[1] https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/144621
From the article, I have a few questions.
If the cost of a product is $20 for example, there is no way that product can be sold for $15 just because that's the price that the people will buy. No company would operate like that. A company would food eventually if they followed this business model. The goal is to make a profit, so if they're not making a profit then there's no point in the business.
Or, they're making a profit but not much. For example, they make just $2 out of a $20 product. Isn't that a good thing that a company can't exploit people and make excessive profits off of them?
Could it also be that the people in Japan buy more less quality products?
If the cost of producing the product is $20 and the company knows that people will not buy at that price, they'll find ways to reduce the cost of production to about $10 to $15 and then sell for about $22. This would help the company make more profit but they would sell less quality products, to their Japanese market at least.
Another question,
Does it mean that the forces of demand and supply don't play a role in the determination of prices in Japan? From the article, I can conclude that it is the people who determine the price, so no matter how the market is, the buyers still determine the price.
Finally,
Does this also affect imported products from foreign companies or do the citizens only do this to local products?
Because there is no way foreign companies would export their products and services to Japan if the people would just buy them at a price they want even if the company is not making the kind of profit they desire.