Rising cost of electricity affecting people in Japan most: Mainichi poll

TOKYO -- As consumer prices in Japan continue to rise, a Mainichi Shimbun poll on March 18 and 19 found that people are most troubled by the increased cost of electricity.

In the nationwide mobile phone-based poll, 500 people were asked to name the single item with an increased price that has caused them the most difficulty. The top answer was electricity with 116, or 23% of respondents. In second place, 80 people (16%) answered food, groceries and the like. Eggs were in third place with 50 people (10%), followed by gasoline and heating oil with 30 people (6%) and utilities with 27, or 5% of respondents.

The skyrocketing cost of generating electricity due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the weakened yen has raised energy bills and seems to be a burden for a large number of people.

In a similar poll last April, only one person offered eggs as the item with a price hike that most affected them. That has increased drastically in this latest poll as prices have gone up, caused by factors such as the outbreak of bird flu and the rising cost of chicken feed due to the situation in Ukraine.

(Japanese original by Nanae Ito, Political News Department)