Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Saturday vowed to realize wage hikes that keep up with the soaring cost of living, at his first May Day event since taking office last autumn.
“We’ll definitely realize wage hikes that would not succumb to rising prices,” Ishiba said at the May Day central convention in Tokyo hosted by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo.
It was the third year in a row for a Japanese prime minister to attend Rengo’s May Day event. In 2023, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida became the first Japanese leader to attend the event in nine years.
