May 1, 2026

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

May 1st is the 97th May Day in Japan, a day of unity and solidarity with workers around the world.

The 8-hour workday was the starting point of May Day rallies, but the current government led by Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae is seeking to abolish working time regulations by adversely revising the Labor Standards Act.

In 1886, the year that marked the origins of May Day, American workers campaigned for “eight hours of work, eight hours of rest, and eight hours of freedom.”

Activities during “free time” require a solid economic foundation. However, at present, pay hikes are not keeping pace with inflation. In order to increase wages, it is necessary to: immediately set a uniform minimum hourly wage of at least 1,500 yen nationwide with the goal of reaching 1,700 yen; improve working conditions for non-regular workers; achieve gender equality; secure a substantial wage increase for care workers; and immediately reduce the consumption tax rate to 5% with the ultimate goal of abolishing this regressive tax.

Today, “tax the rich” is the global trend. Massive military expansion and tax hikes as means to fund arms buildups are absolutely out of the question.

During the era of Japanese militarism, Japan’s labor union movement saw May Day rallies prohibited and all labor unions dissolved.

The government is now preparing to turn the country into a war-capable aggressive nation again. It is attempting to establish a “wartime economic system” to bolster Japan’s war capabilities by forcing people to work long hours, lowering workers’ wages, depriving them of the right to freedom of thought and belief, promoting the arms industry, dramatically increasing taxes, and issuing a large amount of deficit-covering government bonds.

The Japanese workers must not allow the government to dismantle labor unions yet again and to pursue the path toward a war economy.