Japan’s core consumer prices edged up to 1.8% in March from a year earlier. That’s still shy of the Bank of Japan’s 2% goal. For the second month running. Government fuel subsidies blunted the sting from surging energy costs tied to the Iran war. Yet analysts see prices rebounding soon as those costs filter through. Investing.com flagged the data Friday, noting core CPI—which excludes fresh food—matched forecasts after February’s 1.6% print. A sharper gauge strips out both fresh food and fuel. It climbed 2.4% in March, down slightly from 2.5% prior. This core-core measure hints at underlying demand strength. But headlines dominate. The Strait of Hormuz closure, a chokepoint for one-fifth of global oil flows, has spiked crude. Japan, hooked on Middle East imports, feels the pinch hard. “Cost-push pressure from the Middle East conflict will likely boost prices not just for energy but a broad range of goods,” warned Masato Koike, senior economist at Sompo Institute Plus.…