This is an English translation of our Japanese article. The Japanese version and the original government materials are authoritative. Treatment varies by employer and prefecture, so confirm your own case with your employer, a pension office or a tax office.
Last updated: 19 September 2026. Based on materials published by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Japan Pension Service, the National Tax Agency and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, covering the rules that take effect on 1 October 2026.
1 October 2026 brings more simultaneous changes than any date in recent years. The threshold for part-time social insurance enrolment changes, the minimum wage rises, alcohol tax shifts, the consumption tax transitional measure drops, and hometown-tax gift rules tighten. On top of that, at most employers the social insurance premium deducted from your October pay itself changes. Which direction your take-home moves depends on who you are.
What changes on 1 October — at a glance
| Change | Who it affects | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Wage requirement (the "1.06 million yen wall") abolished | Part-timers working 20+ hours a week at employers with 51+ staff | More deducted now, more pension and cover later |
| Minimum wage increases take effect | Everyone paid hourly | Gross pay rises (effective 1 Oct – 2 Dec by prefecture) |
| Annual review of insurance premiums applies | Employees and part-timers generally | Up or down, depending on April–June pay |
| Premium adjustment scheme starts | New enrolees at employers with 50 or fewer staff | Lower employee share, for up to three years |
| Alcohol tax reform | Anyone buying beer or chuhai | Beer down, chuhai and happoshu up |
| Invoice transitional measure: 80% to 70% | Businesses purchasing from tax-exempt suppliers | More consumption tax to pay |
| Hometown tax gift criteria tightened | Hometown tax donors | Fewer gifts to choose from; procedure unchanged |
1The "1.06 million yen wall" disappears
Among the conditions for part-time workers to join health and employees' pension insurance, the wage requirement of 88,000 yen a month (about 1.06 million yen a year) is abolished in October 2026. Regardless of annual income, anyone whose contracted hours are 20 or more per week is in principle covered. The other conditions remain: an employer with 51 or more staff, employment expected to last more than two months, and not being a student.
The "1.06 million yen wall" becomes a "20-hour wall". The reason is that minimum wages have risen far enough that 20 hours a week automatically clears 88,000 yen a month; the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare notes the threshold is reached at an hourly wage of 1,016 yen. Unless you cut your hours, holding income down no longer keeps you out of the system.
Deductions rise, but so does what you receive: old-age employees' pension, sickness and injury allowance, maternity allowance and disability pension — none of which the national health insurance and national pension provide. See the minimum wage and the end of the 1.06 million yen wall and the 1.06 and 1.3 million yen walls.
Note that the 1.3 million yen threshold for being a dependant on a spouse's health insurance is unchanged. If you work under 20 hours a week, that figure still governs. See dependants under health insurance.
2Minimum wage increases take effect, prefecture by prefecture
For fiscal 2026 the minimum wage rises to a national weighted average of 1,177 yen, up 56 yen. All 47 prefectures issued their recommendations by 3 September, and effective dates run from 1 October to 2 December. They do not all change on the same day.
Watch the month that straddles the effective date. Hours worked before it are paid at the old rate and hours after it at the new rate. Check that your payslip shows the switch. Prefecture-by-prefecture dates are listed in the minimum wage article.
3Your October payslip: the premium itself changes
This is not a reform, but it is why most people's take-home moves in October. The standard monthly remuneration used to calculate health and pension premiums is recalculated each year from pay for April, May and June. The new figure applies from the September premium, and where employers deduct premiums a month in arrears, the amount taken from your October pay changes.
Where to check
The standard remuneration decision notice from your employer, or the health and pension insurance lines on your October payslip. Comparing it with September's payslip is the surest way.
If your April–June happened to include heavy overtime, you pay at that grade for a full year, however little you work afterwards. Payslip and withholding documents are explained in how to read your withholding slip, and local tax in how resident tax is calculated.
4The premium adjustment scheme starts
For newly enrolled workers at employers with 50 or fewer staff, a scheme starting on 1 October 2026 lets labour and management agree to reduce the employee's share of premiums, with the employer covering the difference, for up to three years. Because it depends on an agreement at your workplace, ask whether your employer plans to use it. Details are in the premium adjustment scheme.
5Alcohol tax: beer down, chuhai up
1 October 2026 is the final step of the three-stage unification of alcohol tax that began in 2020. Per 350ml can:
| Type | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beer | 63.35 yen | 54.25 yen | −9.10 yen |
| Happoshu / new genre | 46.99 yen | 54.25 yen | +7.26 yen |
| Chuhai, sour, canned highball | 28 yen | 35 yen | +7.00 yen |
The gap between beer and the cheaper beer-like drinks becomes zero, so the tax argument for buying "new genre" disappears. Chuhai still sits about 19 yen below beer. See the 2026 beer tax reform and the chuhai and highball tax rise.
Stocking up does not help much. Alcohol tax applies at shipment, so retail prices move as stock turns over rather than overnight, and the tax difference is not necessarily the full price change.
6The invoice transitional measure drops to 70%
Consumption tax paid to tax-exempt or unregistered suppliers has been 80% deductible; for purchases from 1 October it is 70%. That is milder than the 50% originally planned, and the measure now runs to September 2031. The cost falls on the buyer: roughly 10,000 yen more tax per 1.1 million yen paid. A new ceiling also applies where payments to a single supplier exceed 100 million yen a year (previously 1 billion). See the drop to 70%.
7Hometown tax gift criteria tighten
The designation period for hometown tax municipalities turns over each October, and from 1 October 2026 the rules on gifts tighten in two directions.
- The value-added test is spelled out. For manufactured and processed goods, the maker must certify that more than half the value arose within the municipality, and the municipality must publish those certifications as a list before donations open. The calculation is based on price as a rule.
- Promotional goods face a stricter test. Items merely printed with a municipality's name and made elsewhere no longer qualify; there must be an actual record and plan of the municipality distributing or selling them, and gift volumes cannot exceed that.
Nothing changes for donors procedurally, but the range of gifts will shrink. See the October 2026 hometown tax changes and the complete hometown tax guide.
Beyond money: customer harassment measures become mandatory
From 1 October 2026, employers are legally required to take measures against customer harassment and against sexual harassment aimed at job applicants (amended Labour Policy Comprehensive Promotion Act, promulgated 11 June 2025). Employers must state and publicise a policy of protecting staff, set up and publicise a consultation desk, establish facts promptly, look after the victim and prevent recurrence. In short, "the customer is always right" is no longer a defence. It is worth finding out where your employer's consultation desk is.
Which of these applies to you
Full-time employees
Items 3, 5 and 7. Compare the insurance lines on your October payslip with September's. If you use hometown tax, choosing before the gift rules change gives you more options.
Part-time workers
Item 1 above all. Twenty hours a week at an employer with 51 or more staff means enrolment regardless of income. Item 2 can push you over 20 hours' worth of the old wage test without changing your hours. At employers with 50 or fewer staff, item 4 may apply.
Sole proprietors and freelancers
Item 6 hits directly. If you outsource to tax-exempt suppliers, your tax bill rises. If you are the tax-exempt supplier, expect discount requests — though unilateral notices can breach the Antimonopoly Act and the subcontracting law renamed in January 2026.
Employers and HR
Items 1, 2, 4 and 6, plus the harassment duties. Policy statements and consultation desks must be in place on 1 October, so check whether your rules of employment and internal notices will be ready.
What to do today
- Check your (or a family member's) contracted weekly hours against the 20-hour line, and your employer's headcount against 51.
- Keep your October payslip alongside September's. A change in the insurance lines is the annual premium review.
- If you plan to use hometown tax, look for the gift you want in September.
- If you run a business, list your unregistered suppliers; 10% of the consumption tax on those payments is roughly your extra cost.
Frequently asked questions
With the 1.06 million yen wall gone, is there any point holding income down?
For social insurance enrolment, the test becomes whether you work 20 hours or more a week, so limiting income no longer avoids it. The 1.3 million yen threshold for remaining a dependant on a spouse's health insurance still applies to those working under 20 hours, and the income tax thresholds for spouse and dependant deductions are separate again.
Does the minimum wage rise nationwide on 1 October?
No. For fiscal 2026 the effective dates run from 1 October to 2 December by prefecture. The national weighted average is 1,177 yen, up 56 yen, but the date and amount depend on where you work. In the month that straddles the date, the old and new rates apply to the hours before and after.
My October take-home fell. Is that one of these reforms?
Most likely it is the annual review of your standard monthly remuneration. It is recalculated from April to June pay and applies from the September premium, which at most employers is deducted from October pay. Heavy overtime in April to June raises your grade for a full year.
Should I rush my hometown tax donation before October?
The procedure and the deduction do not change. What changes is which gifts municipalities may offer. Promotional goods made outside the municipality, and processed goods whose local value is hard to certify, may disappear from October. Only if you have a particular gift in mind is it worth checking in September.
Sources
- Japan Pension Service, expansion of coverage for short-time workers
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, on wider social insurance coverage
- Japan Pension Service, the annual determination of standard remuneration
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, regional minimum wages
- National Tax Agency, outline of the alcohol tax reform
- National Tax Agency, Reiwa 8 tax reform and the invoice system
- Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, revision of hometown tax designation criteria
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, harassment measures strengthened from 1 October 2026
General information based on materials published as of 19 September 2026. Confirm your own case with your employer, a pension office, a tax office or a professional adviser.
