Meet UTokyo Daily Price Index – showing inflation in Japan

What is UTokyo Daily Price index?

• UTokyo Daily Price Index project was launched on May 20, 2013 to measure and publish the consumer price inflation rate on a daily basis.

Who created it?

• It was created by Tsutomu Watanabe (University of Tokyo) and Kota Watanabe (Meiji University & University of Tokyo).

Why are we talking about it?

• It is one measure of inflation that is showing rise in prices. According to the latest value suggests price are rising at 1.83% at 1.33% considering one week moving average.
• Bank of Japan's (BOJ) governor Haruhiko Kuroda mentioned about the index in his speech to defend BOJ policy success to reign over deflation.

Advantages of the index -

• UTokyo Daily Price Index is updated every day and provides information on the daily inflation rate with only a three-day lag, compared to official consumer price index, which is published once a month with 30 days lag.
• Coverage is vast as price data collected by Nikkei Inc. from 300 supermarkets all over Japan.
• It excludes the effect of consumption taxes as it is calculated on price before tax.

Disadvantages of the index -

• The products included in the index, covers items like processed foods, beverages, house hold goods etc. while excluding electrical appliances, services, consumer durables etc,
• The goods recorded covers only 17% of official CPI.