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August 13, 2026
 

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UNIONS

A labor ministry panel has entered the final stage of its discussions on fiscal 2026's minimum wage, with labor seeking a record increase while employers urge caution over the burden it would have on smaller businesses.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 27, 2026
Labor-management gap remains wide at Â鶹´«Ã½ minimum wage panel
Labor representatives are seeking a record ?75 increase, but management representatives say smaller companies may not be able to afford it due to the Middle East turmoil.
Choi Seung-ho, union leader at Samsung Electronics in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, in June. Cho secured a staggering windfall for semiconductor workers who were promised bonuses of roughly $400,000 this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 6, 2026
Millennial Samsung union leader¡¯s $26 billion bonus victory turns to bitterness
South Korea¡¯s artificial intelligence gold rush has both emboldened a new generation of Korean tech workers and created new divisions among them.
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%.
Samsung Electronics workers chant slogans during a rally ahead of a planned strike outside the company's semiconductor plant in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, on April 23.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 5, 2026
Do Â鶹´«Ã½ chip workers need a Samsung-style strike?
Even as Tokyo firms prepare to award customary summer bonuses, there will be nothing on the scale that South Korean companies are offering.
A storage facility for Inpex's offshore Ichthys project in an industrial park in Darwin, Australia. Ichthys accounts for about 2% of global output and has the capacity to export around 9.3 million tons a year, mainly to Japan.
BUSINESS
Jun 2, 2026
Australian LNG union begins strikes at Tokyo-based Inpex¡¯s Ichthys plant
Ichthys accounts for about 2% of global output for liquefied natural gas and has the capacity to export around 9.3 million tons a year, mainly to Japan.
Samsung Electronics is the world¡¯s biggest supplier of the memory chips that go into everything from smartphones and electric vehicles to servers at artificial intelligence data centers.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 27, 2026
Samsung workers accept wage deal that averts chip plant strike
The agreement avoids what could have been a damaging strike for Samsung and the tech industry amid shortages in the memory chip sector.
Choi Seung-ho, head of the Samsung Electronics union, Yeo Myung-koo, head of the People Team under Samsung¡¯s Device Solutions division and the company¡¯s chief management negotiator, and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon pose for photographs after reaching tentative pay deal in Suwon, South Korea, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 21, 2026
Samsung reaches 11th-hour deal with union to avoid strike
The truce averts what could have been a damaging strike for Samsung and the tech industry.
Choi Seung-ho, head of Samsung Electronics union, speaks after a mediation session at the National Labor Relations Commission in Sejong, South Korea, on May 13.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 18, 2026
Samsung and its South Korean union resume pay talks as strike risks loom
South Korean government officials have voiced concerns that a strike could pose significant risk to economic growth, exports and financial markets.
Members of Samsung Electronics' labor union chant during a protest against the company's compensation levels, in front of a Samsung semiconductor plant in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, on April 23.
BUSINESS
May 17, 2026
Samsung and labor union to meet in ¡®last chance¡¯ to avert strike
Management and the union representatives at the world¡¯s biggest memory chipmaker will meet Monday for the talks on wages and compensation.
People take part in the traditional May Day labor union march in Paris on Friday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 4, 2026
From Paris on May Day: Rethinking work and solidarity in Japan
May Day came and went last Friday in the City of Light, prompting reflections on its meaning in France compared with Japan.
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.¡±
Members of the Samsung Electronics labor union hold signs reading "Change it to be transparent!" as they stage a mass rally demanding the removal of a cap on performance bonuses, outside the company's foundry and semiconductor factory in Pyeongtaek on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 23, 2026
Samsung workers protest over huge pay gap with SK Hynix amid AI chip boom
Protesters, which union organizers put at 40,000, plan to strike for 18 days from May 21 if their demands are not met.
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.
The news of Gen. Douglas MacArthur came as a surprise to the Japanese public and was covered from a variety of angles.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Apr 1, 2026
Japan Times 1951: Truman ousts Gen. MacArthur
U.S. President Harry Truman dismissed the key player in Â鶹´«Ã½ postwar recovery 75 years ago this month.
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.
An official of the Japan Council of Metalworkers¡¯ Unions writes down companies¡¯ response to labor unions¡¯ demands in wage negotiations in Tokyo¡¯s Chuo Ward on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 19, 2026
Many major Japanese companies agree to pay hike demands in full
Close attention is being paid to whether the wage hike momentum will spread to small companies, which employ about 70% of all workers in Japan.
The Japanese Trade Union Confederation, known as Rengo, holds a meeting late last month to call for robust wage hikes in this year's shunt¨­ spring offensive.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 15, 2026
Japan electronics unions to accept pay scale hike of ?12,000 or more
The hike is intended to help sustainably realize robust pay increases outpacing inflation.
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.
Some 466 unions affiliated with UA Zensen are seeking a pay raise of 6.46% for regular workers on a weighted average, according to a tally released Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 5, 2026
Japanese labor union group sets more ambitious pay goal as BOJ watches
The push by UA Zensen, which represents unions across the retail, restaurants, materials and service sectors, follows other labor groups¡¯ ambitious targets.
Mazda Motor has fully met union demands by offering pay-scale and regular pay increases of ?19,000 in total a month.
BUSINESS
Feb 26, 2026
Mazda, Mitsubishi and Yamaha fully meet union wage hike demands
The companies are apparently aiming to maintain pay hike momentum amid the tough business environment caused by U.S. tariffs.
Gut bacteria may be behind many of Â鶹´«Ã½ colorectal cancer cases
A Japanese research team found that a toxin produced by certain E. coli strains, colibactin, caused genetic mutations in nearly half of colorectal cancer cases studied
¡®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.
She is Russia¡¯s richest woman. Her business empire is going up in flames.
Tatyana Kim, the head and co-founder of Wildberries, speaks about Ukrainian drone attacks on the company's warehouses in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at an unidentified location, in this still image from a handout video released on July 31.
Severe tropical storm Chan-hom makes landfall near Tokyo
Severe Tropical Storm Chan-hom made landfall around Ibaraki Prefecture, near Tokyo, on Tuesday night.
What Â鶹´«Ã½ language rules for permanent residency should look like
Potential health care workers hoping to find work in Japan take Japanese language instruction in Jakarta. Not all applicants for permanent residency should be expected to reach this level of proficiency.
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.

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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