60% of Japan Businesses Planning Wage Hikes This Year

About 60% of companies in Japan intend to raise wages in spring 2026, a survey by research firm Teikoku Databank Ltd. has revealed.

The percentage of businesses planning wage increases has risen for the fifth consecutive year, reaching the highest level since the survey began in fiscal 2007, Yuko Shimada reported for Mainichi Shimbun.

The focus of the 2026 spring labor negotiations is whether pay hikes can outpace rising prices.

The survey, conducted in January, gathered responses from 10,620 companies.

Firms expecting to improve wages through base pay hikes or bonuses rose by 1.6 percentage points from the fiscal 2025 survey to 63.5%. Specifically, “base pay increases” rose by 2.2 points to 58.3%, while “bonuses (one-time payments)” increased by 0.8 points to 28.2%.

By industry, manufacturing led at 71.5%, followed by transportation and warehousing at 69.1% and construction at 66.5%.

When firms planning pay hikes were asked for their reasons (multiple answers allowed), “retention and securing of labor” was the most common response at 74.3%, followed by “supporting employees’ livelihoods” at 61.5% and “price trends” at 53.0%.