Recent research shows the Japanese consumer will see the cost of over 30,000 food and drink items go up in price by October as retailers seek to protect profits. Hyper Japan Festival 2023 showcased Japanese culture in London last Friday, attracting upward of 30,000 people. A government survey last Friday showed a marked increase in the number of working women in Japan with a record 30.35 million in 2022, compared with 1.22 million five years ago. In Osaka, news is less promising as a delay in constructing foreign pavilions at the 2025 Osaka Kansai Expo site is casting an unsettling shadow over the event with spiraling costs and controversial appointments. Amid soaring temperatures and unpredictable weather both here and abroad, local weather experts recently called an end to the country’s annual rainy season which usually runs through June and early July. NOTEBOOK escaped the worst of the sun for the welcome seclusion of "Nominoichi", an old coffee shop (or coffee-tei) in Ikebukuro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices