Just when Japan's employers might have thought it was safe to embrace sustained wage increases — thanks to a cheap yen and rising earnings — a turn in the exchange rate has flashed a warning signal.
The yen's advance in the past month, especially amid market turmoil and an economic slowdown in China, shakes the notion that depreciation achieved under the Abe administration is permanent. The shift threatens to undermine annual wage negotiations in the spring that already began on a weak footing, with labor unions casting an eye at subdued economic growth.
"My concerns are becoming reality," said Kohetsu Watanabe, president of one of the hundreds of thousands of small companies that account for much of Japan's workforce. "I've got to treat the outlook of my business with a lot more caution than before."