Economists question the wisdom of Kishida’s new minimum wage target

After the government achieved its target of raising Japan’s average hourly minimum wage to ¥1,000 (about $6.80) this year, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was quick to set the next objective.

“The minimum wage needs to be raised further and in a stable manner,” the prime minister told a key economic panel meeting on Aug. 31, adding that Japan aims to lift the minimum wage to ¥1,500 by the mid-2030s.

Economists, however, have pointed out that just setting a higher minimum wage target will not really help spur Japan’s slumping wage growth, saying that the government needs to tackle other structural issues to change the trend.