Anyone working in Japan is covered by a minimum wage set at the prefectural level. It reaches part-time and casual work, Technical Intern Training and Specified Skilled Worker employment, and workers of any nationality. The figure is revised every year, and the FY2026 (Reiwa 8) round is under way. What it will be where you work, though, is not settled nationwide in early August. The national council issues only a guideline; the actual amount emerges from each prefecture's own council and is decided by the head of the prefectural Labour Bureau, and effective dates differ by prefecture too. This article draws on material published by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the prefectural Labour Bureaus, and sets out, in the order you would need them: who is covered, how the amount is decided, what was and was not confirmed as of 7 August 2026, and how to check your own hourly rate. It does not judge whether a particular employment contract is lawful, so the places to verify are listed too.

Who the minimum wage applies to

The regional minimum wage applies to every worker and every employer at a business located in the prefecture, whatever the industry or the job. The MHLW page on the scope of the minimum wage states this plainly: there is no carve-out for part-time, casual, fixed-term, contract or re-employed staff. What your contract is called does not change the floor.

Nationality and residence status make no difference either. The MHLW publishes a Working Conditions Handbook for foreign workers (November 2025 edition), which says of Japan's labour laws that "These laws apply to everyone irrespective of nationality in the same way" and that foreign workers are entitled by law to the same treatment as Japanese workers. Student part-time work, Technical Intern Training and Specified Skilled Worker employment all sit inside the same framework.

How you are engaged can change which prefecture's figure applies. For dispatched (haken) workers, the minimum wage that applies is the one for the place of dispatch, not the dispatching agency's location. And where both a regional minimum wage and a specified (industry) minimum wage apply, the higher of the two governs.

One more point matters more than most: an agreement to work below the minimum wage is void. The same handbook explains that a labour contract specifying a wage below the minimum is invalid, and that a contract at the minimum wage is deemed to have been concluded instead. "The worker agreed to it" is not a defence.

  • Applies regardless of contract type: full-time, fixed-term, part-time, casual, re-employed
  • Applies regardless of nationality or residence status, including student part-time work, Technical Intern Training and Specified Skilled Worker
  • Dispatched workers are covered by the rate for the place of dispatch
  • Where a regional and a specified (industry) minimum wage both apply, the higher one governs
  • An agreement below the minimum is void; the contract is deemed to be at the minimum wage

How the figure is set each year

The revision follows the same sequence every year. The Central Minimum Wage Council sorts the 47 prefectures into ranks A, B and C, then submits to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare a guideline increase for each rank. Each prefecture's own Local Minimum Wage Council then deliberates, using that guideline as a reference alongside local wage surveys and testimony, and issues its own recommendation. Finally, the head of each prefectural Labour Bureau decides the regional minimum wage.

The key thing is that the centre issues a guideline, not a decision. A local council may recommend exactly the guideline figure, or something different. Two prefectures in the same rank can end up in different places.

There is another step after the local recommendation. Before it becomes a formal revision, the recommended figure goes through procedures including a public notice inviting objections from labour and management. Announcing its recommendation on 5 August 2026, the Mie Labour Bureau said the revision would be decided after procedures including that public notice. Only then does the new figure take effect, on the date specified.

  • The Central Minimum Wage Council recommends a guideline increase for each rank
  • The 47 Local Minimum Wage Councils deliberate and each issue a recommendation
  • A public notice period for objections from labour and management follows
  • The head of the prefectural Labour Bureau decides the revision, effective on a specified date

Where things stood on 7 August 2026

On 28 July 2026, the Central Minimum Wage Council submitted its guideline for the FY2026 (Reiwa 8) revision. Per the MHLW release, the guideline increases are 54 yen for rank A and 56 yen for ranks B and C. If every prefecture were to raise its rate by exactly the guideline, the national weighted average would come to 1,176 yen — up 55 yen, or 4.9 per cent, both below last year's figures of 66 yen and 6.3 per cent.

The same release sets out the ranks. Rank A is six prefectures: Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Aichi and Osaka. Rank C is thirteen: Aomori, Iwate, Akita, Yamagata, Tottori, Kochi, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Oita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima and Okinawa. The remaining 28 make up rank B. That release is where to look up your own prefecture's rank.

Rather more is still open. The guideline is not a set of prefectural figures. As of 7 August 2026, the MHLW's national list of regional minimum wages still shows the FY2025 amounts and effective dates; the FY2026 list is not up. The guideline release itself says nothing about when the new rates take effect.

Local recommendations are arriving one prefecture at a time. As of 7 August 2026, Labour Bureau press releases showed at least eight prefectures publishing recommendations on 5 and 6 August — Hokkaido, Miyagi, Saitama, Chiba, Gifu, Mie, Nagano and Okayama — which is a floor confirmed from those releases, not a complete national tally. On 5 August the Mie Labour Bureau announced a recommendation to raise the prefecture's rate to 1,143 yen per hour, to take effect on 1 October 2026; against Mie's FY2025 rate of 1,087 yen that is exactly the 56-yen rank B guideline. The same day the Miyagi Labour Bureau announced a recommendation of 1,098 yen — an increase of 60 yen, or 5.78 per cent, with an expected effective date of 1 October — which is 4 yen above the guideline. Some prefectures land on the guideline and some above it. None of these is a formal revision yet, and prefecture-by-prefecture tables circulating in early August may mix recommendations with figures simply calculated from the guideline.

  • Guideline recommended: 28 July 2026
  • Guideline increases: rank A 54 yen / rank B 56 yen / rank C 56 yen
  • National weighted average if applied as-is: 1,176 yen (up 55 yen, 4.9 per cent)
  • Prefectures per rank: A 6 / B 28 / C 13
  • At least eight prefectures had published recommendations as of 7 August 2026, some at the guideline and some above it
  • As of 7 August 2026 the MHLW national list still shows FY2025 amounts

Effective dates differ by prefecture

A decided figure does not switch on everywhere at once. Each prefecture sets its own effective date, and the spread is wide. In the FY2025 table the MHLW published alongside this year's guideline, the dates run from 1 October 2025 in Tochigi to 31 March 2026 in Akita — close to six months apart.

The same table shows the FY2025 amounts. The highest was Tokyo at 1,226 yen, effective 3 October 2025. The lowest was 1,023 yen in Miyazaki, Kochi and Okinawa, effective 16 November 2025 in Miyazaki and 1 December 2025 in Kochi and Okinawa. Both the amount and the start date depend on where you work.

Practically, work done before the effective date is measured against the old rate, and work from that date against the new one. Do not assume October brings an automatic raise. Check your prefecture's effective date on the Labour Bureau's announcement or the MHLW national list.

Converting your pay into an hourly figure

The regional minimum wage is expressed as an hourly amount. If you are paid monthly or by the day, convert first and compare after. The MHLW page on checking whether pay meets the minimum sets out the conversions by pay structure.

For monthly pay, the "average monthly scheduled working hours" figure comes from your employment contract (the written statement of working conditions) or the work rules, not from your payslip. It is normally derived from the number of scheduled working days in the year and the scheduled hours per day — contracted hours, not hours actually worked.

Because the comparison uses scheduled hours, a month heavy with overtime does not help your position. Overtime pay is excluded from the comparison, as the next section explains. The test is basic monthly pay divided by scheduled hours.

  • Hourly pay: hourly rate must be at or above the minimum hourly rate
  • Daily pay: daily rate divided by scheduled hours per day must be at or above the minimum hourly rate
  • Monthly pay: monthly pay divided by average monthly scheduled hours must be at or above the minimum hourly rate
  • Piece rates or other contract-based pay: total pay for the period divided by total hours worked in that period, then compared
  • Mixed structures (for example daily base pay plus monthly allowances): convert each to an hourly figure, add them, then compare

Some pay does not count in the comparison

Dividing your gross pay by your hours will often flatter the result. What counts toward the minimum wage is the basic wage paid every month, not everything that lands in your account. The MHLW page on wages subject to the minimum wage lists what has to be stripped out first.

So overtime pay, holiday-work premiums and the night-work premium portion are all out. Commuting allowances, perfect-attendance allowances and family allowances come out too. What is left is base pay plus regular monthly allowances that do not fall into those categories — a job-duty allowance, for instance — and that total is what you divide by scheduled hours.

Bonuses are out as well. Adding two bonus payments may put your annual earnings comfortably above the line, but if the basic monthly wage falls short, that is a minimum wage problem regardless.

  • Payments made on an irregular basis, such as a marriage allowance
  • Payments made for periods longer than a month, such as bonuses
  • Pay for work beyond scheduled working hours, such as overtime premiums
  • Pay for work on days outside scheduled working days, such as holiday premiums
  • The portion of night-work pay exceeding the ordinary hourly calculation, such as the night-work premium
  • Perfect-attendance allowance, commuting allowance and family allowance

What to do if your pay falls short

Start from the legal position: even if both sides agreed to the amount, an agreement below the minimum wage is void, and a contract at the minimum wage is deemed to have been concluded in its place. That includes the shortfall, so it is not something to let ride.

There is one narrow exception. With the permission of the head of the prefectural Labour Bureau, an employer may pay a reduced amount to workers in five defined categories: people whose working capacity is markedly reduced by a mental or physical disability; people in a probationary period; people undertaking authorised vocational training specified by ministerial ordinance; people engaged in light work; and people engaged in intermittent work. The employer must apply in writing through the head of the competent Labour Standards Inspection Office and obtain permission. An employer cannot simply decide to pay less.

The places to raise it are the Labour Standards Inspection Office and the prefectural Labour Bureau. If handling it in Japanese is difficult, the MHLW runs multilingual phone lines.

Days of the week per language differ between MHLW documents and can change. Check the language, day and number on the MHLW "Check Your Working Conditions" consultation page before you call.

  • Labour Standards Inspection Office / prefectural Labour Bureau covering your workplace
  • Consultation Line for Foreign Workers: English 0570-001-701, Chinese 0570-001-702 and 13 languages in total, 10:00-15:00 excluding 12:00-13:00, calls charged
  • Hotline to Advise on Working Conditions: free of charge, Japanese 0120-811-610, English 0120-531-401 and others, weekdays 17:00-22:00 and weekends and public holidays 09:00-21:00
  • Foreign Worker Consultation Corners, set up at some prefectural Labour Bureaus and Labour Standards Inspection Offices
  • Comprehensive Labour Consultation Corners, set up at prefectural Labour Bureaus and inside Labour Standards Inspection Offices nationwide, a one-stop desk for workplace problems

How to look up the current figure yourself

The minimum wage changes every year, and both the amount and the effective date vary by prefecture. Being able to look it up beats memorising any figure printed in an article. The order below works.

This article is a summary of material published by the MHLW and the prefectural Labour Bureaus as of 7 August 2026. It does not determine whether any particular employment contract complies with the Minimum Wage Act. Prefectural amounts and effective dates will be finalised in sequence as local recommendations come through, so confirm the number itself on the official pages.

  • Open the MHLW national list of regional minimum wages and find your prefecture's amount and effective date
  • During the revision season, roughly August to October, watch your prefectural Labour Bureau's site for recommendation and revision announcements
  • Pull your employment contract and work rules for base pay, allowances, and scheduled hours per day and per month
  • From your payslip, isolate only the pay that counts and convert it to an hourly figure
  • If it is unclear, ask the Labour Standards Inspection Office or one of the multilingual consultation lines

Sources & References