The inflation rate in Japan since last year (the "Abenomics" effect) has only moved from -1% to 1%, not exactly a huge effect. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/j

The inflation rate in Japan since last year (the "Abenomics" effect) has only moved from -1% to 1%, not exactly a huge effect. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/japan/inflation-cpi http://www.tradingeconomics.com/japan/inflation-cpi Yet even this small amount of increased inflation (or technically, the expectations of future inflation) is the primary driver behind the recovering economy. The additional currency in the market is irrelevent and is the whole point of this exercise: it does very little or nothing in a liquidity trap. For what it's worth, I also live in Japan and I haven't seen anything like you have experienced regarding your purchasing power. My rent costs the same, my train and bus tickets are the same, can't tell any difference at the grocery, etc.