Most of Japan's 4 million public servants, from the nation's top leaders to the rank-and-file employees of the central and local governments, received their summer bonuses Thursday.
The average payment to central government employees in nonmanagerial administrative jobs was about 617,000 yen for a 34.5-year-old employee, down 13,000 yen, or 2.1 percent, from last year.
The average local government employee bonus was about 592,000 yen for a 35.9-year-old employee, down 1,000 yen, or 0.2 percent.
The annual bonus payment was the equivalent of 2.1 months' salary for both central and local government employees, the same as last year.
The average bonus of central government employees appears to have fallen sharply.
The lower figures resulted from a drop in the average age of central government employees, due to the exclusion of national universities' employees after the universities became independent administrative corporations in April 2004.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Supreme Court Chief Justice Akira Machida received the largest bonuses, each receiving some 5.67 million yen. Meanwhile, Cabinet members received some 4.14 million yen each, the same amount as last year, according to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.