PSA: Consumption Tax increase in Japan (8% -> 10%) on October 1st, affects the Japanese PS Store

[Suminya]

Just a heads up for everyone who is buying stuff from the Japanese PlayStation Store.
After the first increase from 5% to 8% in 2014, the final (and long delayed) consumption tax increase is finally here. This obviously makes (almost) everything that's available on the Japanese PS Store slightly more expensive, with the only exception being PlayStation Plus subscriptions. For example, the cheap Entergram visual novels, which were originally yours for 1980 Yen, now cost 2016 Yen. Their price without taxes is 1833 Yen btw.

 

The original price is still visible on Google:

Spoiler

 

But the price increase is already in effect, like I said:

Spoiler

 

Some games are also currently unavailable for purchase, like the Nekopara games for example. That's probably only temporarily though.

Spoiler

 

Edited August 25, 2020 by Hanamaru Kunikida

[AlchemistWer]

It's a shame, now I'm happy for bought a lot of game this summer before the 増税 stuff, some videogames specially vn are very expensive in Japan.

I read some news about this but what people in Japan think about this?

[Lance_87]

Here in Italy it almost went from 22% to 25% LOL. But we'll probably be raped in the *** in other sectors anyway.

[Suminya]

7 hours ago, AlchemistWer said:

It's a shame, now I'm happy for bought a lot of game this summer before the 増税 stuff, some videogames specially vn are very expensive in Japan.

I read some news about this but what people in Japan think about this?

 

I mean, a tax increase is almost never something to look forward to, but since Japan immediately fell into recession after the 2014 increase, people were and still are extremely cautious. What, in return, could easily cause another recession. They rushed to make purchases during the weekend prior to the increase and many bought luxury goods or stocked up on household items, before all the prices went up yesterday. Some people even bought their tombstones and graves earlier than they had to, just to save money (graves easily cost $30,000+ with just 8% taxes attached). I also read about young couples, who bought their wedding rings much earlier than they initially planned - again, just to save money. The good thing is that the levy remains at 8% for daily necessities like food and non-alcoholic drinks. It's the first time that different rates apply to different goods, at least in Japan.

The government also tries to soften the blow of the increase (somewhat):

Quote

 

In the first nine months after the increase, consumers can receive a discount of up to 5 percent on the purchase of certain items. The difference, which is financed by the government, is returned to consumers as points, which can be used at participating retailers.

 

There is a catch. The points are available only for customers using electronic payment systems, such as a credit card or an app like Apple Pay. In part, the Abe administration hopes to wean the country off cash. About 80 percent of the country’s business transactions were cash-based as of 2016, according to the country’s economy ministry.

 

So far, 730,000 retailers have signed up for the system, according to a news release by the government ministry in charge of the economy, trade and industry.

 

 

But some people are already complaining about the different rates of tax and the incentive program being too complicated. Personally, I have no idea how good or how bad all of this is going to be. We'll just have to wait and see what happens in the near future, I guess. However, the outlook is not the best. Or like a Japanese businessman said: “The economy is already in a bad state. To put it in terms of the human body: Exercising when you’re not in good health is probably unwise.”

[AlchemistWer]

20 minutes ago, Hanamaru Kunikida said:

I mean, a tax increase is almost never something to look forward to, but since Japan immediately fell into recession after the 2014 increase, people were and still are extremely cautious. What, in return, could easily cause another recession. They rushed to make purchases during the weekend prior to the increase and many bought luxury goods or stocked up on household items, before all the prices went up yesterday. Some people even bought their tombstones and graves earlier than they had to, just to save money (graves easily cost $30,000+ with just 8% taxes attached). I also read about young couples, who bought their wedding rings much earlier than they initially planned - again, just to save money. The good thing is that the levy remains at 8% for daily necessities like food and non-alcoholic drinks. It's the first time that different rates apply to different goods, at least in Japan.

 

Wow incredible, and yeah, at least food keep the old 8% so it's a nice fact to keep in mind. Personally I only bought games when I went to Japan, but it was a surprise at least to me see old games on second hand stores like book-off with a high prices (games from 2013, 2015 or so) majority visual novels.