Japanese consumers divided between thrift and extravagance

Tokyo

"FIVE black beans, please," a customer says at the deli counter in the Odakyu department store in Shinjuku, Tokyo, where the number of customers ordering minute amounts of prepared foods such as simmered beans or pumpkin is increasing.

"That will be 93 yen (S$1.26)," the clerk says, picking up beans one by one with well-practiced movements and placing them in a small packet.

Originally, orders were typically in units of 100 grams but the number of customers ordering less than 100 grams started to rise after the consumption tax was raised two years ago. Such customers, many of whom are elderly, now make up 30 to 40 per cent of the deli's customers.

According to deli manager Tamiko Masaka, 53, the primary reason behind the small purchases is that customers have difficulty eating as much as 100 grams. Buying smaller am…