It should be payback time for the Japanese salaryman, the overworked cog in the nation's well-oiled capitalist machine. With many companies enjoying bumper profits as the economy awakens from a decade-long slumber, Japan's army of loyal workers might have been forgiven for expecting a bigger pay rise after years of corporate thrift.
Instead - despite calls from the government for companies to share more of their earnings with employees - this year's annual spring wage talks again resulted in paltry pay increases at many employers.
That has dampened hopes of a pick-up in sluggish wage growth and in turn consumer spending - which are both seen as lagging the wider recovery after a decade of economic stagnation, on-off recessions and widespread lay-offs.
And with a wave of high-paid baby boomers getting ready to retire, making way for lower paid younger workers, overall wage growth is unlikely to pick up speed any time soon, analysts said.
"The workforce doesn't yet seem to have adjusted its expectations away from purely being grateful for still having a job - which was the focus in most of the past 15 years - to recognising their own scarcity value," said Macqurie Securities economist Richard Jerram. "They don't seem to be fully exploiting their obviously improved bargaining position. There's clearly a shortage of skilled workers. It's surprising it's not generating stronger wage growth," he added.