Japan Press Weekly

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2025 July 9 - 15 [LABOR]

Unions call for immediate nationwide minimum wage of 1,500 yen

Various labor unions, as the Labor Ministry’s Central Minimum Wage Council on July 11 began deliberating on its recommendation for revision of regional minimum wages, staged a rally outside the Labor Ministry office building to demand a uniform minimum hourly wage of at least 1,500 yen nationwide.

Kurosawa Koichi, the secretary general of the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren), called for higher wages and job security so that people can live decently, saying, “We want the Council to establish a minimum wage of at least 1,500 yen an hour everywhere in Japan right now.” Zenroren is demanding an immediate increase in minimum wages to 1,500 yen with the goal of reaching 1,700 yen.

The president of the National Trade Union Council (Zenrokyo), Watanabe Hiroshi, said, “Some workers have to work two or three jobs in order to make a living, sacrificing their health. Let’s raise our voices to change this situation.”

A postal workers’ union member said, “We, at post offices across the country, are doing the same job, but disparities in our living conditions exist due to regional disparities in minimum wages.”

The current national average minimum hourly wage is 1,055 yen. The highest is Tokyo at 1,163 yen, while the lowest is Akita at 951 yen.