lobbying for a pipeline to be built to Vladivostok as opposed to Harbin. LDP pride took a serious hit and ever since, Japan shunned Russian oil and LNG offers. SMH … so yes Pride is another stupid factor.

exactly when common sense is missing and some empty suits prefer to save own "face" instead of do something really useful for own people.

Russia and China did a good deal and yes both sides enjoys good business-Russia good sales as demand in China is high and still growing/thanks to chinese economy grow/and China good price fixed by good contract.

Costco membership card coming in handy, finally.

Given how popular Costco seems to be in Japan and with both expats and Japanese people, I have often wondered why it took a foreign company to fill that market need, and why a Japanese company wasn't able to or didn't do so. Could a version of US Whole Food-type store work here or something like Trader Sam's? Trader Sam's do not require a lot of space.

Guess, I will look for a Tesla this weekend. Probably buy used

And all that money you saved on fuel you can put towards the $20,000 to replace the battery.

Hell, it's been 180 for a month in my town.

Good. It's still too cheap here. Hope it doubles.

I can never understand when people make these comments. Do they not realize how much of our daily lives depend on gasoline. Trucking, growing, producing. It is not just Joe Suzuki driving around in his K-truck that is affected by these price increases. It hits all of us.

My last fill up was ... just after Xmas for US$48 that got about 13.5 US gallons. Some quick conversions ...

61.37liters for 5540¥ (90.3 ¥/l). Guess that's about 50% less than in Japan.

Some US states tax gasoline higher than others. Govt likes to use non-progressive taxes far too much. Taxes on fuel hurts lower wage people much more than others.

@PTownsend Trader JOE'S.

Given how popular Costco seems to be in Japan and with both expats and Japanese people, I have often wondered why it took a foreign company to fill that market need, and why a Japanese company wasn't able to or didn't do so. Could a version of US Whole Food-type store work here or something like Trader Sam's? Trader Sam's do not require a lot of space.

Regulations and tariffs are what has discouraged large foreign supermarket chains from venturing

into the Japanese retail market. Remember Carrefour was here lasted just few years and had to sell its holdings to Aeon and left to Malaysia a far smaller market than Japan, Walmart despite being the largest supermarket in the world never used it's controlling stake in Seiyu to expand in Japan as it found out it wasn't

worth it with the mountain of regulations. Costco has done well with selling bigger version of Japanese foodstuffs together with a mix of imported goods commanding lower tariff.

Direct government subsidies to oil companies in the hope that they will lower pump prices is an absurd and outrageous waste of our money. We are supposed to be moving away from oil, remember?

Why did Costco only make it to the Japanese market ?

Makes me think bribes are also at high price somewhere.

Gasoline is high due to low last years investment and geopolitical tensions.

It will take again a few years before it really levels off.

PTownsend

Could a version of US Whole Food-type store work here or something like Trader Sam's? Trader Sam's do not require a lot of space.

Whole Foods might very well come to Japan, as it's wholly owned by Amazon, and Amazon is already pretty entrenched here.

dan

@PTownsend Trader JOE'S.

He was probably conflating Trader Joe's with Sam's Club.

BTW, for any expats that miss Trader Joe's, there is a small gourmet grocery chain here called Kaldi Coffee Farm that has kind of a TJ's vibe. Although, they aren't quite as cheap as TJ's, they are cheaper than other gourmet/import shops like Seijo Ishii or Ikari.

They carry lots of Western and other import products, as well as their own branded products, both Western-style and Japanese. Lot's of whole-bean coffee varieties, as well. They have become a regular shopping destination for us. They also have an online shop, and their products are also available online from Lohaco, if you don't have a location near you.

They don't sell gasoline or diesel, though. Sorry about veering off-topic. But, it's still useful info! :-)

@Cigars & Coffee:

I only make ¥1,500 an hour at my work. 

Disintermediation is key. Cut out the middleman and sell your value direct to the end user.

What makes your heart sing, and how can you get others to pay you for it?

Is bio-diesel a thing in Japan? Even in "woke" Northern California, it wasn't that readily available when I had a diesel vehicle there in the mid-2010's.

Short answer: not really. It does exist at hobbyist, micro (read uneconomical) scale, but never took off.

VW's 1.9TDI was a great engine for it, though: replace your fuel filter after the first few tankfuls (the greener variety strips all the mineral diesel gunk out of your tank), and you're good to go. I ran my A4 and the wife's Sharan on it years ago.

The particulate filters on recent common rail diesels clog too easily for B100 biodiesel to be a thing any more. Most European pump diesel has a 'bio' element of around 5%. Unfortunately the great bulk of this comes from 'virgin' vegetable oils and not the recycled waste variety. This sadly means transport fuel competing with food and orang-utans.

@garypen

ifd66 We've been running our car on waste veggie oil (WVO) for the past 16 years. Cost per litre 0 yen. No reliance or support of big oil - the two largest benefits.

Is bio-diesel a thing in Japan? Even in "woke" Northern California, it wasn't that readily available when I had a diesel vehicle there in the mid-2010's.

No, very few people are doing it here. Some city buses use 5% biodiesel mix.

And actually, I'm just using straight WVO, not bio diesel.

In an earlier post I meant to write 'Trader Joe's', not Sam's. Kaldi has some good stuff, but to me not Trader Joe's level.

I’m glad I didn’t own a car, can’t imagine having to pay for gas now.

And on top of the insane gas prices, shaken and car tax, parking lot should be about ¥10,000 on the "cheap" end, insurance, TOLLS. That's the basic.

I'm glad I sold my Toyota Hiace last year. Such a drain in my pocket.

Russia might be able to sell gas at a lower cost, but how long could that be trusted before the low cost fuel becomes higher cost and/or the fuel lines are turned off so Russia can have even more leverage.

Unfortunate that Japan might still be under the thumbs of the US or Russia, or one of the globe's other big gas/oil states. Japanese leaders have known for decades something needed to be done to make the country more energy independent.

But here we are today, nearly 80 years after Japan invaded Dutch Indonesia to get fuel.

Just did the papers in January to scrap my WRX in Japan.

Will join a car sharing club when I get back or buy a mini SUV.

I will still keep my VW in the UK as it is a great runner and doesn’t cost much to run.

@PTownsend,

You post some awesome responses.

Thank you,my friend.

ifd66

No, very few people are doing it here. Some city buses use 5% biodiesel mix.

And actually, I'm just using straight WVO, not bio diesel.

I'm glad you're able to do it. That's probably the most responsible way to own and operate an ICE vehicle.

And actually, I'm just using straight WVO, not bio diesel.

How old is your car, and what's your feed source?

It seems that there are inflationary pressures worldwide.

I have noticed many people are selling their second cars.

Where? How many? Is this indeed indicative of the country in general?

Of course not.

What zichi fails to mention in his very dubious personal anecdote is that used car demand is at an all-time high due to the worldwide semiconductor shortage

"There is a growing demand for second cars because customers want to avoid close contact with others while the novel coronavirus pandemic is still raging," the operator said. "With new cars taking longer to be delivered, people are increasingly in the market to buy used cars if they are readily available."

Japanese are buying cars, not selling them.

This is not just a Japan problem...many countries reight now are having record high gasoline prices