TOKYO – Japan’s average minimum hourly pay has been raised by 66 yen to a record 1,121 yen ($7.6) for fiscal 2025 starting in April, up 6.3 percent from a year earlier, amid rising living costs, the labor ministry said Friday.
The sharpest year-on-year increase comes as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s government pushes for wage hikes that outpace inflation, which has squeezed household budgets in recent years.
But the rise still falls short of the 7.3 percent average growth necessary every year until fiscal 2029 to meet the government’s target of lifting the minimum hourly pay to 1,500 yen by the end of the 2020s.
Tokyo topped the list at 1,226 yen, while the prefectures of Kochi, Miyazaki and Okinawa were lowest at 1,023 yen, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
Minimum wages have been increased as companies face pressure to retain workers in a tight labor market and cope with persistent price rises. While the move benefits workers, it also squeezes businesses, especially small and midsize firms, economists say.
Speaking to reporters, Ishiba pledged the government will make the “utmost efforts” to support smaller businesses willing to raise wages.
In Japan, a government panel sets an annual guideline for minimum wages in each prefecture. Local panels then decide the specific rates for their areas, after which the labor ministry calculates the nationwide average.
The new rates will be applied in October at the earliest, with the timing varying by prefecture.
AloJapan.com