Yes, including me! I was so shocked when I received an envelope from the town hall and opened it to find a letter from the local government explaining that due to the rising cost of living, they voted to send every registered resident 5 ¥1000 coupons that can be exchanged like cash at participating businesses. When I was reading over the list of businesses, I was surprised to see it included pretty much every shop in town (drug stores, supermarkets, hair salons, gas stations, restaurants, etc. We are pretty small but there are over 100 businesses on the list).
Not sure if my shock is because I’m from ‘Murica (where government subsidies are considered sOcIaLiSm) or because I didn’t think prices were that bad. But either way I’m stoked that my groceries for the next two weeks have now been paid for, especially on my skimpy ALT salary. Does anyone else live in a town that has done/is doing this?
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It’s happening a lot where I live.
We got a 50k one, then a 30k one, and the prefecture is now subsiding 1000 yen off of the gas bill.
I know it’s partly a problem they caused it themselves with their financial policy, but I’m still pleasantly amazed by how the government helps on those fronts.
Which areas you from?
Glad you get the benefits. Times getting tough
(I’m/im)Patiently waiting.
Received a couple of man a few months back, and also some ¥500 vouchers from the farmers association for fresh food or rice. It’s been a very welcome surprise.
nice, last thing I got was 5000 per kids a months ago in, Region Pay thing, I havent paid for rice of my own pocket for more than 6 months
That’s great. I noticed paypay did a 20% discount for a month where I am a while back. So good
I’ve been getting 1000¥ off my gas bill, which is like 20% off, so that’s great.
While it’s nice to receive money you weren’t expecting, as you say, this will be gone in 2 weeks. It’s nothing. It’s a tiny payout to keep people content whilst those in charge refrain from taking any real action to increase wages, make having a child affordable, etc. Things that would actually help the stagnating economy and improve people’s quality of life.
I’m Nagano we got 10,000 yen per child.
Doesn’t really do much, but it’s better then empty platitudes I guess.
I guess this is a rural thing? Can’t possibly see how they can pull this off in big cities
enjoy getting your own tax money back
I’ve gotten more taxes. Yay
Must be nice. Nothing here from the Yokohama side of things as far as I can tell
During covid even us gaijin got the 100000 stimulus money. I bought a 65 inch tv.
How do you know if you’ll receive this money or not?
It’s called buying votes with tax money. Not a good thing.
Taxes are collected to fund infrastructure and the creation shared resources / systems. Not just be paid back in cash (minus hefty administration costs).
I got 30k
Money printer keeps going brrrrr, problem gets worse, looks of shock all around.
> Not sure if my shock is because I’m from ‘Murica (where government subsidies are considered sOcIaLiSm)
I get that you think saying things like this makes you look smart, but the US spends [more per capita](https://data.oecd.org/chart/7hyg) on gibs than Japan.
Maybe I don’t understand something but increasing money supply leads to inflation thus even higher prices. 🤷♀️🤷♂️
Ah yes, the oh so forward thinking Japanese gov. Send the plebs a few coins to solve the systemic problems of society.
Fail.
My city gave every household a roll of the official garbage bags, so we saved 400 yen there….
*’I’m stoked that my groceries for the next two weeks have now been paid for’*
At 2500 yen per week for groceries, either OP eats out a lot or must be subsisting on naught but tofu and moyashi…
Next up in the news: JP government hikes the consumption tax up to 12% to pay for all the ~~vote buying campaigns~~ ‘stimulus packages’
I thought it was funny on the list of participating businesses in my town included a bunch of hostess clubs.
HELICOPTER, HELICOPTER!
While it’s nice surprise, handing out money contribute to more inflation. Fighting fire with gasoline.
Yes, lets fight inflation by… increasing the money supply. Brilliant. I’m sure that idea was delivered by actual economists and not politicians trying to get re-elected.
Nothing subdues prices quite like good ol’ fashioned helicopter money
I was also pleasantly surprised when a few years back the tax office gave me 20000 yen because the sales tax increased. Because you know no other government does this, right? It feels “right”. I feel “I am being taken care of”.
Similarly, during the pandemic they send face masks to every household and gave away money.
Later on, after living for a few years in Japan and getting to understand the mindset and the system I started to look at this money as – they are trying to “shut the critic’s mouth” and “avoid legal/political responsibility”.
Let me elaborate why:
– firstly, the money given is never adequate to mitigate the damage for the said reason;
– secondly, by giving you something they can claim “they did something”, which in many cases in Japan translates to “something adequate”. By doing this they protect themselves from people seeking political or legal responsibility for their other actions or inactions.
Example: during the pandemic they delayed approving the vaccines so they can be tested on 15 japanese nationals for safety. Clearly, such a small study is inadequate and the delay led to deaths that could have been avoided. But this study is there for the same reason – avoiding responsibility.
I got ¥3000 coupons twice and my gasbill got 1700¥ off.i feel grateful