Japan's two-speed economy grows more divided

Stock market boom fails to lift small firms squeezed by inflation, weak pricing power

Yamato Gokin, a copper alloy manufacturer in Miyoshi, near Tokyo, is one of the small companies that make up the bulk of Japan's economy. (Photo by Kotaro Igarashi)

TOKYO -- Japan's Nikkei Stock Average may have broken through 70,000, but Yasuhisa Hirohama sees an "enormous gap" between the market boom and the reality facing small businesses like his.

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