Minimum Wage Increase

New Regulation or Official Guidance

Author: Aki Tanaka, Of Counsel - Littler United States

Japan sets both regional minimum wage and industrial minimum wage. The regional minimum wage is reviewed and revised, as needed on an annual basis. Each prefectures in Japan (i.e., total 47 prefectures) sets its own minimum wage, which becomes effective in October. The national average amount this time is 901 yen per hour, which represents a large increase from 874 yen last year. For the first time in history, Tokyo (1013 yen) and Kanagawa (1011 yen) exceed 1000 yen.