Japan’s wage talks key for future of Abenomics

TOKYO: Hisashi Aoto was not holding out much hope that his employer would give him a bumper pay rise this year as Japan’s spring labor talks wrap up.

The 44-year-old is among the millions of rank-and-file workers eyeing the annual union negotiations, as top companies including automakers Toyota and Nissan, conglomerate Hitachi and electronics giant Panasonic announce their pay plans from Wednesday.