Since 1997, Japanese consumption tax has been frozen at 5% (which is really, really low and really, really nice for a foreigner like me). Not anymore. On April 1st, tax was increased from 5% to 8%. And it’s supposed to rise to 10% in October of 2015. Which really, I get isn’t a lot. But the 5% to 8% tax increase means a lot of things (like the Japanese 100 yen shops, vending machines, and train tickets) that us “silly foreigners” hold dear is becoming more expensive. I’m sad. It’s necessary and good for Japanese economy, but I’m sad. Starting a couple of weeks before the change, these signs were posted across vending machines in Japan. They basically explained there was going to be a price increase (and tough luck). I took “before” and “after” pictures at the vending machine near our station, just to prove the price increases. About a third of the prices didn’t change, while the other two thirds increased by 10 yen ($0.11). And since vending machines are everywhere in Japan, it was easy to tell something was going down. I know, I know, cry me a river, right? I was feeling nice, so I color-coded [...]
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