Abstract
The Minimum Wage Law originally took effect in April 1959. In June 1968, it was substantially revised, and a board system was introduced in each prefecture. Between 1972 and 1976, each local wage board introduced prefecture-wide minimum wage rates to replace local occupational minimum wages, which were fundamentally daily rates. Local minimum wages are revised every year in accordance with the recommendations provided by the Central Minimum Wage Council, Ministry of Labor (Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare since 2001), a tripartite body that deliberates minimum wage policies. Having served as council chairperson from May 1996 to January 2003, I discuss here the main activities and achievements of the council during my term. In 2001, the government implemented new regulations based on the council's recommendation that minimum wages be converted from daily to hourly rates, reflecting the introduction of the 40-hour week in April 1997. The council did not abolish the local industrial minimum wages in each prefecture, totaling to 243, despite strong pressure from employers to do so. The council first recommended freezing the minimum wages in 2002 and 2003 due to the continuing depression in Japan. I conclude that the minimum wage system, despite its defects, has succeeded in gradually improving the economic conditions of low-paid workers.
