[seanmcdirmid]

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/japan/inflation-cpi

Set the start date to 1990. Inflation has never risen above 4%, and most of the time hovers around 2%, which is considered normal and hardly "immense". You even see deflation at a few points, which is almost unheard of in developed economies and always considered quite bad.

I've traveled to Japan a few times, and noticed that it is a bit cheaper to go now than before. Definitely not expensive outside of hotels and shinkansen tickets.