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August 12, 2026
 

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RENGO

Workers at 5,368 companies affiliated with Rengo have secured an average wage increase of 5.01%, according to the group¡¯s final tally released Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 3, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ 2026 wage talks result in third year of gains above 5%
Workers at 5,368 companies affiliated with Rengo, the country¡¯s largest labor union group, have secured an average wage increase of 5.01%.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi addresses a May Day event in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2026
Takaichi vows support for wage hikes at May Day event
The prime minister also called for cooperation to achieve ¡°sustained wage hikes that outpace inflation.¡±
Rengo's tally showed that the average wage gain secured by labor unions stayed above the group's 5% target for a third straight year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 17, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ wage growth holds momentum after small firms reach deals
The development comes even after results from smaller firms were factored into the tally, an outcome that will keep the Bank of Japan on track for a near-term interest rate hike.
Labor unions under Rengo have so far secured an average pay increase of 5.26% in wage negotiations with employers, according to an initial tally.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 23, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ key labor union wins wage hike topping 5% for third year
The development will likely keep the central bank on track for another interest rate hike in the coming months.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her Canadian counterpart, Mark Carney, meet in Tokyo on March 6. Takaichi is Â鶹´«Ã½ first female prime minister, while Canada has not had a woman serve in the post in more than three decades.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 13, 2026
Mirrors and blind spots: Japan, Canada and gender equality
Canada¡¯s numbers do not describe a country that has solved gender inequality. They suggest one that may be coasting on a progressive reputation not fully matched by outcomes.
Real wages have been falling in Japan for a number of years despite high nominal increases.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 6, 2026
Unions seeking wage increases this year of almost 6%
The spring offensive results are likely to be in line with last year¡¯s.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a Liberal Democratic Party executive meeting at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2026
Time for Takaichi to tackle Â鶹´«Ã½ political taboos
How Takaichi spends her political capital will define her prime ministership, and she may very well be in a position to finally tackle some unresolved voting issues.
Rengo President Tomoko Yoshino speaks during an interview in Tokyo in December.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 4, 2026
Rengo head urges wide-ranging changes for gender equality
Tomoko Yoshino, Rengo¡¯s first female leader, said that the proportion of women in management positions is low in Japan.
Sanseito supporters listen as the party¡¯s leader, Sohei Kamiya, speaks at an election campaign event in Tokyo on Jan. 27, the first day of official campaigning for the Feb. 8 snap election.?
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 3, 2026
Has Takaichi secured a win? Conservative voters are returning to the LDP.
Takaichi¡¯s confidence in calling an election just four months into her tenure as Â鶹´«Ã½ leader comes from high public approval and a general fragmentation in the opposition ranks.
Â鶹´«Ã½ largest trade union federation, Rengo, was seeking a wage increase of at least 5% as wage talks between unions and employers kicked off Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 27, 2026
Japan business lobby warns of tariff impact as wage talks start
The head of Â鶹´«Ã½ biggest business lobby said he expects businesses to maintain wage hike momentum to a certain extent during the talks despite some ¡°clearly very tough factors.¡±
Yoshihiko Noda (left) and Tetsuo Saito, co-chairs of the new Centrist Reform Alliance, shake hands at the party's founding convention in Tokyo on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 27, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ new ¡®Centrist Reform Alliance¡¯ is a misnomer
The Centrist Reform Alliance is asking voters to embrace a brand label rather than a fully formed policy platform and a partnership of convenience.
Tomoko Yoshino, president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, commonly known as Rengo, speaks during a rally in April 2023.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2026
Rengo leader seeks average 5% wage hikes for third consecutive year
The union leader expressed a wish to ¡°build momentum around the idea that wages rise,¡± reaffirming the largest Japanese labor group¡¯s target of at least 5% in pay increases.
Base pay in Japan increased 2% in November from a year earlier, according to the labor ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 8, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ base pay growth holds steady, but nominal wage increases slow
The mixed signals come two weeks before the Bank of Japan next meet to decide policy.
LDP secretary-general Shunichi Suzuki speaks at the party¡¯s meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 7, 2026
LDP secretary-general eyes ¡®political stability¡¯ in courting DPP into ruling bloc
The move fits into the wider trend of growing cooperation between the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party for the People in recent months.
Rengo President Tomoko Yoshino during an interview in Tokyo on Tuesday
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2025
Head of Rengo opposes government¡¯s plan on surnames
Tomoko Yoshino showed her intention to cooperate with political parties supporting the introduction of a selective dual surname system for married couples.
Rengo President Tomoko Yoshino (center) and others rally during the organization's central committee meeting on Friday in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 28, 2025
Labor group Rengo to seek wage hike of 5% or more for next year
The umbrella body for labor unions across the country will aim to achieve the levels of pay hikes attained this year to improve the living standards of workers.
Tomoko Yoshino, chair?of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, known as?Rengo, during an interview in Tokyo, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 25, 2025
Â鶹´«Ã½ union chair urges government to step up inflation fight
¡°We really expect the government to bring prices under control,¡± said Tomoko Yoshino, chair of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, known as Rengo.
Rengo President Tomoko Yoshino speaks at a news conference on Thursday. She said the union is looking to make wage hikes a normal occurrence.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 23, 2025
Â鶹´«Ã½ unions seek minimum 5% wage hike in upcoming pay talks
Sanae Takaichi¡¯s tenure and the central bank¡¯s policy path could be affected if Japan can¡¯t keep up its wage-hike momentum.
Rengo's head Tomoko Yoshino speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Oct. 8.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 16, 2025
As they wrestle for power, Â鶹´«Ã½ political parties must remember their base
Electoral fortunes are shaped ¡ª or undone ¡ª by parliamentary alignments, social and religious groups, and representation from industries and labor.
Rengo President Tomoko Yoshino at a symposium in Tokyo on Friday
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2025
Â鶹´«Ã½ top union group advised to seek 5% pay hike during spring talks
An expert panel report stressed that the 2026 shunto will be a crucial opportunity to firmly establish a healthy cycle of rising wages and prices.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
Yasukuni Shrine introduces ban on military attire and cosplay
People gather in front of thousands of lanterns on display at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on July 15 during the Mitama Matsuri, one of the capital's largest summer o-Bon festivals.
Many Indonesians named after Japanese anime characters
Some people in Indonesia are named Doraemon, the name of a lead character of the blockbuster anime series with the same title.
Strong wind and heavy rain forecast as tropical storm approaches Japan
Tropical Storm Chan-hom is expected to make landfall in northern Kanto between late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
At Smoke Craft, a craft beer brewery in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, music isn't just a background to the brewing process ¡ª it's an ingredient.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
J. League enters new era as league kicks off first fall-spring campaign
Players from each J. League club pose during a kickoff event on Monday ahead of the start of the 2026-27 campaign.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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