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July 01, 2026
 

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WAGES

The Bank of Japan should take a cautious approach to raising interest rates further, a former BOJ policy board member has said.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 25, 2025
BOJ needs caution on rates during growth push, ex-official says
The former board member said the government should fully utilize fiscal, monetary and tax policy to stimulate demand and realize a “high pressure” economy.
Japan’s finance and health ministers agreed to a 2.22% hike in medical service fees for fiscal 2026, the first in 12 years.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2025
Japanese ministers agree to raise medical service fees
The core portion of fees will be raised by 3% or more for the first time in 30 years, a step designed to help hospitals cope with rising prices and raise wages for medical workers.
According to the Defense Ministry, only 89.1% of SDF positions were staffed as of the end of March 2025, making recruitment an urgent task.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 23, 2025
Japan to overhaul SDF pay scale in fiscal 2027, a year earlier than scheduled
The pay structure revision, originally slated for fiscal 2028, will now align with plans to bring forward revisions to Japan’s three key national security-related documents.
Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing will raise base salaries for new graduates in Japan as the country’s workers grapple with inflation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 22, 2025
Uniqlo’s owner boosts new graduate pay as Japan faces inflation
Annual pay will grow by about 12% to ¥5.9 million ($37,400) starting in March for university graduates in management-track programs.
Akihiro Kaneko, president of the Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers’ Unions, has expressed concern over the Bank of Japan’s anticipated rate hike Friday possibly weighing on companies’ ability to raise wages in the coming fiscal year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 17, 2025
Japan’s auto union chair fears BOJ hike may impede wage momentum
A sharp drop in the yen after the expected hike on Friday could affect corporate sentiment.
The decision to hike rates, expected at the two-day Bank of Japan policy meeting set to be held from Thursday, would take the rate to a level unseen in 30 years.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 12, 2025
BOJ will raise policy interest rate at next meeting, according to sources
The policy decision, expected at the central bank’s two-day meeting set to be held from Thursday, will take the rate to a level unseen in 30 years.
The Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers’ Union plans to seek a slightly more ambitious wage hike in the upcoming negotiations than last year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 12, 2025
Japan’s auto union seeks higher wage gains as BOJ watches trends
The Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers’ Union (JAW) will aim for a minimum ¥12,000 ($77) monthly base wage increase.
A worker at Tajima Light Metal in Saitama Prefecture. Monday’s revised GDP figures incorporate additional data, including weak capital spending by companies.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 8, 2025
Japan confirms deeper GDP decline, backing Takaichi’s stimulus
Gross domestic product fell at an annualized pace of 2.3% in the third quarter.
Katahiro Yasukochi, head of the Japanese Association of Metal, Machinery and Manufacturing Workers, explains the group’s wage hike demand in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 4, 2025
Japan small makers’ unions to seek ¥17,000 pay scale hike
The Japanese Association of Metal, Machinery and Manufacturing Workers will make its largest-ever demand to narrow the wage gap between small and larger firms.
Rengo President Tomoko Yoshino (center) and others rally during the organization's central committee meeting on Friday in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 28, 2025
Labor group Rengo to seek wage hike of 5% or more for next year
The umbrella body for labor unions across the country will aim to achieve the levels of pay hikes attained this year to improve the living standards of workers.
The Japan Council of Metalworkers' Unions says it will demand the same level of pay scale hike as what was sought last year, which was the highest since it moved to the current way of requesting pay scale hikes by specifying amounts.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 27, 2025
Key labor group to seek pay scale hike of at least ¥12,000 per month
Despite concerns over impacts on corporate earnings from high U.S. tariffs, the Japan Council of Metalworkers’ Unions aims to realize wage increases above inflation.
A building housing the health ministry in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2025
Profit margin at minus 7.3% for Japan general hospitals
The figure improved by 0.2 percentage point from the previous year, a health ministry survey showed Wednesday.
Tomoko Yoshino, chair of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, known as Rengo, during an interview in Tokyo, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 25, 2025
Japan’s union chair urges government to step up inflation fight
“We really expect the government to bring prices under control,” said Tomoko Yoshino, chair of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, known as Rengo.
Labor unions in Japan have already made clear they will again demand bumper pay hikes, as real wage growth has remained negative despite hefty increases in recent years.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 24, 2025
Early signs for 2026 wages bolster case for near-term BOJ rate hike
Sustained wage growth would underpin private consumption, giving Japan’s central bank confidence to raise rates without derailing Japan’s economic recovery.
Labor productivity per worker in fiscal 2024, which ended in March, rose 0.2% in real terms from the previous year, marking a fourth consecutive annual increase, according to Japan Productivity Center data.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 16, 2025
Japan labor productivity up 0.2% in FY 2024
Despite the good news, progress is still required to ensure that real wages keep rising by 1% as envisioned in a government target, according to the Japan Productivity Center.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Friday that Japanese businesses are focusing too much on shareholders, expressing frustration that companies are not using more capital to raise wages.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 14, 2025
Takaichi pushes back against companies’ focus on shareholders
The Prime Minister’s comments flicked at her frustration with firms for not using more capital to raise wages.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi chats with her Cabinet members in parliament in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 8, 2025
Takaichi plans pay cuts for herself and her ministers
The prime minister seeks to revise the public servant remuneration law to cut the salaries of Cabinet members, including herself.
The $1 trillion pay agreement puts Elon Musk on track to become the world's first trillionaire.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 7, 2025
Tesla shareholders approve $1 trillion pay package for Musk
More than 75% of votes were cast in favor of the unprecedented pay plan, the company said Thursday at its annual meeting.
UA Zensen, a major labor union covering service sectors, plans to push for a 6% bump in overall wages for regular employees in negotiations set to conclude in March.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 6, 2025
Major Japan union group seeks 6% wage hike as BOJ watches
UA Zensen said it plans to target the same level of wage gains for regular workers in next year’s pay negotiations as it did for this year.
Real cash earnings fell 1.4% in September, marking the ninth consecutive monthly decline in line with analyst forecasts.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 6, 2025
Japan’s wage growth stays firm, keeping rate hike bets alive
Nominal wages rose 1.9% from a year earlier, accelerating from August, the labor ministry reported Thursday, coming in line with economist expectations.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Yen hits 40-year low against the dollar, breaking ¥162 level
Japan's currency broke ¥162 to the dollar on Tuesday in Tokyo.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

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