Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) moved the FY2026 regional minimum wage revision forward on July 28, 2026, when the Central Minimum Wages Council adopted its central guideline (目安) under the Minimum Wages Act (Act No. 137 of 1959). By October 31, 2026, every prefectural labour bureau director must issue the binding revised regional minimum wage public notice (公示), and employers must pay each worker at least the new prefectural hourly rate.
Employers with workers in Japan across all 47 prefectures, payroll service providers and payroll SaaS operators, HR and time-tracking system vendors, and staffing and worker-dispatch agencies must update payroll and time-tracking systems to each prefecture's revised hourly minimum wage and pay every worker at least that rate once the prefectural public notice takes effect, or face the Minimum Wages Act penalty regime plus back-pay obligations for underpaid workers.
- Deadline : October 31, 2026, obligations due (prefectural public notices and payroll update)
- Who : Employers, payroll providers, HR and time-tracking vendors, and staffing agencies with workers in Japan across all 47 prefectures
- What : Prefectural labour bureaus set revised regional minimum wages; employers update payroll and pay the new hourly rate
- Otherwise : Paying below the revised minimum hourly wage violates the Minimum Wages Act (Act No. 137 of 1959): penalty regime plus back-pay
- Official source : MHLW central guideline (75th Central Minimum Wages Council answer)
What is due on October 31, 2026
Two obligations fall due on October 31, 2026. Each prefectural labour bureau director must set the revised regional minimum wage referencing the central guideline, after the local minimum wage council answer, and issue the binding public notice. Employers and payroll providers must update payroll and time-tracking systems to the new prefectural hourly minimum by each effective date.
The central guideline, adopted on July 28, 2026 after a consultation opened on June 26, 2026, sets a per-prefecture hourly raise target of +54 yen for rank A prefectures (Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Aichi, Osaka) and +56 yen for ranks B and C (the other 41 prefectures). If every prefecture applies the target, the national weighted average reaches 1,176 yen, a +55 yen (+4.9%) increase over FY2025. Directors issue the binding public notices, with applicability expected in October 2026.
Who is covered
The Minimum Wages Act binds every employer in Japan per prefecture of workplace. The revised prefectural hourly minimum applies to part-time, temporary, dispatched, and regular workers alike, and tracks the workplace location, not the employer's head office. Employers in multiple prefectures apply each workplace's rate. Payroll providers, HR and time-tracking vendors, and staffing agencies must reconfigure systems and contracts for every prefecture where their clients have workers.
What to do before October 31, 2026
- Track each prefecture's public notice (公示) as labour bureau directors publish the revised hourly rate, by workplace location.
- Update payroll and time-tracking systems to the revised prefectural hourly minimum for every prefecture where you have workers.
- Verify every worker, including part-time, temporary and dispatched workers, is paid at least the new applicable prefectural rate from its effective date.
- Recalculate hourly rates for workers at or near the minimum, and back-pay any gap from the effective date.
- Brief staffing and worker-dispatch agencies on the revised rates for each assignment location.
- Review employment contracts and allowances that reference the minimum wage to ensure continued compliance.
What happens otherwise
Paying below the revised prefectural minimum hourly wage violates the Minimum Wages Act (Act No. 137 of 1959) and exposes the employer to its penalty regime plus back-pay for underpaid workers. The MHLW, the Prefectural Labour Bureaus, and the Labor Standards Inspection Offices enforce compliance. Continuous per-jurisdiction monitoring surfaces this kind of change the moment a prefectural public notice publishes.
