Japan's Widest Gender Pay Gap is in Tochigi
Female workers in Japan earn less than men, but the gender pay gap — as it's known — is larger in some parts of the country.
That's according to the latest government data that shows the difference between male and female wages in all of Japan's prefectures.
On average, women earn just 75% of the amount men do in Japan. That's much lower than the 2021 average of other developed countries, where it was about 88%.
But in Japan, the gap is biggest in Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo. Here, women earn 29% less than men. It's a similar number in Ibaraki and Nagano.
Tokyo has the fourth-largest gender pay gap. In the capital, women earn 27% less than men on average.
The smallest differences between the wages earned by men and women are in the prefectures of Kochi, Iwate and Nagasaki.
But in these areas, women still make about 20% less than men.
Earlier this year, a study by The Asahi Shimbun found that female full-time workers begin their careers getting paid less than men, and in almost every industry the gap gets bigger until people are in their 50s.
In June, the government began working on plans to reduce the gender pay gap, especially in the industries where it's largest, including finance and retail.
Since 2022, all companies with more than 301 employees have had to release data showing the difference in pay between men and women.
However, part of the reason for the difference in pay is the small number of women in management roles in Japanese companies.
According to government data, 11.6% of management positions are held by women. That's compared to 40% in Western countries.
The worst prefecture for this is Aichi where just 6.4% of management roles are occupied by women.
