Abenomics Could Widen Japan's Income Gap
New economic policies have enriched some Japanese—at a cost
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Tomoko Kawamura, 33, a pharmaceutical company worker in Tokyo, bought a Louis Garneau bicycle costing about 50,000 yen ($510) and a 100,000 yen MacBook Air laptop with proceeds from stock investments this year. She owns a one-bedroom apartment in Tokyo’s well-heeled Meguro district. “I’m enjoying the benefits of Abenomics,” says Kawamura.
Eight hundred kilometers (500 miles) away in Ehime prefecture, Miyoko Yamazaki, 81, struggles to cover the rising cost of gasoline for her regular hospital trips. “Prices are going up, making our lives tougher,” says Yamazaki, a retired taxi driver who owns no stocks or property. “I don’t really feel that the economy is booming.”