A student-led movement is campaigning to raise Japan's minimum wage and improve the lives of low-income workers as many continue struggling just to meet basic needs despite toiling for long hours.
Some 1,500 people took to the streets of Tokyo's bustling Shinjuku district in mid-April to call for a uniform minimum wage of ¥1,500 per hour across the country.
"Reduce inequality," "Raise wages for people working in the nursing industry" and "Don't vote for politicians who are indifferent to poverty," chanted the protesters, led by members of an anti-poverty movement called Aequitas.