Japan’s Minimum Wages Rise Again

On August 4, a subcommittee of the Central Minimum Wages Council submitted a report to Minister of Health, Labor, and Welfare Fukuoka Takamaro, advising that the minimum wage (on a national average basis) should be raised by a record ¥63 in fiscal 2025. This is significantly higher than the rise of ¥43 in fiscal 2023 and ¥51 in fiscal 2024, and will be the largest increase since the method of indicating wages on an hourly basis was adopted in fiscal 2002. If the increase goes ahead as expected, it will raise the national average hourly minimum wage from ¥1,055 to ¥1,118.

The subcommittee’s guidelines divide prefectures into three categories according to their economic conditions. An hourly minimum wage increase of ¥63 was set for the six prefectures in Category A, which includes Tokyo and Osaka, and the 28 prefectures in Category B (including Hokkaidō, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka), while it was ¥64 for the 13 prefectures in Category C (including Akita and Okinawa). This was the first time the wage hike was highest in Category C, with the aim of addressing economic disparities, as well as the severe labor shortages in these areas. The council in each prefecture will decide the exact amount of the wage increases based on guidelines; new wage floors will be introduced from around October 2025.

The new minimum wage will be ¥1,226 in Tokyo and ¥1,225 in Kanagawa, exceeding ¥1,200 for the first time. It will also be over ¥1,100 in the prefectures of Saitama, Chiba, Aichi, Osaka, Kyoto, and Hyōgo, in Japan’s three major metropolitan areas. At its lowest it will be around ¥1,000 to ¥1,050 in a number of prefectures, mainly in Tōhoku, Kyūshū, and Shikoku.

Japan’s government has set a target of raising the national average minimum wage to ¥1,500 during the 2020s; to achieve this, an annual hike of 7.3% is required. However, there have been difficulties in reaching agreement between labor and management on large raises. In the most recent talks, seven rounds of discussions were needed by the council for the first time in 44 years, and the recommendation fell short of the target level.

Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has stated that he would like to provide focused support for employers when minimum wages are raised above the government’s target level.

Data Sources

• Data on the minimum wage in fiscal 2025 (Japanese) and fiscal 2024 (Japanese) from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare.

(Translated from Japanese: Banner photo © Pixta.)