Since October, business media have focused on two topics at the near-exclusion of numerous others: the economic repercussions of the consumption tax hike and how that increase has influenced, or accelerated, a shift from cash to electronic payments.
This blanket coverage is probably one reason why although 88.3 percent of respondents to a survey the end of last year said they were at least vaguely aware of an impending law that will require retailers to charge customers for plastic bags, only 11.5 percent correctly knew that the law would take effect from July 1. By contrast, 20.7 percent incorrectly believed the law would begin from April. Far more — 60.4 percent — said they didn't know the date at all.
The containers and packaging recycling law aims to encourage recycling and reduce the consumption of plastic. Customers will be expected to pay for their reji bukuro, a term truncated from the Japanese translation of the English words for "(cash) register" and "bag."