Japan summer budgets grow, but so does spending gap
Major life insurer Meiji Yasuda held the survey in early June. Over 1,000 people from their 20s to their 50s responded.
It shows that the average household budget for summer vacation grew 26.4 percent from last year. The figure reached nearly 105,000 yen, or over 710 dollars.
It marks the fourth increase in a row and the first time the sum has surpassed 100,000 yen since 2006.
The numbers show that 18.5 percent of respondents said they plan to boost summer holiday spending.
As for the reasons, nearly three quarters said they wanted to travel, and over a quarter cited higher pay.
But not everyone is increasing their budgets, as 18.3 percent said they are cutting back.
More than 60 percent said soaring prices are squeezing finances. Almost a quarter said they are saving cash amid an uncertain outlook.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NHK
2 hours ago
- NHK
Live eel imports peak at Narita Airport in Japan
Eel imports are at their peak at Narita Airport, near Tokyo, before demand rises in Japan. July 19 and 31 mark the Day of the Ox in midsummer this year. People in Japan traditionally eat eel on those days to maintain their stamina during the summer heat. Aircraft carrying more than 2 tons of eel in total arrived at the airport from China and Taiwan on Wednesday. Customs officials took out live eels from containers to check whether they match details on their documents. The officials said that live eels are imported by air to keep their freshness, and about 6,500 tons, or around 80 percent of the country's live eel imports, arrived through Narita Airport last year. An importer says prices remain high as in the previous year due to a poor catch of glass eels over the past several years.
NHK
13 hours ago
- NHK
SoftBank Group aims for self-proliferating AI agent system
Japanese technology giant SoftBank Group says it aims to create a system enabling artificial intelligence to develop another, more efficient AI model. That's through using AI agents which can perform tasks without human input. Chairman and CEO Son Masayoshi said such a system would be the world's first in which AI agents proliferate by themselves. Son said the age when humans program artificial intelligence is coming to an end "before our eyes." He added, "Our group is in the process of replacing programming by humans with that of AI agents." Son said he aims to create one billion types of AI agents in his group by the end of this year. The company says it is developing them to handle tasks such as schedule management, business negotiations and the preparation of documents for meetings. Japanese electronics firms Fujitsu and NEC are also developing AI agents.
Japan Times
13 hours ago
- Japan Times
Japan tourism growth slowed as quake rumor deterred Hong Kongers
Growth in tourism to Japan slowed in June as Hong Kong visitors stayed away after unfounded predictions that a megaquake was about to hit the country. The number of visitors from Hong Kong slumped by a third from a year earlier to 166,800, data released by the Japan National Tourism Organization showed on Wednesday. Overall arrivals grew by 7.6%, the slowest rate this year. Fears of an earthquake on or around July 5 originated from a manga graphic novel by Ryo Tatsuki, whom some claim to have foreseen Japan's disastrous 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The story spread wildly on social media in Hong Kong, resulting in the lower visitor count, JNTO said. Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, but scientists say there is no way of predicting the timing of major tremors. The date of the prophecy came and went without incident. Total foreign visitors to Japan hit 3.4 million in June, the highest ever for the month, with the cheap yen continuing to lure tourists.
