Addressing that divide has become a high priority for new prime minister Fumio Kishida, who promised to tackle income disparity made worse by the pandemic. But he has offered few clues as to how he will do so.
Kimie Kobayashi, 55, who works at a childcare facility in Tokyo, says her wages haven't risen for four years. She said many who work in the industry are resigned to the fact that salaries rarely increase. Japan's poverty rate is the second-highest among G7 nations and the ninth-highest among OECD countries, according to the organisation's survey, based on data available up to 2020.
"Abenomics brought us investors huge profits as money-pumping pushed up prices of financial securities," said Fujisaki, 34, a father of two who plans to build a 200 million yen house in Tokyo next year. Alfa Romeo sales in April-September more than doubled from year-before levels. Sales of other import brands like Ferrari, Jaguar and Maserati also increased, industry data showed.