Tag - wages

 
 

WAGES

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at a meeting of the government's advisory Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on Monday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 27, 2025
Japan private sector backs 1% real wage growth per year over next five years
The plan was first mentioned by the government’s "new capitalism" panel earlier this month.
Compensation paid in the year that ended in March to Nomura Holdings' seven executive officers totaled ¥4.6 billion, up 3% from the previous year when there were eight such officers.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 23, 2025
Nomura raises top executives’ pay to highest in over a decade
Compensation paid in the year ended March to the company’s seven executive officers totaled ¥4.6 billion.
Some 620,000 workers at 97 major companies affiliated with the Japan Business Federation saw average pay raises of 5.38%.
BUSINESS
May 22, 2025
Japan’s largest business lobby reports pay hikes exceeding 5%
Some 620,000 workers at 97 major companies affiliated with the Japan Business Federation saw average pay raises of 5.38%.
A Mynavi survey has found that even dual-income households are facing financial strain in Japan.
JAPAN / Society
May 16, 2025
Finances are tight for dual-income households too, survey finds
Nearly half of full-time workers whose spouses also work say they are struggling financially.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said the government will do all it can to raise wages, particularly for small and midsize businesses, which account for 70% of employment in Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 15, 2025
Japan to target 1% real wage gains within the next five years
The goal is based on the premise that stable and sustainable 2% inflation is in place.
Japan will call for the public and private sectors to spend about ¥60 trillion in total over the five years to fiscal 2029 to improve the productivity of small and midsize companies.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 14, 2025
Japan considers five-year wage hike plan for smaller firms
The government will call on the public and private sectors to spend about ¥60 trillion in total over the five years.
Nominal cash earnings rose 2.1% from a year earlier, decelerating from a revised 2.7% pace in February and below a median economist forecast of 2.5%, according to the labor ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 9, 2025
Japan’s nominal wage growth slows, backing case for BOJ caution
Nominal cash earnings rose 2.1% from a year earlier, decelerating from a revised 2.7% pace in February and below a median economist forecast of 2.5%.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at Rengo's May Day event alongside the union's chief, Tomoko Yoshino, on Saturday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2025
Ishiba vows wage hikes that keep up with inflation at May Day event
Ishiba's participation marks the third year in a row for a Japanese prime minister to attend Rengo's May Day event.
In a reflection of persistent price pressure, real wages declined for a second straight month in February, falling 1.2% from a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 7, 2025
Japan’s nominal wages rise in bright spot as outlook darkens
Nominal cash earnings for workers climbed 3.1% in February from a year earlier, with the pace accelerating from a revised 1.8% in January, the labor ministry said Monday.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking is in talks to provide corporate client data to Fujitsu to run through the IT company’s multimodal machine learning tools to make business forecasts.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 3, 2025
SMBC and Fujitsu to partner on AI-driven forecasting services
The move would be a rare instance of a Japanese bank allowing another company access to sensitive customer data.
A report from Dai-ichi Life Research Institute shows that the cost of typical food items eaten at the gatherings known as hanami has risen 21.4% in the past six years.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 2, 2025
Inflation casts shadow over Japan’s cherry blossom season
A report shows that the cost of typical food items eaten at flower viewing gatherings has risen 21.4% in the past six years.
A survey of 12,817 companies by Shinkin Central Bank Research Institute found that only 51% committed to base wage hikes, the think tank announced on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2025
Japan’s wage growth isn’t as rosy as Rengo’s data indicate
The broader picture for pay trends may not be as rosy as the union group expects, according to one think tank.
Osamu Murata (left), the acting chairman of nonprofit Ashinaga, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Wednesday. Ashinaga, which provides financial aid to children, conducted a survey among parents and guardians of recipients to determine the challenges they face.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 27, 2025
Japan’s single parents struggle to raise children, survey finds
Such households grapple with economic hardship, "time poverty" and social isolation, according to a nonprofit that provides financial aid to children.
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.
Wages are set for another big increase this year as annual negotiations secure generous agreements.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 21, 2025
Japanese wages likely to rise more than 5% again this year
The average wage increase is key for the central bank, which is counting on steady raises as it ends a decadeslong experiment in ultraloose monetary policy.
It has become the government's urgent priority to address the issue of an acute labor shortage in the Self-Defense Forces, as recruitment has consistently fallen short of targets.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Mar 21, 2025
Higher pay and career support planned to help boost Japan's SDF ranks
Recruitment for the Self-Defense Forces has consistently fallen short of targets, with only about 10,000 personnel hired in fiscal 2023 — half of the quota of about 20,000.
A worker keeps a tally of wages Wednesday in Tokyo at the head office of UA Zensen, Japan's largest industrial trade union that represents workers mostly at small and medium-sized firms.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 14, 2025
Japan’s unions win largest pay hike in more than three decades
Some 760 affiliated unions under the trade union federation Rengo have so far secured an average pay gain of 5.46% in ongoing annual wage negotiations.
An official from the Japan Council of Metalworkers' Unions writes down the results of this year's "shuntō" annual spring labor negotiations on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 12, 2025
Major Japanese companies agree to solid pay and bonus hikes
Toyota, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hitachi, Fujitsu and NEC are among companies that say they have agreed to their respective labor unions' demands.
A woman who works at a private university in Fukuoka Prefecture as a part-time lecturer is still negotiating with the university over a cut in the number of classes she teaches.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Mar 10, 2025
'Highly educated working poor': Part-time lecturers lament stagnant wages
Many worry that raising their voices could lead to a reduction in classes, which impacts pay, or even dismissal.
Base pay rose by 3.1% in January from a year earlier, the largest advance since October 1992, according to the labor ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 10, 2025
Japan records fastest gains in base pay since 1992, supporting BOJ moves
Data has also highlighted the impact of price growth, with real cash earnings falling 1.8%.

Longform

Construction equipment sits idle in a park near Shiba Toshogu shrine in Tokyo's Minato Ward. While Japan has a history of treating its trees with reverence, green coverage is said to be lacking in most of the major cities.
Do Japan's trees no longer occupy the sacred space they used to?