The article you cited is from 2002. Japan has been mildly inflationary on average since the late 2000s. Unemployment spiked significantly during the deflationary period and has been dropping since.[1] You can see a similar pattern in the US deflationary periods during the 1800s. Every instance of deflation coincides with recessions or depressions and large scale job loss.

[1] https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/JPN/japan/unemployment...