Takaichi Holds Support Despite Japan's Naphtha Anxiety
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- Calbee began selling potato chips in stark black-and-white packaging on May 12, with Don Quijote, FamilyMart, Kagome, Fujiya, and Itoham Foods all rationing color ink and naphtha-dependent materials in response to supply instability.
- PM Takaichi told the Diet on June 11 that July crude oil procurement is projected at "about 100 per cent" of 2025 levels, and her government had previously dismissed Calbee's greyscale switch as a "preventive" measure or "cheap publicity stunt."
- NHK polling from June 5–7 placed Takaichi's Cabinet approval at 60% (down 1 point), with 81% of respondents expressing anxiety over energy and petrochemical supply stability; Yomiuri (64%, down 2) and Nikkei (66%, down 3) showed similar erosion.
- Parliament approved a 3.11 trillion yen supplementary budget on June 5, allocating 2.5 trillion yen to petrol subsidies that have kept regular gasoline capped at 170 yen per litre since March 2026—cheaper than Singapore, the EU, and China.
- A planned food and beverage consumption tax cut from 8% to 1% for two years from April 2027 would create a 4.3 trillion yen revenue shortfall, with the Yomiuri warning in a June 10 editorial of a looming fiscal cliff.
- An aide-linked smear campaign scandal has dogged Takaichi, with leaked emails and audio tying an IT firm to targeted opposition videos during the October 2025 party leadership race and February national elections—though analysts say the cost-of-living focus limits political damage.
Why it matters: The gap between Tokyo's "100% supply" assurances and the greyscale chip bags on shelves is eroding public trust, with 81% of NHK respondents now anxious about petrochemical stability. Takaichi's fuel-price cap and food tax cut—designed to insulate her politically—create a fiscal dependency: the 170 yen/litre petrol price and the planned 8%-to-1% consumption tax slash become nearly impossible to reverse if the Iran conflict drags on.
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