Japan is enmeshed in its worse energy crisis since the Fukushima disaster of 2011.
- very tight supply of both electricity (domestic wholesale electricity prices jumped to a record high) and natural gas
Impacting on energy demand:
- low nuclear availability
- low gas stockpiles (impacting gas-fired plants - these could be running harder but do not have the available supplies)
- cold weather boosting demand
- lack of east-west grid inter-connectivity
This is not the sort of inflation the Bank of Japan wants. There may be a price to pay in terms of industrial output unless gas supplies can respond (likely the quickest way out of the current situation but not easy to do).
Energy folks - weigh in in the comments