{"id":331720,"date":"2026-02-11T12:31:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T12:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/331720\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T12:31:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T12:31:14","slug":"japans-wage-squeeze-undermines-takaichis-trickle-down-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/331720\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan\u2019s wage squeeze undermines Takaichi\u2019s \u2018trickle down\u2019 plans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Despite a decisive election victory built on promises to ease <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/topics\/japan?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Japan<\/a>\u2019s cost-of-living crisis, fresh government data released this week suggests voters\u2019 faith in Prime Minister <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/topics\/sanae-takaichi?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Sanae Takaichi<\/a>\u2019s brand of \u201ctrickle-down\u201d prosperity may soon be tested.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Preliminary figures from the labour ministry show that inflation-adjusted wages shrank by 1.3 per cent last year, extending a three-year slide in real incomes as rising prices for essentials continued to outstrip pay increases.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The average employee earned 355,919 yen (US$2,280) a month last year including bonuses and overtime \u2013 2.3 per cent more in nominal terms, but still well behind inflation, which averaged just over 3 per cent.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The headline inflation rate, which exceeded the Bank of Japan\u2019s 2 per cent target for the fourth year running, highlights the issue facing policymakers: long-sought price growth has finally returned, but at a pace that is undermining household purchasing power.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A staffmember displays bags of rice at a Lawson convenience store in Tokyo last year. Rice prices in Japan have soared by around two-thirds. Photo: AFP\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/e657d14f-b6a1-40c3-a4c4-09e2e212075e_0feecce2.jpg\" title=\"A staffmember displays bags of rice at a Lawson convenience store in Tokyo last year. Rice prices in Japan have soared by around two-thirds. Photo: AFP\"\/>A staffmember displays bags of rice at a Lawson convenience store in Tokyo last year. Rice prices in Japan have soared by around two-thirds. Photo: AFP<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The sharpest price rises came in food staples and everyday items, with rice prices soaring by more than 60 per cent in 2025, alongside increases in coffee, chocolate and household goods. Energy costs also climbed despite government caps on petrol and electricity prices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite a decisive election victory built on promises to ease Japan\u2019s cost-of-living crisis, fresh government data released this&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331721,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[174],"tags":[79658,15034,79,381,158762,184,179,18,4633,21739,19,17,386,29401,36277,158763,50512,158765,158764,384,5386],"class_list":["post-331720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-takaichi","tag-bank-of-japan","tag-business","tag-china","tag-doshisha-university","tag-economics","tag-economy","tag-eire","tag-election","tag-fujitsu","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-japan","tag-kyoto","tag-liberal-democratic-party","tag-noriko-hama","tag-sanae-takaichi","tag-tbs-television","tag-this-week-in-asia","tag-united-states","tag-wages"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116052016324394013","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}