Another Reason to Love Ibaraki

Oil prices have jumped up again. Gasoline at our local stations went up 8 yen a liter (about 25 cents a gallon) last week. Diesel now costs as much as gasoline did last year. Yes, it's a worldwide problem that looks to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. However, there is a speck of brightness in all of this.

Not long after the gas price jump, the news media did some investigating and comparing. Guess what: Ibaraki Prefecture currently has the lowest average gasoline prices in the entire country. I'm sure part of the reason stems from the fact of the Kashima Petrochemical Kombinat over in Kamisu having some of the largest refining facilities in Japan. However, the news interviewed some gas station workers and owners and found that many of them had conferred among themselves and agreed to keep prices to a minimum, even if it meant a loss of revenue, out of concern for their customers.

Evidence of cartelism? Probably. But I'm not going to complain. And this is here in Ibaraki, the prefecture which has perhaps the worst reputation for being ill mannered. Then again, that just might be the gruff-sounding local dialect. ;-)


(Image links to source page, www.mapzones.com.)