Japanese Major Firms and Wage Increases: Ideas Later.

Major Japan firms offer large pay hikes in spring negotiations

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260318/p2g/00m/0bu/032000c

Article to be deleted after ideas.

Article:

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Many major Japanese companies, including Toyota Motor Corp., on Wednesday fully met their labor unions' demands for wage hikes in annual negotiations, despite the expected increase in costs from higher crude oil prices.

Unions, however, at smaller companies could struggle to win similar wage hikes. Such firms tend to find it harder to pass on higher costs to their customers, especially with the rise in oil and other material prices caused by the crisis in the Middle East.

Seen as a trendsetter at the annual "shunto" wage talks, Toyota, the world's largest carmaker by volume, fully met its labor union's pay hike and bonus payment demands for the sixth consecutive year.

The automaker is proposing pay increases of up to 21,580 yen ($135) per month while accepting its union's request for an annual bonus equivalent to 7.3 months' pay, down 0.3 month from last year's record-high payment.

Honda Motor Co., which expects its first full-year net loss in the year ending March 31 since its listing nearly 70 years ago, accepted an 18,500 yen pay hike request, while Suzuki Motor Corp. offered a pay increase of 20,500 yen, exceeding its union's demand.

Struggling Nissan Motor Co. has consented to a monthly pay hike of 10,000 yen as requested by its union, aiming to increase employee morale during its restructuring efforts.

Hitachi Ltd., NEC Corp. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. each agreed to a monthly base pay increase of 18,000 yen, as sought by their unions.

Major heavy machinery manufacturers Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. and IHI Corp. also agreed to their labor unions' demands for a 16,000 yen pay increase.

Other companies including Mazda Motor Corp. and Japan Airlines Co. have already met their labor unions' demands although the annual wage talks at major firms typically run from mid-February to mid-March.

Meanwhile, pay hike proposals by Nippon Steel Corp., Kobe Steel Ltd. and JFE Steel Corp. fell short of their unions' demands. The steel industry has been hit by worsening market conditions amid an influx of cheaper Chinese products.

With inflation persisting, major companies mostly offered wage hikes of around 5 percent to 7 percent. "We are seeing solid progress that could lead to a virtuous cycle of growth and wealth distribution across the society," said Yoshinobu Tsutsui, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, also known as Keidanren.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at a press conference that the government "hopes that strong (pay hike) momentum will steadily spread to every corner of the country, small and medium-sized enterprises and nonregular employees," emphasizing the importance of achieving wage increases that outpace inflation.

The Bank of Japan, which raised its benchmark interest rate last December to its highest level since 1995, is also closely monitoring the outcome of the wage talks as it sees rises in both wages and prices as key factors for its future policy.

In its basic policy for the 2026 wage negotiations, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, the country's largest umbrella organization for labor unions known as Rengo, has set an overall wage hike target of 5 percent or more for the third straight year.

Rengo has set a higher goal of 6 percent or more for unions representing small and medium-sized enterprises, which employ about 70 percent of the country's workforce, aiming to narrow the pay gap with larger companies.

Japan Trade Surplus: Ideas Later.

Japan logs 57.3 billion yen trade surplus in Feb., helped by chip exports

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260318/p2g/00m/0bu/014000c

Article to be deleted after ideas.

Article:

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan logged a trade surplus of 57.3 billion yen ($361 million) in February, helped by a rise in chip exports to other Asian countries, government data showed Wednesday, but the Iran conflict and concern over oil supply disruptions cloud the outlook.

Exports rose 4.2 percent to 9.57 trillion yen, up for the sixth consecutive month, while imports increased 10.2 percent from a year earlier to 9.51 trillion yen, both marking record highs for the month, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.

With Japan's imports of chips and other electronic parts from other Asian countries also robust, the data showed the products, widely used in high-tech products, are becoming an increasingly active part of Japan's global trade, analysts said.

The latest trade data did not reflect developments after the launch of the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, a ministry official said, with the analysts predicting that rising oil costs could deal a blow to an economy heavily reliant on fuel imports.

The potential impact of disruptions in supplies of fuel and petroleum products on the trade balance will be closely monitored as the Japanese government has vowed to respond with all possible measures, the official said.

Takeshi Minami, chief economist at the Norinchukin Research Institute, said the impact of the Iran conflict on the trade balance is likely to be apparent from late March onwards, with the plunge in crude oil imports due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz expected to affect Japanese businesses' output and trade.

"The government has released crude oil stockpiles and decided to provide fresh gasoline subsidies, but there is a possibility that the increases in energy prices going forward could hamper recovery in consumption," he said.

In the reporting month, Japan's exports to the United States fell 8.0 percent to 1.75 trillion yen, dropping for the third straight month, as shipments of motor vehicles declined 16.6 percent in value terms, weighed down by President Donald Trump's tariffs.

While import duties imposed on Japanese cars were lowered to 15 percent from 27.5 percent in September under a trade deal struck by Tokyo and Washington, they remained six times higher than the 2.5 percent tariff in place prior to Trump's return to the White House.

Japan remained in the red with China for the 59th straight month, logging a trade deficit of 967.3 billion yen in February.

Exports to the world's second-largest economy declined 10.9 percent to 1.37 trillion yen, and imports jumped 35.4 percent to 2.34 trillion yen, hitting a record high for the month.

Japan Household Spending Down: Updated March 18, 2026

Japan Jan. household spending down 1.0% on year on lower education outlays

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260310/p2g/00m/0bu/010000c

Ideas

Ever since the pandemic or just after it, Japan has consistently had high inflation which has constrained household spending in Japan as disposable incomes have been decreasing over the last 3 or years, and as suggested in the article something has to give such as spending on education and communication services.

A decrease of 1.0 percent might not seem like that much but an economy the size of Japan a 1.0 decrease in spending might actually be quite large and as it was the second monthly decline Japan households are feeling the affects of inflation and are cutting in areas as needed.

 While 307,584 yen might seem a lot for some or not a lot for some depends on the overall level of income of the household as some lower-income households in Japan just don't have that much to spend to begin with so the average might be for the middle to upper-middle income groups but not the lower-income groups which are much more affected by inflation than the other groups.

Back in the early to mid 80's or even into the 90's Japan might have been considered a upper-income country or even a high-income country but those days are long gone as Japan wages have not kept up with wage increases globally and the average Japanese household makes much less than the households these days in the EU or even the US.

The university/college age population continues to decrease and some or many private universities and colleges in Japan are seeing their enrollments drop significantly have been decreasing tuition as a way to entice students to enter their respective schools.

At the same time, Japanese universities are increasing their foreign student enrollments to counter the decrease in Japanese students with more foreign students, but it remains to be seen if Japan immigration will actually allow enough foreign students into the country to offset the continued decrease in the Japan population.

The ageing Japanese population and the decrease in births in Japan has been a constant stress on Japan society for a very long time but, while other economies and other counties use increased immigration to help the situation Japan has not kept up with what other countries are doing as some have even suggested that Japan doesn't want to pollute its culture with too many foreign residents.

Yes, as inflation continues to reduce the disposable income of Japanese households, consumers continue to find ways to reduce their costs with even looking for cheaper mobile phones, which most likely are coming from China or even South Korea these days.

While utility bills might have decreased due to higher temperatures in December, it might not have been good for the clothing industry in Japan as the higher temperatures might have reduced spending at some retail places related to winter clothing and maybe might have forced some retail outlets to begin to advertise their spring selection of clothes.

At the same time, even though the temperature might have been much higher than expected utilities bills for the lower-income groups might still have been more than what they wanted to pay as they are on limited budgets and especially the fixed-income group groups and even the un-married women with children who don't have good jobs or working more than one part-time job just to make ends meet unfortunately.

Of course due to the continued inflation situation in Japan disposable incomes have decreased which means Japanese households have cut back on anything they feel they can do without on a temporary basis.

It seems housing expenditures, more likely have also increased to the point that households again feel they can and need to do without them as maybe, like everything else, costs have increased where its costs even more to get a house repaired in Japan these days.

Food, for most Japanese households sometimes sees an increase and sometimes sees a decrease depending on the mood of the families and the income level of the families too. Consumers, people can only cut-back so much before they feel the need to spend and buy things that make them feel good including food, which has a powerful effect on many. 

But of course the lower-income groups might see things differently as they have little extra to spare and can't splurge on dining out or even the normal fruit favorites that some families enjoy.

Durable goods are not a normal everyday purchase just food is an households buy them or save up to buy them when they really need them. In this case maybe Japanese households felt the need to finally get a new AC or washing machine as they maybe waited a long time due to the inflation situation in Japan and felt they couldn't wait any longer.

The Olympics, or the Football/soccer world Cup, or the World Series, or the World Baseball Classic are events that can encourage households to get a new television, and has Japan had a historic Winter Olympics maybe more Japanese households wanted to see what was going on.

Private consumption or consumer spending is estimated to be about 50 percent of Japan's GDP, while in the US its estimated to be about 68 percent as most likely Japan's might be a little too low and is not enough to really improve economic growth in Japan.

The average monthly income is just an average as most likely the real amount is much lower as it must be remembered that up to 70 percent of Japanese workers in Japan don't work for the large name-brand companies but for small and mid-size companies, which it is estimated to make up 99 percent of all companies in Japan.

It would be good if every two person households made 530,520 yen each month but most likely that is far from reality as Japan's inequality has been increasing every year since the early 90's when the asset bubble crashed in Japan.

while inequality is relatively mild compared to other countries, Japan has its share of those in the low-income groups, and they suffer like other low-income groups too globally.

Due to large companies, in Japan, having become more westernized, they have move toward a model of valuing shareholders over normal workers in a company which means many companies have moved toward only hiring part-time workers, contract workers, and for the most part less workers as needed to ensure shareholders get what they need or want each month.

Have a nice day!

Japan Economy Growth: Ideas Later.

Japan economy grows 1.3% in Oct.-Dec., revised up, on stronger investment

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260310/p2g/00m/0bu/012000c

Article to be deleted after ideas.

Article:

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's economy expanded an annualized real 1.3 percent in the October-December quarter, revised up from an initially reported 0.2 percent increase, on stronger business spending as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pushes investment in priority areas, government data showed Tuesday.

Helped also by an uptick in private consumption, accounting for over half of gross domestic product, the GDP data marked the first rise in two quarters. Yet, crude oil price rises due to a Middle East conflict overshadow the economic outlook for resource-poor Japan, economists say.

Real GDP, adjusted for inflation, grew 0.3 percent from the previous quarter, compared with the initially reported 0.1 percent increase, the Cabinet Office said. GDP is the total value of goods and services produced in a country.

Capital spending increased 1.3 percent in the three months through December, revised up from a 0.2 percent increase, after data showed solid corporate investment in building data centers and producing semiconductor-making devices amid the spread of artificial intelligence.

With labor costs rising, companies have also been pushing digitalization and other labor-saving measures, resulting in purchases of software, the economists say.

Public investment was upgraded to a 0.5 percent dip from a 1.3 percent decline.

Private consumption grew 0.3 percent in the October-December period, in an upward revision from a 0.1 percent climb, reflecting increased demand for new smartphone models, but car purchases declined and persistent inflation dampened spending for food.

The revision was also due to a reduction in the margin of decline for spending on toys, games, fisheries and outlays for dining, a Cabinet Office official said.

Housing investment was slightly revised upward to a 4.9 percent rise from the 4.8 percent increase reported earlier.

Exports and imports both slid 0.3 percent, unchanged from the preliminary reading.

U.S.-bound shipments of cars remained affected by the imposition of higher tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump that took effect in September. Spending by foreign visitors to Japan, which contributes to export figures, also fell.

Due to the moderate recovery in personal consumption and expected growth in real wages on slower inflation, the Japanese economy is estimated to grow in the January-March quarter, said Yoshiki Shinke, senior executive economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.

He warned, however, that the recent increase in crude oil prices, stemming from U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran since the end of February, raises uncertainties from the April-June quarter onwards for Japan, which relies almost entirely on foreign energy to power its economy.

Shinke said, "If rising energy prices continue, they will raise inflation," which will hurt the economy by reducing household spending. He added that companies are expected to pass on the increase in costs to consumers by raising the prices of their products and services.

Nominal GDP expanded an annualized rate of 3.5 percent, revising up from a 2.3 percent gain reported earlier.

Japan Real Wages in Jan. Updated March 16, 2026.

Japan real wages up 1.4% in Jan., 1st rise in 13 months, as inflation slows

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260309/p2g/00m/0bu/018000c

Ideas

While real wages in Japan might have increased 1.4 percent its going take wages to increase more and for Japanese consumer to think, see, and feel that their purchasing power has increased enough to start spending in the economy again or enough to see any economic growth.

Prices, for the most part, have been increasing steadily ever since the pandemic or about that time, and Japanese consumers have not been able to feel good about their overall purchasing power and as such have not spent as needed in the economy to really see any economic growth, as suggested, consumer spending makes up about half of Japan's GDP.

Nominal wages are nothing more than inflation tacked on to wages to make it look like Japanese households have seen an increase while in reality they have seen a decrease in their purchasing power or in the amount of yen, money, as it has has less value in the economy.

Some might think, as its a common idea, that nominal wages are good and taken without inflation might actually be more than what is called real wages which take into account the subtraction of inflation and the real amount that consumers take home.

Unfortunately, global companies and especially global energy companies, will use any reason to increase the price and they won't wait to see what is going to happen as they want and need to protect their profit margins from any increase in costs.

It has been suggested that Japan and South Korea are two of the most vulnerable economies that are going to be affected by the Middle East conflict as they are energy-dependent countries and need to import much if not all energy commodities for their respective countries.

An increase of only 1.7 percent could be seen as being light at the end of the tunnel as maybe just maybe consumers prices are either decreasing and or beginning to stabilize and consumers could begin to see their purchasing power begin to get back to some kind of new normalcy again.

But its going to take more than one month of decreased consumer prices for consumers to see, feel, and think that things are getting back to some kind of normalcy as some might think its been this way ever since the pandemic.

Again, its going to take many more months of prices increase to be lower than the 2 percent inflation target at the BOJ has suggested as a target goal before it really does anything more significant with rate increases or even decreases.

But the key, as always is going to be labor-management wages negotiations as the BOJ is looking for companies to increase wages to the point that they think it might help Japanese households begin to feel good about their wages and begin to spend in the economy again.

But the problem is, as suggested, up to 70 percent of Japanese workers don't work for the large name-brand companies but small and mid-size companies that might not have the resources and or the profits margins to increase wages enough to keep their workers happy. The workers of course might not quit but again might not feel good about their overall purchasing due to less than expected wage increases in April 2026.

While a wage increase of 5.39 percent might be good, at least for the large companies, will the small and mid-size companies do the same or will they have to give wage increases a little less because of their profit margins can't handle the 5.39 percent increase.

The Japanese economy, society, is not just the major name-brand companies that always make the news as its been suggested that small and mid-size companies actually make up 99 percent of all companies in Japan, but as with any other economy the large companies make up most of the noise and or take most of the attention.

As usual or as normal, negotiations always start at a point where both sides agree or agree to disagree and then they work from there. Its less than a month now before the actual rate increase will be announced as again no one knows for sure just what the real percent is going to be and the real story is what are the small and mid-size companies going to do or what can they do even though might want to increase wage more but just can't do it.

labor always asks for a larger wage increase knowing full well that they might not get it but its a starting point that they hope they can get close to if not the exact amount.

Yes, real wages are the key and not nominal wage as real wages affect private consumption or consumer spending and if Japanese households, again, don't see, feel, or think their wages are enough they are not going to increase their spending in the Japanese economy and the economy is not going to grow to it full potential.

The Bank of Japan of course hopes the wage increases will be enough to put a dent in the inflation situation in Japan and hopes wage increases will be enough that Japanese households, again, begin to feel, see, and think their purchasing power has increased enough to begin to spend again in the economy.

And if that happens the BOJ might not increase the rate that much but just enough to give it some room in case it does have to decrease the rate again someday.

But the Bank of Japan is a very conservative agency and is not going to do anything if they feel the inflation target is not within reach and or if the wage increases are not enough for them to do anything that will make a significant contribution to the economy.

Have a nice day!

Japan Current Account in Jan. Updated March 14, 2026.

Japan logs current account surplus for 12th month in Jan. on China exports

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260309/p2g/00m/0bu/021000c

Ideas

It appears that maybe the Chinese economy situation might finally be beginning to see some daylight at the end of the tunnel and it's hasn't been its normal economic growth for a few years or at least since the pandemic.

And especially with Japan as the on again and off again diplomatic friction has been a challenge for both economies.

Japan seems to focus on its current account more than other countries or at least more than the US as Japan is a heavily focused export economy and also is an economy that the government spends a lot so it needs to replenish its current account often to keep its government spending at a high level.

The two global areas that Japan has been challenged with recently has been the EU and with China, but both areas seems to showing signs of life again or recently showing signs of life again as both had been less than what they had potential to be.

Japan is a very stable economy even though it doesn't grow that much but that is the characteristic of a very mature economy which Japan is and it depends a lot on its current account reserves for many programs and projects that the Japanese government needs to keep the economy functioning for its citizens.

Yes, most likely the US tariff situation might have reduced dividends and profits from overseas subsidiaries of Japanese automakers and they were probably expecting to not have as good a year as before.

And even goods trade, which might have included other products besides Japanese cars, as Japan exports a lot to the US and of course to many other countries too.

Japan seems to have re-entered the semiconductor market or different segments of the semiconductor market and might not be in direct competition with Samsung and South Korea or TSMC and Taiwan these days.

And of course Japan is still a major player in the electronic devices market as it focuses on hardware only and has never really shown much interest in software.

Yes, again, even though there is friction between Japan and China, there doesn't seem to be as much friction when it comes to doing business between Japanese and Chinese companies or at least within certain business sectors.

Japan is a resource-poor country which means it has to import much of what it needs including oil, gas, and energy commodities which means its subject to the whims of the oil producing countries and there volatile prices.

But, as seen in the news oil prices are going to increase and Japan might begin to see significant increases in gas and oil prices in the next few weeks or months.

Yes, prices are already going up but how much will they go up and can oil producing countries have the will or desire to try and keep prices down to a reasonable level over the next few weeks.

Japan is always going to have a services trade deficit and it again is a resource-poor country and has to pay a lot for intellectual property rights and even research and development payments as its, for the most part, not a major player in the pharmaceutical market.

The travel surplus shrank mainly due to the fact that up to Japan has lost up to 60 percent of its visitors from China due to the on-going diplomatic friction between the two countries.

But that might be a good thing as many Japanese, especially in Kyoto and the Osaka areas, have been complaining for years due to the over-crowding of foreign tourists in tourist heavy areas in Japan.

The only problem with that is foreign tourists spend a lot of money in Japan, which Japan needs desperately as its domestic economy and consumer spending among the Japanese is not where it should be to help with economic growth.

And yes, maybe more Japanese are now traveling more but there is still the problem of the Japanese yen being weak which means the purchasing power of Japanese tourists is less than what it should be.

Have a nice day!

Changes in Japanese Supermarkets: Updated March 11, 2026.

Aeon opens 1st 'Food Style' store in Tokyo amid intensifying competition

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260307/p2g/00m/0bu/018000c

Ideas

Supermarkets in many countries are reorganizing as consumer tastes and lifestyles are changing quickly. Maybe long gone will be the Saturday or Sunday only supermarket shopping day of the wife or mother as many now have less time to shop and need new ways to do things.

Maybe Japan's Aeon might have been a supermarket back in the day but overtime, they might have lost their luster and maybe like Sony they didn't change or haven't changed quick enough to lose profits or sales.

Many families in Japan, actually might even go to the main supermarket these days but go to other types of food stores and even might to the huge number of convenience stores for their ready made food, as again working women, in all countries have less time and need better way to shop and buy food.

Yes, Aeon is smart to reorganize as again, working women, which Japan which make up about 55 percent of the workforce are not able to prepare the long drawn out sit-down meals and needs ways to get food to the table even quicker these days.

Because of inflation and the fact that married women want and need to work, there are a significant number of dual-income households in Japan and the trend looks like its not going to decrease any time soon and maybe continue to increase as inflation and costs continue to increase in Japan.

Back in the day is was common for young women, who just graduate from University to quit working at or around the age of 26 as its the custom or the culture of Japan that women quit got married and took care of the home.

But these days those customers seem to out-date as its essential now for married women to work and a dual-income is the only way a Japanese family can survive with the high inflation and cost situation in Japan now.

There are seven major brands of convenience stores in Japan too that already off bento lunches, ready made meals, rice balls, sandwiches and so on but maybe the Aeon group and others will offer more selections as many supermarkets do now such as Sogo department store in the Yokohama station area along with Mitsukoshi department store in the same train station area as they too offer a huge selection for ready made meals to be taken home and eaten without a lot of preparation.

It's possible the Aeon group might be trying to target the convenience store consumer crowd and the new style supermarkets seem to be targeting what many buy at convenience stores now in Japan. Whether they can can get any more market share remains to be seen as Aeon still is the largest retail group in Japan and they might just be reorganizing to stay ahead of the curve in the highly competitive ready food market that now exists in Japan.

Aeon is smart to re-brand  its Daiei-based stores as maybe, it was a competitive brand back in the day but as always again, consumers change and the needs of consumers are always changing along with the lifestyle of much of society.

Long gone are the days of the 2 or 3 children family and the stay at home mom that cooks the meals everyday and every night and goes to the main supermarket once a day and the husband drags himself home from a long day at work in Japan and life was like that for many years in Japan until maybe the late 80's or early 90's when the Japanese economy basically collapsed and its taken this long for many of the main Japanese companies to realize change is needed.

Have a nice day!