Companies

Summer Bonuses at Major Japan Firms Hit Record

The Yomiuri Shimbun
The Japan Business Federation (Keidanren)

Jiji Press

17:10 JST, August 8, 2025

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Major Japanese companies raised their summer bonuses by 3.44% in 2025 from the previous year to a weighted average of ¥974,000, the highest on record dating back to 1981, according to a final tally by the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, released on Friday.

The fourth consecutive year of increase came after many firms raised their monthly wages this spring and as a result of solid earnings mainly among manufacturers, Keidanren said. Summer bonuses maintained their strong upward momentum, it said.

The survey covered 154 companies in 22 sectors.

Of them, 119 manufacturers raised their summer bonuses by 4.37% to ¥1,029,479 , the fourth straight year of increase that helped the figure surpass one million yen for the first time since comparable data become available in 1997.

Bonuses at chemical, textile and nonferrous metal firms showed steep rises, up 21.28% to ¥1,015,577, 13.08% to ¥904,222 , and 12.64% to ¥924,999, respectively.

Nonmanufacturers’ bonuses rose 3.3% to ¥863,726 . Construction firms cut their bonuses by 5.66% to ¥1,269,893.