In a Tokyo supermarket, signs of struggle for Japanese business

TOKYO, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Japanese supermarket owner Hiromichi Akiba has built his bustling business through close ties with his neighbourhood – the reason, he says, he can’t make the price hikes on his wares that would allow him to give his workers a pay rise. Steep price increases on surging raw materials costs are squeezing Japan’s workers, as years of deflation or minimal rises give way to 41-year-high inflation of 4%. And, while major companies are offering raises amid government pressure, many of the small and midsize firms that employ the vast number of Japanese workers cannot keep up. But the situation is especially hard for retail businesses like Akiba’s because the cost rises are so widespread that virtually nothing is untouched, preventing pay rises. "The fact is that we are barely making a profit," said the genial 54-year-old, who prides himself on the close ties he’s built with the customers in his western Tokyo neighbourhood over the past three decades. "If we were able to pass our costs on by raising prices, we couldn’t look our customers in the eyes." Latest Updates To a casual observer, Akiba’s business, which he began 31 years ago with a single […]

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