Decades-high wage hikes on the cards in Japan but are unlikely to ease cost pressures

TOKYO – Mr Hideyuki Michimoto, the third-generation owner of pickled daikon radish maker Michimoto Foods, feels a sense of discomfort over what he is able to pay his 60 employees.

While he knows that costs of living are soaring and he empathises with his staff, the 65-year-old said: “There is absolutely no way we can afford the 5 per cent wage increase that the government wants.”