Japan to narrow urban-rural wage gap before introducing more foreign labor

TOKYO, March 7 (Xinhua) -- To address the issue of urban-rural wage gap, Japan is planning to introduce a unified minimum hourly wage to avoid concentration of laborers in urban areas, the labor ministry said Thursday.

The ministry's latest move served as adjustment before the government introduces more foreign workers to Japan starting in April under the new visa system to deal with serious labor shortages amid the aging population and falling birthrate.

As wages remain generally higher in major cities compared to rural areas, many worry that foreign workers will largely choose to stay in metropolises.

The Ministry of Health, labor and Welfare conveyed its new wage plan to a group of ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers on Thursday, saying that a special panel will be established around April to research on the issue.

The ministry said it aims to introduce the new minimum wage system as early as in the summer this year.

The new system will involve 14 sectors including construction and nursing care that are expected to receive a large number of foreign workers.

To address labor shortage, the Japanese government had announced that the country is expected to accept up to 345,150 foreign workers under a new scheme over a five-year period starting April, including 60,000 in nursing care.

In the current fiscal year, the average minimum hourly wage in Japan is 874 yen (7.82 U.S. dollars). Tokyo marks the highest at 985 yen (8.82 dollars) while workers receive the lowest minimum wage of 761 yen (6.81 dollars) at the Kagoshima Prefecture in southwestern Japan. Enditem