Workers in Japan Should Ask Their Bosses for a Raise
Rising inflation and the weak yen are seen as a crisis, but in fact provide a rare opportunity for real change in wage growth.
Go get ‘em.
Photographer: Noriko Hayashi/BloombergThanks in part to the weak yen, Japan’s companies are slowly overcoming one long-held taboo and actually raising prices. Can they overcome another and lift wages, too?
An unspoken compact in Japan for much of the past few decades has been that stagnant wages are acceptable, so long as prices stay static — or even get cheaper. In a land where jobs remain largely secure, that’s meant a relatively comfortable status quo. But with inflation figures due Friday likely to show core CPI hitting 2% for the first time since 2008,1that agreement is in danger of falling apart. In recent days, companies have announced higher prices on everything from bottled drinks to tempura. Producer inflation in April rose by double digits for the first time since 1980.