Lance

Will This Be Japan's Longest Running Recession?

As long as your income isn't declining. Of course that is exactly the problem for a large number of people. Did anyone catch the IBM "PET bottle toss" on NHK this morning? Middle-aged IBM full-timers are being given the choice between resignation (severance pay) and being axed (no severance). The situation calmed down only after the manager threatened to call security.

I've been here since 1993. One small subway fare hike down here in Tokyo since then. When I arrived, I estimated "middle class" salaries at around 7 to 8 million yen. It's significantly lower than that now. I recently saw an article that said 38 percent of Japanese wage earners now make less than 3 million yen a year. Three million yen is the level at which companies that sponsor working visa applicants need to guarantee salaries (i.e. English teachers). So nearly 40 percent of Japanese would now be working for less than the salary of a typical English teacher.