The news raised fears thatJapan may slip back into deflation, despite a formidable effort by the central bank over the past two years to break the country's deflationary spiral.
Low energy costs, low wages and indeed the low price of money itself (reflected in low interest rates) indicate a prevailing deflationary world, though they all have notably risen recently.
The downward spiral has led to a deflationary mindset that Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda blames for thwarting his efforts to revive the economy, using every trick in the central bankers' playbook.