Until the mid-1990s, the high prices in Japan were pushed down by rationalization of the distribution system and deregulation.
Since then, prices have continued to decline due to various additional factors, including: (1) the continuous decline in wages as a result of managers and workers in Japan placing priority on maintaining employment during the adjustment phase following the bursting of the economic bubble; and (2) restrained demand reflecting the decline in expectations for future economic growth resulting from the aging and shrinking of Japan’s population.