Your chart shows that real wages are up 10% over the last 2 decades. Japan's are down. This doesn't even account for benefits, which have grown at an incredible

Your chart shows that real wages are up 10% over the last 2 decades. Japan's are down. This doesn't even account for benefits, which have grown at an incredible rate due to health insurance costs. And that's not inflation, health care has gotten better, maybe unnecessarily so.