Intage, Intage Research, and Nowcast Launch Monthly 'Japan Inflation Tracker'
Three companies have launched the 'Japan Inflation Tracker' to visualize Japanese household inflation expectations and purchasing behavior monthly, aiming to build a new economic infrastructure for EBPM.
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- 📰 Published: April 25, 2026 at 00:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 24, 2026 at 15:32
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 24, 2026 at 23:46 (8h 14m after Collected)
Intage Inc., Intage Research Inc., and Nowcast Inc. have launched a new monthly report called the 'Japan Inflation Tracker' (English name: Japan Inflation Tracker) to multi-dimensionally visualize Japanese household inflation expectations and purchasing behavior. The analysis is supervised by Tsutomu Watanabe, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo (Founder and Director of Nowcast, and head of 'Organic Data Lab'). The first report, released on April 24, 2026, analyzes price trends following the outbreak of the Iran War.
1. Background and Objectives: Building Continuous 'Economic Infrastructure' for EBPM
This project aims to establish Japan's unique continuous leading indicators that capture the link between household 'mindset' (awareness) and 'action' (quantity) in an inflationary period unseen for 30 years. It contributes to advanced Evidence-Based Policy Making (EBPM). According to the Bank of Japan's 'Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices (January 2026),' inflation is predicted to hover around the 2% target. However, our data analysis revealed that by last November, over 60% of companies had already raised prices by more than 2%, and household trends showed similar patterns. By merging macro predictions with micro-level field data, this report serves as a new 'economic infrastructure' that complements existing statistics.
2. Uniqueness and Continuity of Indicators
This report, published monthly under the supervision of Professor Tsutomu Watanabe, combines the strengths of three companies:
- Intage: Utilizes SCI® (National Consumer Panel Survey) purchasing data from 70,000 people to micro-track what was bought, when, where, and at what price.
- Intage Research: Conducts surveys of 10,000 people to capture psychological aspects such as wage increase perceptions and satisfaction with life foundations.
- Nowcast: Provides real-time economic analysis using alternative data to instantly visualize rapidly changing inflation conditions.
3. Regular Publication Announcement
Reports will be published monthly in the 'Business Insights' section of the Intage Research corporate website.
4. Future Initiatives by the Three Companies
Beyond report publication, the three companies will collaborate on: (1) Providing dashboards combining purchasing and awareness data, (2) Verifying policy effects via digital twins/simulations for governments and businesses, and (3) Promoting joint research programs with academic researchers. We aim to continuously create evidence for public, financial, and private sector decision-making.
1. Background and Objectives: Building Continuous 'Economic Infrastructure' for EBPM
This project aims to establish Japan's unique continuous leading indicators that capture the link between household 'mindset' (awareness) and 'action' (quantity) in an inflationary period unseen for 30 years. It contributes to advanced Evidence-Based Policy Making (EBPM). According to the Bank of Japan's 'Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices (January 2026),' inflation is predicted to hover around the 2% target. However, our data analysis revealed that by last November, over 60% of companies had already raised prices by more than 2%, and household trends showed similar patterns. By merging macro predictions with micro-level field data, this report serves as a new 'economic infrastructure' that complements existing statistics.
2. Uniqueness and Continuity of Indicators
This report, published monthly under the supervision of Professor Tsutomu Watanabe, combines the strengths of three companies:
- Intage: Utilizes SCI® (National Consumer Panel Survey) purchasing data from 70,000 people to micro-track what was bought, when, where, and at what price.
- Intage Research: Conducts surveys of 10,000 people to capture psychological aspects such as wage increase perceptions and satisfaction with life foundations.
- Nowcast: Provides real-time economic analysis using alternative data to instantly visualize rapidly changing inflation conditions.
3. Regular Publication Announcement
Reports will be published monthly in the 'Business Insights' section of the Intage Research corporate website.
4. Future Initiatives by the Three Companies
Beyond report publication, the three companies will collaborate on: (1) Providing dashboards combining purchasing and awareness data, (2) Verifying policy effects via digital twins/simulations for governments and businesses, and (3) Promoting joint research programs with academic researchers. We aim to continuously create evidence for public, financial, and private sector decision-making.