Latest news with #fiscal 2025
NHK
2 days ago
- Business
- NHK
Enrollments below capacity at half of Japan's private universities for 3rd year
A survey shows that half of the private universities in Japan saw new enrollments fall below capacity this fiscal year. The population of 18 year olds continues to drop in Japan. The Promotion and Mutual Aid Corporation for Private Schools of Japan says 316 of the 594 private universities in Japan, or 53.2 percent of the total, had fewer new students than their admission quotas in fiscal 2025. It was the third straight year of this level of decline. Universities in urban areas, such as Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka, have had enough enrollments. But many municipalities are seeing their student numbers falling below capacity. Some universities are expected to stop recruiting students in fiscal 2026 and later and close down. Admission quotas for all private universities in the country totaled 502,755 this fiscal year. That is down 1,114 from the figure for fiscal 2024 and the first decline in 22 years. The education ministry says it will apply stricter standards for setting up new departments and other measures for private universities if their enrollments are below capacity. The ministry policy is expected to prompt universities to downsize, merge with others, or close especially in non-urban areas. The ministry says it plans to place emphasis on supporting universities which educate people engaged in regional economies. It says if universities face management risks, it will advise them to reorganize or downsize.
Japan Times
11-07-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Japan starts fiscal 2025 minimum wage talks
The labor ministry held an advisory panel meeting on Friday to kick off talks to draw up guidelines for each prefecture to raise its minimum wage for fiscal 2025. Currently, the country's average minimum hourly wage is ¥1,055, following a record increase of ¥51, or 2.1%, in fiscal 2024. Amid rising prices, particularly for food, a focal point is whether a higher increase to the minimum wage will be realized. The fiscal 2025 guidelines are expected to be released around the end of this month, and each prefecture will implement its new minimum wage around October. The advisory panel is expected to hold discussions based on a range of data, including consumer prices. In May, the broader consumer price index rose 4% from a year earlier, with food prices surging over 6%. Meanwhile, the national average minimum wage needs to rise 7.3% each year to reach the government's target of ¥1,500 by the end of the 2020s.
