The decisions of the unions in Japan's financial and insurance sectors, which employ hundreds of thousands of workers, is a blow to the BOJ.

Also, following the BOJ's negative interest rate policy, major banks have lowered deposit interest rates. This has pushed consumers' money out of savings accounts and into safes and other at-home repositories.

The BOJ reported that Japan had 6.7 percent more currency in circulation in February than a year earlier, the largest increase since February 2003, when consumers withdrew cash following changes to Japan's deposit insurance system.

People turn to department stores to deposit their money for higher returns.

Takashimaya offers a program in which people can deposit 5,000 to 50,000 yen each month for one year. At the end of that year, they receive shopping cards worth the total amount deposited plus one month, which can be spent at Takashimaya-affiliated stores.

Takashimaya saw a 66.5 percent rise in new and renewing customers in the first 21 days of February compared to the same period a year earlier thanks to this program.

Economists in and outside Japan claim that monetary policy alone cannot lift Japan's potential economic growth rate, which currently runs at less than 1 percent. Yet monetary-easing measures now stand out as the only feature of Abenomics. The other components of Abenomics－the much-touted growth strategy through regulatory and structural reforms in particular-are falling short.

With few positive signs of recovery for Japan's slumping economy, foreign tourism, which Chinese visitors contribute greatly to, remains a sole ray of hope.

The author is China Daily Tokyo bureau chief. [email protected]