National inflation data from Japan for March 2026 is due.
National inflation data from Japan for March 2026 is due. Tokyo’s March consumer price data, released three weeks ago, offers a useful early read on the national figures due today.
Headline inflation in the capital came in at 1.4% year-on-year, easing from 1.5% in February and touching its softest level since March 2022. The core reading, stripping out fresh food, slipped to 1.7%, coming in below market expectations and sitting under the Bank of Japan’s 2% target for a second straight month. A broader underlying measure that excludes both fresh food and energy also retreated, falling to 2.3% from 2.5% the month prior.
While that reading remains above the BOJ’s target, the step down points to a loss of momentum in price pressures more broadly, in part reflecting the continued dampening effect of government support measures on energy and food costs. Those subsidies have been doing meaningful work in recent months, helping to contain headline inflation even as a persistently weak yen continues to push up the cost of imports. The net effect has been to keep reported price growth softer than the underlying pipeline pressures might otherwise suggest.