REUTERS NEXT-Japan's top FX diplomat warns of impact of weak yen on real wages

TOKYO, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Japan's top currency diplomat Atsushi Mimura said on Tuesday a weak yen would push up inflation by boosting import costs, stressing the need to underpin consumption by turning real wages to positive territory.

"The outlook of real wage is very important. From our perspective, a weak yen would work to push up inflation through higher import costs," Mimura, vice finance minister for international affairs, said at a Reuters NEXT Newsmaker event.

(Reporting by Takaya Yamaguchi, Makiko Yamazaki and Leika Kihara; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

((leika.kihara@thomsonreuters.com; +813-6441-1828; Reuters Messaging: leika.kihara.reuters.com@reuters.net))