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August 14, 2025
 

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BUREAUCRACY

A National Personnel Authority official has attributed a dip in the competition ratio for national public service applicants to "the number of successful applicants rising in line with an increase in the number of planned hires by each ministry and agency."
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 12, 2025
Japan marks lowest level of competition on record for civil service applicants
Women made up a record high of 47.1% of all successful applicants, up from 43.0% in the previous year.
The National Personnel Authority recommended Thursday a 3.62% increase in average monthly base pay for public employees in the current fiscal year.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2025
Japan’s public workers set to get largest pay hike in 34 years
The rise in wages will come as a welcome development for policymakers at the Bank of Japan, who are seeking broad-based and lasting growth to support stable inflation.
The National Personnel Authority plans to submit a proposal to raise bonus pay and the salaries for government employees to parliament and the Cabinet on Aug. 7.
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2025
Government employees in Japan to see higher bonus pay on top of salary raise
This will mark the fourth straight year of increase in both salaries and bonuses for government employees amid rising salaries in the private sector.
The National Personnel Authority in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. The authority, , which makes recommendations for wage changes for national public servants, is expected to recommend pay hikes of at least 3% for central government workers next month.
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2025
Central government workers to get a pay bump of at least 3%, sources say
The National Personnel Authority is looking to bridge the wage gap between public servants and private-sector workers.
A municipal library in Fujikawa, Yamanashi Prefecture, that opened in July 2023, has become a community hub.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2025
Work to consolidate public facilities gains traction across Japan
Municipal facilities such as libraries are increasingly being constructed within government office complexes in a bid to streamline public services.
Tokyo’s skyline keeps evolving, but the country’s drab, outdated government district, long hours, low pay and poor work conditions are driving young bureaucratic talent away just when it needs them most.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 11, 2025
Tokyo is missing 'Blade Runner' where it needs it most
Until the 1960s, Japan had strict prohibitions on developments higher than 31 meters (around 100 feet), a provision that kept cities dense but low.
An internal affairs ministry study group for reviewing regional administrative services compiled a draft report that stressed the need for reallocating tasks from a fresh perspective.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 17, 2025
Japan study group seeks review of local government tasks
The current approach to administrative work is "creating challenges in light of sustainability," a government study group said.
A former nonregular government employee, who cooked lunch for a public school in the Tohoku region, says she was dismissed after she was made to take an open recruitment exam.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
May 19, 2025
Civil service contract workers fear lack of job security
Contracted civil servants are paid about half the salaries of regular staff or even less, and a fear of being dismissed hangs over their heads.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (right) responds to questions from Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda (left) at a Lower House Budget Committee meeting on April 14.
JAPAN / Politics
May 9, 2025
Hung parliament keeps Lower House Legislative Bureau busy
As each party pushes its own agenda by drafting its own bills, the workload increases for the bureau, which supports lawmakers in such matters.
A group of lawyers representing a former journalist — who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a now-deceased secretary of a lawmaker — speak at a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday following a ruling that ordered the government to pay damages to her.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 25, 2025
Government ordered to pay over sexual assault by lawmaker's former aide
A Tokyo court ordered the ¥4.4 million ($30,850) payment to a former female journalist who was allegedly assaulted by the now-deceased government-paid secretary.
A Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry government building in Kasumigaseki, an area of Tokyo where the central government ministries are clustered
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2025
Japan should look at larger companies to set public servant pay: panel
Until 2005, the government looked at companies with at least 100 employees to decide their workers' salaries.
The area near the site where the remains of a dismembered body was found in the city of Higashiosaka, on Jan. 30.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 5, 2025
Osaka police identify dismembered body as ministry official
The deceased, 52-year-old Takamichi Kamioka, had been missing since late last year, prompting his family to file a missing persons report.
The National Personnel Authority in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2025
Fall in Japanese bureaucrat aspirants shows signs of stabilizing
The number of applicants in fiscal 2023 rose by 36.0% from the previous year, and in fiscal 2024, it increased by 17.9%, reaching a record high of 4,734.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said the Tokyo Metropolitan Government will launch a program to support the repayment of student loans for those who will start working as teachers or technical civil servants in the capital.
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2025
Tokyo to help teachers repay student loans
The metropolitan government also plans to start providing financial assistance to students who study abroad.
The bill to revise the law on remunerations for government workers calls for setting annual bonuses at an equivalent of 4.6 months' salary.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2024
Government workers' winter bonuses fall with hike bill pending
Prime Minister Ishiba's total winter bonuses were lower than usual due to his recent appointment and a voluntary return on his part of 30% to fiscal reforms.
Administrative Reform Minister Masaaki Taira at an autumn review session for national programs on Thursday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 14, 2024
Reform minister says Japan will monitor Musk's approach to government efficiency
"We will closely follow the approach and incorporate it into our administrative reform efforts," Administrative Reform Minister Masaaki Taira noted.
The government will introduce a new business trip allowance system for civil servants in April, under which up to ¥19,000 will be paid for a stay in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 31, 2024
Up to ¥19,000 eyed to cover Tokyo hotel costs for government workers
The payment cap will be set at ¥19,000 for hotels in Tokyo and at ¥13,000 for those in Osaka Prefecture.
Japan’s civil servants will likely see the biggest salary increases in over three decades in the current fiscal year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 8, 2024
Japan’s public servants may see biggest pay hike in 32 years
The Finance Ministry estimates that implementing these recommendations could increase the financial burden of sustain services by roughly ¥382 billion ($2.6 billion).
Newly hired central government workers listen to a video message by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a training session in April.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 24, 2024
Japan weighs abolishing government workers' spousal allowance
A monthly spousal allowance of ¥6,500 ($42) is provided if the dependent's annual salary is below ¥1.3 million, and the child allowance is ¥10,000 per child.
The Niigata Prefectural Government holds a seminar in January 2021 for parents of students seeking jobs.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 14, 2024
Japan in urgent need of personnel for local public service
A shortage of civil servants to support the lives of local residents is raising serious concerns.
Britain’s Prince of Wales aircraft carrier makes Japan debut
HMS Prince of Wales arrives into the Port of Darwin, Australia, in July during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025.
Japanese students who want to study abroad looking at options in Asia
The number of Japanese students who applied to the National Taiwan University in Taipei in 2025 is more than 60% higher than last year due partly to affordability and proximity.
Controversial theories continue to swirl around 1985 JAL jet crash
Kimi Ozawa, who lost her husband in the 1985 crash of a Japan Airlines jumbo jet, prays in front of his memorial marker on Tuesday in the village of Ueno, Gunma Prefecture.
The indelible memory of being a part of Unit 731
Hideo Shimizu, 95, says he cannot forget seeing the prisoners' bloody wills scribbled on the walls of prison cells at Unit 731 in 1945.
Taiwanese drama 'Zero Day Attack' on Chinese invasion to stream in Japan
A scene from the Taiwanese television drama "Zero Day Attack," which will stream in Japan from Friday.
Osaka Expo highlights the challenge of holding events in Japan's scorching summer
People huddle near a large fan blowing icy-cold mist at the Osaka Expo on July 12. Amid Japan's relentless summer heat, organizes have put myriad measures in place in order to keep guests safe.
At Himawari Shokudo 2, Italian food with a Japanese soul
At Himawari Shokudo 2, chef Hozumi Tanaka serves Italian-inspired fare with a focus on Toyama produce, such as this appetizer of lightly blanched "hotaru ika" (firefly squid) served atop mixed wild plants and a crepe prepared from "yamato-imo" yam.
Cheer with caution: Expert advises sports fans have game plan for extreme heat
A Cardinals fan fans himself during the seventh inning of a game against the Pirates in St. Louis, Missouri, in June 2022.
Australia's warship selection signals Japanese defense industry's arrival
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Mogami-class frigate. Australia's selection of an upgraded version of the Mogami-class warship for its next frigate class could prove to be a watershed moment for Japan’s defense industry.

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