Don Quijote and Uniqlo, two of the nation's best-known mass-market retailers, aren't waiting for the government's new growth policies due later this month before implementing their own labor reforms.

While many labor-intensive businesses face a shortage of low-wage workers as Japan's economy perks up, discount chain Don Quijote Holdings is drawing five times more job-seekers since it bucked tradition and eased application requirements.

Fast Retailing, operator of the Uniqlo casual clothing chain, is turning many of its part-time workers into full-timers, at greater cost, to retain staff and boost productivity.