Uniqlo to Increase Starting Salary: Updated Dec. 29, 2025.

Uniqlo operator to raise starting salary in Japan to 370,000 yen

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20251222/p2g/00m/0bu/038000c

Ideas

Fast Retailing Co. seems to be a more progressive Japanese company and not a traditional Japanese company that is still stuck in the past.

The company seems to know that their employees are the real stake-holders for a company not the shareholders that so many company are help hostage to these days.

And they know that Japanese households and even individuals deserve a fair wage and not the pittance that most Japanese companies give to employees just staring out. That doesn't mean they have to follow what western companies are doing but they need to be more fair with their wages and wage increases for the good of Japanese society. 

That seems to have been lost in Japan as Japanese companies, unfortunately, have become too much like western companies and only care about their shareholders and not their employees to are the real stake-holders in and company.

Recently, or so it seems, overseas transfers have become very unpopular and some or many new graduates don't want to work overseas. It could be because of low English skills, it could from being unable to adjust to a new work culture, such getting along with foreign staff who don't think or do things the same as Japanese workers or companies do.

Whatever the reason, today young Japanese graduates just aren't as adventurous, as those many years ago as they saw the need to go to other countries to gain knowledge of the world and or better themselves. Today's young graduates, for the most part, are too insular and don't want to experience what the world has to offer them in terms of betterment or improvement.

Again, Fast Retailing seems to be ahead of the curve in terms of wage increases and they seem to know, for the good of the Japanese economy, Japanese households and even Japanese individuals need a wage that is livable which gives them room to do things that as normal Japanese wage or salary can't these days.

Its not the best thinking to think that large name-brand companies can't do the same as Fast Retailing as many companies are constrained by their shareholders from giving the same wages increase that Fast Retailing has done since 2000. 

Yes, many Japanese companies might want to do it but their profits margins, which again are constrained by shareholders getting all they can get at the expense of company employees seems to be the main obstacle for other companies doing the same thing.

Even at 280,000 yen per month is better than many companies, to be fair, but its not that bad too, as Japanese employees get two bonuses a year, which usually equate to a extra monthly salary in May and in Nov. or December.

And many new employees might still be living at home with their parents as rent and housing can be very expensive for new graduates in japan.

It must be remembered that its impossible to compare apples and oranges and or compare US starting salaries or EU starting salaries with Japanese starting salaries as the work and economic cultures are very much different.

Have a nice day!