Wages finally rising in Japan, as inflation eats away at consumer gains

So while a barista in New York makes about $22,500 a year, according to Intuit, one in Tokyo makes 2.19 million yen

2.19 million yen is $15,429, so compared to $22.500, Tokyo Barista only make around only 68% compared to New York Barista. “My wages haven’t gone up at all,” said Kyoko

She's not alone in this case.

So while a barista in New York makes about $22,500 a year, according to Intuit, one in Tokyo makes 2.19 million yen, Economic Research Institute data show.

And that's not including tips

at least for some workers.

At least for some government workers and CEO the rest that are on the bottom should be happy with 10-50 yen wage hike.

As I said before, if you make less than 500 000 a month in Tokyo your will hustle but now with inflation I think your target should be at least 600 000 a month.

2.19 million yen is $15,429, so compared to $22.500, Tokyo Barista only make around only 68% compared to New York Barista.

That ignores the insane costs of living in New York.

“My wages haven’t gone up at all,” said Kyoko Sano, a salesclerk at a Tokyo department store.

The article is replete with gloom and doom but the header states that ‘wages are rising’

Japan is paying rates that make it look as if it were a third world country

And the only example of rising wages is some hotel where they are forced to offer better wages to find staff

Japan has a gig economy and it is obvious all over

The days of humming factories and busy ports are long gone

I even know of Chinese that have given Up on Japan as they can get better jobs back in China

“My wages haven’t gone up at all,” said Kyoko Sano, a salesclerk at a Tokyo department store.

News at 11: The well off are getting richer.

So far, the Bank of Japan has remained cautious, keeping the key interest rate that helps determine rates on mortgages and car loans at minus 0.1%, where it’s stayed for the past decade.

And keep inflating rentier capital rich investors with their basic income for the rich policies.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/qe-the-ultimate-subsidy-for-the-rich/

Kinda hard to get wages higher when the govt backs a program that brings in thousands of workers from the developing world every year so that employers -- don't have to pay higher wages!

A graph comparing wages for the last several years shows the line for Japan going straight across from left to right.

Even as corporate profits have risen to record-high levels, the writer should have added.

The rigid structure of Japanese workplaces also tends to crimp efficiency and productivity...

No kidding. Remember the pandemic, when the world starting working from home -- except in Japan.

Not really sure how they figured out a barista in New York only makes $22,500, as the minimum wage in New York is $16,00/hour. If they work 8 hours a day, 22 days a month, 12 months a year that works out to almost $34,000. Now if it is a part time job, that is a different story, but that was not mentioned in the article.

I changed jobs last year for a 40% pay increase, but my city and prefectural taxes doubled. Still trying to figure that one out.

Wages are rising + prices are rising = no progress.

Wages finally rising in Japan

where?

Why the spin?

—

Headline: Wages finally rising in Japan

Article: … a government survey of companies with five or more employees found real wages fell 3% from a year earlier in April, marking the 13th straight month of declines.

I even know of Chinese that have given Up on Japan as they can get better jobs back in China

Yeah I know of a couple thinking of doing the same. Was just reading a few days ago though about 11 million odd university grads who are facing unemployment. Might be better money if you can find a job.

One would think with the labor shortage in Japan, employers would consider upping wages more to attract people.

Stupid birista comparison, as others havs pointed out. Anyway if you did that comparison when the dollar was at 80 to the yen a few years ago it would produce a different result.

And regarding that 3%, of whatever inflation is at now, that is because of shrinkflation, which explains how inflation can be so low. My favourite yogurt brands are all 400 grams, down from 500 grams before all this nonsense started. And the price just keeps going up. And almost any grocery item that is sold according to weight is the same. And many items have lost weight multiple times.

Wages finally rising in Japan

where?

I don't know shogun. I haven't seen it and neither has anyone else I know. My family and I are struggling. And I have a pretty decent salary. I don't even know what people making less than I am are doing. I can't imagine.

The rigid structure of Japanese workplaces also tends to crimp efficiency and productivity...

No kidding. Remember the pandemic, when the world starting working from home -- except in Japan.

Yup. No doubt Jeff. Such a WASTED opportunity to curb the insane overtime, harassment, long unproductive commuting hours, karoshi, and general office inefficiency. Real shame.

I even know of Chinese that have given Up on Japan as they can get better jobs back in China

Not only them, but a lot of SE Asians are deciding to go to S Korea and Taiwan now as an article here was stating last week. Those that do come, probably stay for a year and go F this! and either go back home or find something in the other 2 countries.

I can’t understand the title of this article??? Real wages have fallen for nearly 70% of the workforce in Japan (according to this article and other sources).

The barista in New York makes 22K in salary but probably gets an additional 55K in tips. Japan, like many developing nations, doesn't have a tipping system. This article was clearly not written by an economist.

Japanese workers make less across the board than their counterparts in the U.S. and Europe.

Hmm, that's an understatement.

Japanese wages are about the same level as the poorest of the EU, e.g. Portugal and Romania.

Where? Not in my part of Japan.

@larr flint

As I said before, if you make less than 500 000 a month in Tokyo your will hustle but now with inflation I think your target should be at least 600 000 a month

I remember you making that silly comment the other day, and I responded to it. Did you read it? I said your claim of needing that much in Tokyo was a huge exaggeration. Although most working class people including myself in the past didn't make that much per month, it's still possible to live a very decent life. Stop spewing nonsense like this.

Average pay in Japan is about three-fourths of the OECD average of about $51,000.

Let me translate this sentence designed to fool the casual reader. So it's $38,000.

But even that's not true:

https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01631/

The average monthly wage in Japan is 310,000 yen, which is $2200, around $26k not $38k.

A 4% increase for ‘some’ workers. It’s party time, NOT! Just more smoke and mirrors crap from the ministry of finance and BS.

You get what you wish for! Wages have never and will never keep up with inflation. Still so many people believe the official mantra ”inflation is good”. Stop the nonsense! Japan’s best years were the 30 years when prices didnt change.

....myself in the past didn't make that much per month, it's still possible to live a very decent life

I'm afraid you'll need to define what you mean by "a very decent life". I guess anything less than than 600,000 a month would be decent if you're just out of school, single and living in a shoebox.....

Still so many people believe the official mantra ”inflation is good”

Inflation can be good if you borrowed money at a low interest rate, e.g. student loan. The amount you need to pay back goes down.

Nissin Foods Group raised the price of its Cup Noodle, citing soaring costs for wheat, palm oil, shrimp, meat and other ingredients, and for energy.

And most of those ingredients are already scrapping the bottom of the barrel in terms of quality! Adding sawdust is the next logical step.

i dont share that "optimism" from article.

reality is much more harsh.

just go to closest shop selling food and basic needs.

numbers are very very different ones.

@tora

How about you explain to me why you think making less than 600k a month means living in a shoe box?

I assure you I was not living in a shoe box buddy, but in a regular 1K apartment like most other people.

I guess anything less than than 600,000 a month would be decent if you're just out of school, single and living in a shoebox.....

I'm not even close to that, out of school for decades, married, and have a good sized house in Tokyo. Completely opposite on every point you made just there.

""So far, the Bank of Japan has remained cautious, keeping the key interest rate that helps determine rates on mortgages and car loans at minus 0.1%, where it’s stayed for the past decade.""

The BOJ is gambling on the weak yen, raising imports prices resulting in higher retails, if and when that formula fades away which it will then imports costs will drop, prices will drop, and hopefully wages will stay where they are and NOT drop so consumers can gain the upper hand.

An estimated half or more doesn’t even have any reliable wages, babies, toddlers, school and university students and the rising big part of elderly people and of course unemployed, disabled, homeless, prison inmates, other people anyhow outside of 9 to 5 full time employed workforce, hikikomori, self-employed small business people and so on. So you should begin to study and calculate over all people and all types of income or no income at all, not only talking about a few wages of a few people that are a bit rising. Their some bit better income , hyped in the everyday news, is nearly insignificant for the general downturn development You’ll surely then see, that we don’t only have already hyper inflation and moon prices everywhere, but something like already outer galactic Alpha Centauri pricing.

a quarter of small and medium-size businesses — employers of more than two-thirds of all workers — gave no pay raises, according to the think tank Tokyo Shoko Research.

exactly so why the headlines saying otherwise?

if 1/3 of the work force got raises by a slim margin, there’s no real reason to word it as if the majority got raises now is there? Say it like it is, “majority of japan did not get raises only a stark few”

Sadly wage and salary increases will be limited as they are fixed costs. Companies are struggling with inflation and higher input cost while lacking pricing power. Stagflation will continue to erode wages as the BOJ prefers to protect asset prices

$51,000 is literally half what most people in other G7 countries make. That is not even as high as the starting salary of anyone with a university degree that does not include "studies" in the name of the degree.

I wonder if employers are raising salaries across the board so they can claim they are doing "good" for their employees, but then delaying average annual or biannual salary increases?

Let me translate this sentence designed to fool the casual reader. So it's $38,000.

Thanks for the translation. Yes, $26K seems more the real number. Regarding wage raise, I'll believe it when I see it in my account. Until then, I'd go with the majority on this blog.

I guess anything less than than 600,000 a month would be decent if you're just out of school, single and living in a shoebox.....

and living with mamasan and papasan.

Very happy to see an article that criticizes inflation and points out how things are for the wage-earners; usually these articles are stuffed with BoJ propaganda and sneaky BoJ/LDP-favoring language.

@Kazuko

Article: … a government survey of companies with five or more employees found real wages fell 3% from a year earlier in April, marking the 13th straight month of declines.

I think the math works out like this: wages rose 0.2%, but inflation reduced the value of those wages by 3.2%, meaning that "real" (inflation-adjusted) wages fell by 3%. That is, inflation took away all the gains the workers made with increased productivity. But the number on the pay stub went up just a tiny bit, so technically it is not a lie to say that wages rose.

I assure you I was not living in a shoe box buddy, but in a regular 1K apartment like most other people.

That's the definition of a shoebox on many other developed countries man. Hopefully your one is at least insulated with double glazed glass. For millions in the large cities here the reality is different.

I bet the wages of the government officials have never stagnated or failed to go up..........of course they haven't, I must be going mad even thinking they had.

@JeffLee

Kinda hard to get wages higher when the govt backs a program that brings in thousands of workers from the developing world every year so that employers -- don't have to pay higher wages!

If you have job that can be taken by workers from developing countries that barely speak any Japanese and do simple jobs then you should reconsider it your skills are up-to-date.

Let me translate this sentence designed to fool the casual reader. So it's $38,000.

But even that's not true:

https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01631/

The average monthly wage in Japan is 310,000 yen, which is $2200, around $26k not $38k.

Does your average monthly wage include the bonuses of those who get them? If not, its not really relevant. What's relevant is the nenshu annual salary, which will include bonuses for those who get them. "monthly salaries" in Japan are low due to the (stupid) bonus system.

Anyway in Japan, the easy way to think about salaries is that there is an average, of 5.6 million or whatever a year for a man. The next number to know is that the average is close to the 70% percentile. So 70% of people get less, not 50%. Only 30% make what the average is or more. The same applies to women and their average. Percentiles are very useful when it comes to salaries.

I remember you making that silly comment the other day, and I responded to it. Did you read it? I said your claim of needing that much in Tokyo was a huge exaggeration. Although most working class people including myself in the past didn't make that much per month, it's still possible to live a very decent life. Stop spewing nonsense like this.

if you are a single person in your 20s living a student-like lifestyle, then sure, it’s an exaggeration. But if you want to live in a reasonable sized fairly modern place, support a family with two children and get those children a decent education, go on an annual family vacation, save a bit for retirement, then 500000 a month simply isn’t going to cut it. 8 million a year is still a push and you won’t be living Yamanote line or within even on that much unless you are happy to live in a place that hasn’t been renovated since the 70s.

I'm not even close to that, out of school for decades, married, and have a good sized house in Tokyo. Completely opposite on every point you made just there.

not sure your situation - maybe you bought a house a long time ago or have been renting it a long time and your landlord didn’t increase the rent. But go and take a look at a housing rental site now - even a small house in Akabane you are looking at 200-250k a month. Yamanote line or within it just goes up more. If you can manage to buy a place in your 20s or 30s with a 30 year mortgage then it might be doable on 500k a month but how many are on that much at that age?

Here's some good news and some bad news. The good news is that wages are rising. The bad news is that inflation is also rising, so nothing has really changed.

Workers are getting duped.

Japan's insane spending on vaccines was done with printed money. Now with the inflation tax in full swing, lives are being upended.

Some people wages go up, prices for everybody go up even more, the situation is not going to improve for anybody but a selected few that profit from everybody else's ruin.

That's the definition of a shoebox on many other developed countries man. Hopefully your one is at least insulated with double glazed glass. For millions in the large cities here the reality is different.

That certainly is not my definition of a shoe box. That would be more like a 1R 10 square meter run down place that was built in the 1970s.

Now how about you answer my question? If, like one of the other posters mentioned, you have a family etc. and you are the only bread winner, I might be able to see where you're coming from. But as a single person I still must disagree with you.

as inflation eats away at consumer gains

A more accurate title: "*as inflation eats away consumer savings"*

not sure your situation - maybe you bought a house a long time ago or have been renting it a long time and your landlord didn’t increase the rent.

It’s being married and on two incomes that has been the main benefit. Combined we’re close To 500k. We don’t go without, but we’re also not out every weekend at bars and restaurants. Not renting, we own, and we’ve had it for a little over 10 years. We bought completely new, in a good neighborhood but not in central Tokyo. You’re right that it’s not likely done these days, and even at that time it wouldn’t have been so common, but it was a heck of a lot more affordable to live in Japan than it was back home.

The American company which I won’t name I work for in Japan has not given my team a rise due to inflation. You’re lucky if you work for a company willing to increase wages.

Nope... wages are going down because of inflation... if the government was serious about this it would raise the minimum wage.

Wages are rising in Japan more than they have in decades

Where they get this information from since it’s almost entirely untrue! Every person that I’ve talked to around me have said that their wages hasn’t increased even by 1 yen! It’s probably the executives who keep increasing their wages, bonuses and add on benefits, while the rest of the usual workers keep suffering hardship!

UK minimum wage for over 23 years of age is £10.42 an hour , that's 1823 yen an hour but I suspect the cost of living is higher in the UK. It's quality of life that really maters and happiness. The average working week is around 40 hours with a government minimum paid holiday entitlement of 5.6 weeks.

The average working week is around 40 hours with a government minimum paid holiday entitlement of 5.6 weeks.

I barely work 35 hours since the shift to permanent WFH and getting 30 days paid leave. I can never work in Japan ever again.

I feel sorry for those English teachers working in the large Eikawa schools on worsening contracts and an ever weak yen

How they survive I just don’t know…

Apart from being a Japanophile is there any reason to live in Japan anymore?

 I fear that my time here has taken its toll upon me. I share a bond with this gilded place. If I ventured far from Okinawa, my strength would begin to wane until I was no more."