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Japan Pays Fourth Consecutive Rise in Public-Sector Summer Bonuses

Personnel authority recommendations plus a December 2025 pay-law change pushed average payments higher for rank-and-file staff and reshaped payouts for special posts.

Overview

  • The summer bonuses were paid nationwide on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, with central and local governments completing disbursements to public servants.
  • Nationally, non-managerial administrative staff received an average of about ¥738,500, up ¥31,800 or 4.5 percent from last summer.
  • Miyagi Prefecture and Sendai City reported larger local averages of ¥918,629 and ¥908,112 respectively, marking a fourth straight year of increases tied to local personnel-committee guidance.
  • Payouts remain highly uneven by role: special-post officials receive much larger sums (the Supreme Court chief justice about ¥6.2 million and administrative vice-ministers around ¥3.5 million) while the prime minister and cabinet will receive only the parliamentary-member portion of roughly ¥3.19 million under the amended law.
  • The rise reflects the National Personnel Authority and local personnel-committee recommendations, which weigh private-sector wage moves, and a December 2025 amendment that suspended an extra government-role supplement and thus changed how some top officials’ bonuses are calculated, a shift that could narrow public–private pay gaps and affect future pay rounds.