The sales tax hike on October 1 is fed through to price rises, of course, but not by a real lot.

National CPI 0.5% y/y

  • expected 0.5%, prior was 0.2%

National CPI 0.5% y/y excluding Fresh Food

  • expected 0.5%, prior was 0.4%

National CPI excluding Food, Energy 0.8% y/y

  • expected 0.7%, prior was 0.7%
  • this is the measure closest to the US 'core' CPI
  • highest in more than 3 years (since April 2016)

The Bank of Japan target is 2%, thus a long way to go. Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda said yesterday that Bank would continue with its easing policy. Indeed it will.

Yen is doing very little in response to the data.