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April 23, 2025
 

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WAGES

In a reflection of persistent price pressure, real wages declined for a second straight month in February, falling 1.2% from a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 7, 2025
Japan’s nominal wages rise in bright spot as outlook darkens
Nominal cash earnings for workers climbed 3.1% in February from a year earlier, with the pace accelerating from a revised 1.8% in January, the labor ministry said Monday.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking is in talks to provide corporate client data to Fujitsu to run through the IT company’s multimodal machine learning tools to make business forecasts.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 3, 2025
SMBC and Fujitsu to partner on AI-driven forecasting services
The move would be a rare instance of a Japanese bank allowing another company access to sensitive customer data.
A report from Dai-ichi Life Research Institute shows that the cost of typical food items eaten at the gatherings known as hanami has risen 21.4% in the past six years.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 2, 2025
Inflation casts shadow over Japan’s cherry blossom season
A report shows that the cost of typical food items eaten at flower viewing gatherings has risen 21.4% in the past six years.
A survey of 12,817 companies by Shinkin Central Bank Research Institute found that only 51% committed to base wage hikes, the think tank announced on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2025
Japan’s wage growth isn’t as rosy as Rengo’s data indicate
The broader picture for pay trends may not be as rosy as the union group expects, according to one think tank.
Osamu Murata (left), the acting chairman of nonprofit Ashinaga, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Wednesday. Ashinaga, which provides financial aid to children, conducted a survey among parents and guardians of recipients to determine the challenges they face.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 27, 2025
Japan’s single parents struggle to raise children, survey finds
Such households grapple with economic hardship, "time poverty" and social isolation, according to a nonprofit that provides financial aid to children.
A Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry government building in Kasumigaseki, an area of Tokyo where the central government ministries are clustered
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2025
Japan should look at larger companies to set public servant pay: panel
Until 2005, the government looked at companies with at least 100 employees to decide their workers' salaries.
Wages are set for another big increase this year as annual negotiations secure generous agreements.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 21, 2025
Japanese wages likely to rise more than 5% again this year
The average wage increase is key for the central bank, which is counting on steady raises as it ends a decadeslong experiment in ultraloose monetary policy.
It has become the government's urgent priority to address the issue of an acute labor shortage in the Self-Defense Forces, as recruitment has consistently fallen short of targets.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Mar 21, 2025
Higher pay and career support planned to help boost Japan's SDF ranks
Recruitment for the Self-Defense Forces has consistently fallen short of targets, with only about 10,000 personnel hired in fiscal 2023 — half of the quota of about 20,000.
A worker keeps a tally of wages Wednesday in Tokyo at the head office of UA Zensen, Japan's largest industrial trade union that represents workers mostly at small and medium-sized firms.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 14, 2025
Japan’s unions win largest pay hike in more than three decades
Some 760 affiliated unions under the trade union federation Rengo have so far secured an average pay gain of 5.46% in ongoing annual wage negotiations.
An official from the Japan Council of Metalworkers' Unions writes down the results of this year's "shuntō" annual spring labor negotiations on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 12, 2025
Major Japanese companies agree to solid pay and bonus hikes
Toyota, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hitachi, Fujitsu and NEC are among companies that say they have agreed to their respective labor unions' demands.
A woman who works at a private university in Fukuoka Prefecture as a part-time lecturer is still negotiating with the university over a cut in the number of classes she teaches.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Mar 10, 2025
'Highly educated working poor': Part-time lecturers lament stagnant wages
Many worry that raising their voices could lead to a reduction in classes, which impacts pay, or even dismissal.
Base pay rose by 3.1% in January from a year earlier, the largest advance since October 1992, according to the labor ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 10, 2025
Japan records fastest gains in base pay since 1992, supporting BOJ moves
Data has also highlighted the impact of price growth, with real cash earnings falling 1.8%.
The weighted average of wage hikes demanded by 2,939 member unions of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, in this year's shuntō labor-management negotiations came to 6.09%, a Rengo survey showed Thursday.
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2025
Japan pay hike demands top 6% for first time in 32 years
It is the first time in 32 years for the average wage hike request to exceed 6%, amid the soaring cost of living and labor shortages.
Rengo says its member unions have demanded an average wage increase of 6.09% this year, up from last year’s 5.85%.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 6, 2025
Japan’s biggest union group demands highest wage hike since 1993
Member unions of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation are seeking an average wage increase of 6.09% this year, up from last year’s 5.85%.
According to a tally released on Thursday, some 1,416 labor unions under the umbrella of the Japan Council of Metalworkers’ Union requested a monthly base salary gain of ¥14,149 ($94.84) on average in talks expected to culminate with a deal next month.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2025
Japan's metalworker unions demand record pay hike
The demand by Japan Council of Metalworkers’ Union is an early sign of continued momentum for pay growth in the country.
Some 61.9% of over 11,000 surveyed companies intend to pledge pay increases as part of annual wage negotiations culminating in March, according to a survey by Teikoku Databank.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 20, 2025
Record percentage of Japanese firms plan wage hikes, survey shows
Some 61.9% of over 11,000 surveyed companies intend to pledge pay increases as part of annual wage negotiations culminating in March.
This is the 12th straight year that labor unions of major electronics firms have demanded pay scale hikes.
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2025
Japan electronics unions demand wage hike of ¥17,000
The focus is on whether employers will agree to raise pay significantly as in recent years to ensure that wages rise faster than prices.
Labor unions at major Japanese automakers submitted their wage hike requests on Wednesday, but it is uncertain whether the strong pay hike momentum seen in last year's labor-management talks can be maintained.
BUSINESS
Feb 12, 2025
Japanese auto unions submit wage hike demands
Negotiations are expected to intensify toward March 12, when many major companies will give their answers to their labor unions.
Motohisa Furukawa, acting head of the Democratic Party for the People, emphasizes the importance of winning the Upper House election scheduled for this summer.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 11, 2025
In policy platform, Democratic Party for the People vows to boost take-home pay
The party aims to boost morale further in the run-up to this summer's House of Councilors poll following its spectacular performance in last year's general election.
Japanese household consumption in December grew at the fastest pace since August 2022, but it is uncertain whether the gains are sustainable, given wage growth in the month was largely supported by the temporary effect of bonuses.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 7, 2025
Japan’s household spending jumps the most since 2022 as wages rise
Outlays adjusted for inflation gained 2.7% in December from a year earlier, according to internal affairs ministry data.
Social media helps fuel growing 'sex tourism' in Japan
People walk down a street in the red-light entertainment area of Kabukicho in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on March 31.
Japan buys first South Korean rice in over two decades as prices surge
Bags of rice at a warehouse in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. Japan imported South Korean rice for the first time since 1999 this month amid soaring domestic prices for the staple grain.
Nvidia CEO lobbies Japan to generate more power to fuel AI
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang answers questions from reporters after his meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo on Monday.
Nvidia CEO urges LDP to build up Japan’s AI infrastructure
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba receives a gift from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the start of their meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Monday.
Yen on the march as Plaza Accord 2.0 debate grows
The yen strengthened dramatically this month — hitting ¥139.9 to the dollar on Tuesday — and could become a topic of conversation in trade talks between the United States and Japan.
Is Japan’s parliament ready to welcome more youth to its ranks?
Lower House lawmaker Kai Odake in his Tokyo office on Wednesday
The floor is art: Takuro Tamayama transforms mundanity
Takuro Tamayama’s sculpture “Models (Pair, 6 sets, 12 rings)” comes with a mathematical formation that scales it for different spaces.
Nothing sells like Shohei Ohtani, MLB’s marketing megastar
People walk past an advertisement featuring Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani outside Tokyo Dome on March 18.
Calling all Potterheads: ‘The Goblet of Fire’ comes to Tokyo
The Tokyo version of the globe-trotting exhibition features a Ministry of Magic set, which includes an imposing replica of the Magic Is Might monument representing magical fascism.

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