Japan introduced a four-day workweek for Tokyo metropolitan government employees starting in April 2025 to improve work-life balance and combat the declining birth rate.
Government employees can choose a four-day schedule to get three days off per week.
Along with the 4-day work week, Japan also introduced a policy for childcare support. A separate “childcare partial leave” was introduced, which lets working parents of young children reduce daily work hours in exchange for a salary adjustment.
Governor Yuriko Koike launched the plan to ease family pressures, help working mothers, and narrow the gender gap in unpaid domestic work.
While the government first recommended four-day options in 2021, private sector uptake has been slow, with only a small percentage of companies offering three or more days off per week.
High-profile private tests, such as Microsoft Japan’s 2019 pilot, showed major boosts in productivity, due to 4-day work week.
Global trials from organizations like 4 Day Week Global indicate that when men transition to a four-day workweek, they spend 22% more time on childcare and 23% more time on housework. Tokyo officials hope that freeing up an extra day will incentivize men to share household responsibilities, encouraging couples to build larger families.
What started with roughly 160,000 Tokyo government workers has begun to trigger a ripple effect. Other major prefectures—including Miyagi, Osaka, Chiba, and Kanagawa—have moved to implement similar four-day options for public employees to remain competitive talent hubs.
