AKITA, Japan - To stem the outflow of young people from regional areas amid a tight labor market, prefectures in Japan are engaged in a minimum wage race in which even one yen can make a difference.
Akita Prefecture in northeastern Japan, having been in a battle for last place for several years, climbed out of the country's bottom ranking for hourly pay. But the move also sparked backlash from business leaders, resulting in the prefecture's advisory council delaying implementation of the wage hike for six months.
Akita, which had the lowest minimum wage in the country at 951 yen ($6) per hour in fiscal year 2024, raised it by 80 yen to 1,031 yen. The increase came as a surprise to Tomokazu Terada, president of Marudai, which operates five supermarkets in the capital city of Akita. He said the company was already struggling with soaring labor costs.
"I think the employees are happy, but management isn't reaping any benefits from climbing out of last place," Terada said. "It gives the impression that (the government) is charging ahead without regard for the real economy or business performance."
Japan's national weighted average minimum hourly wage is 1,121 yen, with regional rates ranging from 1,023 yen in prefectures like Okinawa in southern Japan to 1,226 yen in Tokyo, the highest. Driven partly by comparisons with neighboring prefectures, the competition to raise wages has intensified, and hourly pay has topped 1,000 yen in all 47 prefectures.
As the lowest hourly wage...
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