To address Japan’s low birth rate, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government will introduce a four-day workweek for its staff starting in April 2025. The new policy, which allows city employees to choose one day off each week, is part of a broader strategy to alleviate the pressures of work-life balance, with the ultimate goal of encouraging higher birth rates and family growth in the capital city.
The initiative comes as Japan’s population faces its 16th consecutive year of decline, with the number of babies born in Tokyo having decreased by more than 15% between 2012 and 2022. This downward trend in birth rates is part of a larger demographic crisis that has seen Japan’s fertility rate drop sharply, with predictions that the number of babies born in the country in 2024 will fall below 700,000 for the first time since records began in 1899.
Tokyo’s four-day workweek program is designed to improve work-life balance by giving employees the flexibility to take one full day off each week. The hope is that the additional day off, along with more flexible working hours, will make child-rearing more manageable for families, particularly women. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, who championed the initiative, stressed the importance of removing the career sacrifices often required by life events like childbirth and child-rearing. She emphasized that this policy aims to address a longstanding issue in Japan, where “empowering women” has been a major challenge and an area in which the country “has lagged far behind the rest of the world.”
The Tokyo government’s experiment is the latest in a series of similar initiatives across Japan. Local governments in various prefectures and towns have also piloted the four-day workweek in an attempt to address the nation’s demographic decline. Koike’s support for the program has been bolstered by engagement with 4 Day Week Global, a UK-based non-profit organization that advocates for shorter working weeks. The group has conducted global trials and found consistent benefits from the four-day workweek model, including increased productivity, better staff retention, and a reduction in sick days.
Charlotte Lockhart, co-founder of 4 Day Week Global, hailed Tokyo’s decision as “extraordinary” given Japan’s historically rigid approach to work culture, including the well-known term “karoshi” or death by overwork. Lockhart pointed out that the results of the four-day workweek trials have been “boringly consistent” across different countries and cultures, showing clear improvements in employee satisfaction and work outcomes.
The four-day workweek initiative is seen as a critical response to Japan’s demographic crisis, which has created a growing labor shortage and is exacerbated by the world’s highest ratio of elderly people. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has called Japan’s declining birth rate a “quiet emergency” that threatens the country’s economic future. Despite government efforts to encourage larger families, including cash incentives, tax breaks, and expanded daycare facilities, the birth rate has continued to fall. The number of births in Japan dropped below 1 million in 2016 and below 800,000 in 2022.
In addition to the four-day workweek, Tokyo has launched other initiatives to address its demographic challenges, such as a government-backed dating app aimed at promoting marriage and family formation. The app, launched earlier this year, requires users to commit to marriage as the primary goal of their interactions, in an effort to foster more serious relationships and, eventually, families.
Governor Koike, along with many other politicians, has pointed to Japan’s low marriage rate as a significant factor in the country’s declining birth rate. With the four-day workweek and other innovative policies, Tokyo hopes to create a more supportive environment for families, making it easier for parents to balance work and child-rearing responsibilities.
The four-day week initiative in Tokyo is seen as part of a broader global movement advocating for shorter workweeks. While such policies have often faced resistance from traditionalists, the growing success of similar programs around the world has led to increasing adoption, including in other parts of Japan. As Tokyo becomes the latest major city to embrace the four-day workweek, it signals a shift in the country’s approach to work culture and its urgent need to address the challenges posed by its shrinking population.
