"If We Don't Take Active Action, There Is No Future for the People"... Chairman's Warning After Raising Employee Wages by 40%

Chairman Yanai, Interview with US Weekly Time
"Severe Massive Debt... Japan is Falling Behind"

Yanai Tadashi, founder of Uniqlo and chairman of Fast Retailing, issued a warning about the Japanese economy, stating that "Japan, which has been dormant for 30 years, is not an advanced country at all."

In an interview with the American weekly magazine Time, released on the 13th, Chairman Yanai expressed concerns about the overly optimistic views on Japan's economic outlook.

Founder of Uniqlo, Tadashi Yanai, Chairman of Fast Retailing. / Photo by Time magazine

Chairman Yanai identified three factors threatening the Japanese economy: an unhealthy obsession with manufacturing, workers accustomed to oversized corporations, and a budget operated with massive debt exceeding tax revenue.

In fact, in December last year, the Japanese Cabinet expected tax revenue to be only $493 billion but approved a general account budget of $858 billion for 2023. The Cabinet also planned to issue $250 billion in new government bonds during the same period.

Japan's public debt already stands at 264% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the highest level in the world. Additionally, from 1990 to 2019, nominal wages increased by only 4%. In the same period, nominal wages in the United States rose by 145%.

In March, Chairman Yanai raised the wages of about 8,400 Fast Retailing employees in Japan by up to 40%. However, he explained, "It is still a low level. It needs to be much higher," adding, "In Beijing and Shanghai, compensation is two to three times higher than for equivalent positions in Japan." He warned, "If we do not expand globally and take a more proactive approach, there is no future for Japanese people."

Chairman Yanai also criticized the Japanese government, saying, "The government and bureaucrats know nothing." He demanded that to prevent Japan's population of 125 million from falling into disaster, the government must actively implement measures such as interest rate hikes, cuts to support allowances, and large-scale regulatory reforms.

Yanai, originally from Yamaguchi Prefecture, spent his childhood in a room above his parents' ready-made clothing store. He inherited his father's store in 1972 and grew the business, establishing the first Uniqlo store in Hiroshima in 1984.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.