A Bank of Japan board member said Thursday that Japan is making “steady progress” toward achieving the central bank’s 2 percent inflation target, expressing confidence about strong wage growth. Junko Nakagawa, one of the nine members of the Policy Board, said she can foresee a virtuous cycle of strong corporate earnings translating into pay hikes for workers, a prerequisite for the BOJ to judge that stable inflation can be achieved. Her comments at a meeting with local business leaders in Shimane Prefecture, western Japan, are the latest indication that the BOJ is growing more confident about …