Japan's "misery index" has risen to its highest since 1981 as Japanese workers feel the pain of rising food and import costs from yen devaluation, without seeing the gains. Yet the one-off hit is largely over. Unemployment has dropped to modern-era lows of 3.6pc. That is likely to halt the fall in real wages very soon, if it has not done so already. Pay rises in the Spring round of talks were 2.14pc, with a bonus of 0.48pc to be paid in June. Restaurant wages in Tokyo are up 10pc in a year.