Japan pays price for stagnant growth and wages with weak yen

Monetary easing alone cannot shake country out of its malaise, economists say

Japan's slow growth and weak currency set it apart from other advanced economies. (Nikkei montage)

TOSHIHIRO SATO, Nikkei staff writer

October 22, 2022 04:29 JST

TOKYO -- A look at a New York menu of Japanese comfort-food restaurant chain Ootoya surprised Izuru Kato, chief economist at Tokyo-based Totan Research.

A grilled fish set meal cost the equivalent of 6,000 yen with tax and tip -- six times the price of the same meal in Japan. That is no easy option on a typical Japanese worker's wage.