Minimum wage in Japan 2026: JPY 1,085 to 1,280 an hour by prefecture

Which prefecture's rate applies, and from when

The rate that binds you is the one for the prefecture where the employee works, not where your company is registered. A Tokyo company with a salesperson based in Osaka owes at least Osaka's JPY 1,231 an hour, not Tokyo's JPY 1,280. Where an industry-specific minimum wage (tokutei saitei chingin) covers the job and is higher, that figure applies instead.

Each new rate binds from its own start date, and the fiscal 2025 rate stays in force until then. The fiscal 2026 dates are spread over nine weeks:

• October 1, 2026 (15 prefectures): Hokkaido, Miyagi, Tochigi, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Niigata, Toyama, Gifu, Aichi, Mie, Osaka, Hyogo, Kagawa.
• Later in October: Nagano, Okayama (Oct 2); Gunma, Ishikawa, Shiga, Wakayama, Tottori (Oct 3); Fukui, Nara, Fukuoka (Oct 4); Yamaguchi (Oct 8); Shimane (Oct 10); Hiroshima (Oct 11); Akita (Oct 14); Shizuoka (Oct 15); Fukushima (Oct 16); Ibaraki (Oct 18); Miyazaki (Oct 24); Kagoshima (Oct 25); Aomori, Kochi (Oct 29); Yamagata (Oct 30).
• November: Yamanashi, Tokushima, Ehime, Oita (Nov 1); Nagasaki (Nov 2); Saga (Nov 15); Kyoto (Nov 16).
• December: Iwate, Kumamoto (Dec 1); Okinawa (Dec 2).

Other minimum wage rates in Japan

Japan minimum wage history

All 47 prefectural rates for fiscal 2026

Every prefecture rose by JPY 54 to 65. Tokyo and Kanagawa are the only two above JPY 1,250; 18 prefectures sit at JPY 1,100 or less.

What the minimum comes to per month and per year

Japan has no legal monthly minimum salary. The test for a monthly-paid employee is whether monthly pay divided by scheduled monthly hours reaches the prefecture's hourly rate. At the legal maximum of 40 hours a week, a full-time schedule averages 40 x 52 / 12 = 173.33 hours a month and 2,080 hours a year.

On a shorter schedule, say 7.5 hours a day, run the test on your own scheduled hours; the monthly floor falls with them.

How Japan revises the rates each year

Each summer the Central Minimum Wage Council issues target increases for prefectures grouped into ranks. Each prefecture's council then deliberates, and the director of the Prefectural Labor Bureau fixes the amount and start date, which is why dates differ and some prefectures beat the target.

The fiscal 2026 round lifted the weighted average by JPY 56, or 5.0%, from JPY 1,121 to JPY 1,177, and the lowest rate is now 84.8% of the highest. Fiscal 2027 rates have not been set; the next round is normally decided in August and September 2027. The history table uses fiscal years; its 2022 to 2024 averages come from secondary reporting of MHLW figures. South Korea, by contrast, sets one national rate a year ahead: see South Korea's 2027 minimum wage.

What an employer pays on top of the minimum

Japanese social insurance is charged on a standard monthly remuneration grade close to actual pay. With the Tokyo rates used on our Japan employer of record page, the employer share is:

• Employees' pension: 9.15%
• Health insurance (Kyokai Kenpo, Tokyo, from March 2026 pay): 4.925%
• Child-rearing support levy: 0.115% (half of 0.23%, assuming the usual equal split), plus the employer-only child-rearing contribution of 0.36%
• Employment insurance: 0.85% for general businesses in fiscal 2026
• Workers' compensation: 0.3% for most office businesses (up to 8.8% in high-risk industries)

That totals 15.70%, or 16.51% for employees aged 40 to 64, who also pay long-term care. On Tokyo's minimum of JPY 221,867 a month, 15.70% is about JPY 34,833, so one full-time minimum-wage employee costs roughly JPY 256,700 a month before any provider fee. Since the levy runs on grades, the exact yen shift slightly. Compare Japan's on-cost with other countries in the employer cost index.

Paying a Japan hire without a Japanese company

To employ someone directly you need a Japanese entity enrolled in social insurance. Without one, an employer of record hires the worker on its own entity, runs shakai hoken and withholds income and resident tax. Published EOR fees run from $99 a month (Native Teams, whose help center says EUR 99) to $699 (Oyster), checked October 16 and 18, 2026, and Remote lists from $599. See how EOR providers price each employee.

Ask any provider how it handles resident tax (juminzei). A Deel customer reported on Trustpilot on September 26, 2026 that a Japan resident tax deduction was missed.

To model a full monthly bill, use the international employee cost calculator. For pay above the floor, see average salaries in Japan, and for leave costs see maternity and childcare leave in Japan.