Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, center, at a Cabinet meeting on April 8 (Takeshi Iwashita)

The government plans to provide cash handouts, likely 50,000 yen ($344) per person, to ease the burden of the higher cost of living and cushion the impact of U.S. tariffs.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba intends to soon instruct the government to compile a package of emergency economic measures for inclusion in a supplementary budget for fiscal 2025, senior government officials said April 9.

Ishiba, who has described the new U.S. tariffs as a “national crisis,” concluded that a swift government response is necessary as prices of goods and services continue to rise.

The government estimates the cost of living has increased by about 50,000 yen per person and is considering providing cash benefits that match that amount regardless of income levels.

The amount and other details are still being discussed within the ruling coalition.

Meanwhile, plans to counter the higher U.S. tariffs include increasing financial assistance for buyers of environmentally friendly vehicles and expanding subsidies to help businesses maintain employment.

The government aims to enact the supplementary budget during the current Diet session, which ends in June, to finance the emergency economic measures.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi on April 9 called on Itsunori Onodera, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party’s Policy Research Council, to put together the ruling party’s proposals for policy measures.

With an eye on the Upper House election this summer, ruling coalition officials have clamored for distributing cash handouts.

“Measures (to expand domestic demand) such as wage hikes, benefits and tax cuts will contribute to lowering ‘nontariff barriers’ as demanded by the Trump administration,” Makoto Nishida, secretary-general of junior coalition partner Komeito, said at a news conference on April 8.

Nishida said benefits are a priority because they can be provided more quickly than reduced taxes, which require legal revisions.

U.S. President Donald Trump said April 9 that he would pause part of what he calls “reciprocal tariffs” for 90 days for many U.S. trading partners, including Japan, after they took effect earlier in the day.

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