Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets the press at his office in Tokyo on Oct. 6, 2021. (Mainichi)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday he hopes businesses that have recovered to pre-pandemic levels will raise employee wages by more than 3 percent next spring as he tries to realize a virtuous cycle of economic growth and redistribution of wealth.

       Kishida made the remarks during a meeting on putting his vision of a "new capitalism" into motion and was joined by the leaders of three major business lobbies as well as Rengo, Japan's largest labor organization, formally called the Japanese Trade Union Confederation.

       "I am hoping for pay hikes that eclipse 3 percent, which will be appropriate for the launch of the new capitalism," Kishida said. "I will stand in the forefront to help small- and medium-sized businesses so that they can properly shift raw material, energy and labor costs" onto consumers.

       Masakazu Tokura, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, the country's largest business lobby known as Keidanren, responded he will call on member businesses to implement pay hikes.

       Labor unions typically hold wage negotiations with management every spring.

       Last week, Kishida's government approved its economic stimulus package, including a plan to raise the monthly salaries of care workers, nursery school staff and nurses by 1 to 3 percent from current levels.

       The care workers' pay is regulated and widely seen as insufficient compared with other industries.

       Upon becoming prime minister in October, Kishida pledged to reduce wealth disparity by boosting middle-class incomes.

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