The Four-Day Work Week Experiment in Tokyo

What Tokyo's government has said about its flextime-based four-day week, how Japan's labor law fits, and what earlier company trials suggest.

Published October 26, 2026 at 9:50 AM JST | By Tokyo Paul

Quick answer: Tokyo's metropolitan government announced in December 2024 that it would introduce a four-day work week using its flextime system for its own employees from the following fiscal year, alongside a new partial leave for parents. Governor Koike has described it as a way to help people, especially women, balance work with child-rearing and caregiving. Official details and uptake should be checked with the metropolitan government.

The phrase four-day work week gets attention in Japan because the country is known for long hours and a strong office culture, so a government taking the step itself is news. Readers ask whether Tokyo has really done this, how it works and whether private companies follow. The honest picture is that the metropolitan government has described its policy in broad terms in official speeches, while detailed numbers on uptake are not widely published in English. This guide sets out what is confirmed, explains how Japan's legal framework makes such schedules possible, and looks at an earlier trial by Microsoft Japan.

What Tokyo announced

The key source is the Governor of Tokyo's policy speech to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on December 3, 2024. In it, Governor Yuriko Koike said the Tokyo Metropolitan Government would begin providing its own employees with full support for work-life balance. She said it had decided to introduce systems "from the next fiscal year" that enable more flexible workstyles, naming a four-day work week utilizing the flextime system and a new partial leave to balance work and parenting.

Japan's fiscal year begins in April, so the next fiscal year after that December speech was the one starting in April 2025. The governor framed the change with a short phrase: up to now people had to adapt to systems, but from now on systems will adapt to people's lifestyles.

The speech also said the government wanted employees not to have to give up their careers because of major life events such as childbirth or parenting. That helps explain why the policy is described as part of a wider effort on women's participation in the workforce.

The follow-up in 2025

In the policy speech of February 19, 2025, the governor spoke about encouraging a range of workstyles across Tokyo society. She mentioned systems that facilitate a four-day workweek, systems that let employees choose the time and place of their work, and support for companies considering remote work, including expert consultations and subsidies for equipment purchases.

The speech also asked how to create more personal time for people to enrich their lives, and it touched on the annual income barrier and the wage gap between men and women. The four-day week, then, is one element in a larger set of workplace policies, not a stand-alone idea.

An official Tokyo government feature published in August 2025 added that the governor had introduced a four-day work week that year, aimed primarily at women whose work and life are often burdened by child-rearing and caregiving. The same article noted that women make up about half of Tokyo's workforce.

Why small businesses matter

A key point in the December 2024 speech is its attention to smaller companies. The governor noted that small and medium-sized enterprises make up 99 percent of the companies in Tokyo, so work style reform there is indispensable. The metropolitan government said it would keep supporting their shift to the work styles of the future.

This is why the metropolitan government's own step is described as leading by example. If a large public employer shows that a four-day schedule works, it may become easier for companies in the private sector to consider something similar.

Readers should note that the public statements are about encouragement and support. They do not set a legal requirement for private companies, which remain free to choose their own working arrangements within the law.

How the law makes a four-day week possible

Japan's Labor Standards Act sets a cap of 40 hours per week and 8 hours per day, excluding breaks, according to its official English translation. A simple four-day week with full-length weeks would mean longer days, which is where flextime comes in.

Under the flextime system in Article 32-3, workers can decide their own start and end times when a written workplace agreement is in place. The agreement fixes the settlement period, which may not exceed three months, and the total working hours. Covered workers may work beyond the daily limit on some days, as long as the weekly average over the settlement period does not exceed 40 hours.

That is how a four-day schedule can be built inside the existing law. A person can concentrate hours into four longer days or spread them differently, while the average over the period stays within the limit. The Act also requires at least one day off per week, so a three-day weekend fits comfortably.

Compressed hours versus fewer hours

People use the term four-day week in two different senses, which explains much of the confusion. In one version, the total hours stay about the same and are squeezed into four days. In the other, total hours and often pay are reduced, so there is a true cut in working time.

The Tokyo policy was described as a four-day week utilizing the flextime system, which points toward the first version, in which hours are arranged differently rather than simply cut. Specific rules on eligibility, hours and pay were not detailed in the English-language speeches, so those points should be checked with the metropolitan government.

This distinction matters when reading headlines about four-day weeks in other places, because the same label can describe quite different arrangements. In the Tokyo case, the official wording points to flexibility within the existing framework.

Earlier trials: Microsoft Japan in 2019

The best-known earlier example in Japan comes from the private sector. In the summer of 2019, Microsoft Japan trialed a four-day week by giving employees paid leave on Fridays. A reference article on four-day weeks reports that the company also cut most meetings from one hour to thirty minutes and capped meeting attendance at five people.

During the trial, the company reported that electricity costs fell by 23 percent and that sales per employee rose by 40 percent compared with the same period the year before. These are company-reported results from one trial, so they are best seen as an example rather than proof that the idea works everywhere.

In 2021, Japan's annual economic policy guidelines recommended that companies let workers opt for a four-day week as part of an effort to improve work-life balance, according to the same reference.

What to watch next

Readers interested in the topic can watch for three things. First, whether the metropolitan government publishes figures on how many staff use the four-day option and how it affects services. Second, whether more private companies add a similar choice. Third, how the options for parents, including partial leave, develop.

Anyone living or working in Tokyo should check with their own employer, because a company's rules decide whether such schedules are available. For visitors, the policy is a workplace matter rather than a travel one, and opening hours for public offices and attractions are always best confirmed on official sites.

Want to go deeper? Tokyo Paul's book The Japan Salary Guide is available on Amazon.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Tokyo introduce a four-day work week?

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced in December 2024 that it would introduce a four-day work week using its flextime system for its own employees from the next fiscal year, alongside a partial leave for parents. Details on eligibility and uptake are best confirmed with the metropolitan government.

Is a four-day week legal in Japan?

Yes. The Labor Standards Act caps hours at 40 per week and 8 per day, but a flextime system under a written workplace agreement lets covered workers vary daily hours as long as the weekly average over the settlement period does not exceed 40. Employers must still give at least one day off per week.

Do private companies in Japan offer a four-day week?

Some do. Microsoft Japan ran a trial in summer 2019 with paid Friday leave, and government guidelines in 2021 recommended that companies let workers opt for a four-day week. It is not required, so availability depends on each employer and its workplace rules.

Keep Exploring

More guides from Tokyo Paul: Japan's Minimum Wage and Everyday Working Life in 2026, Work Culture in Japan and Workations in Japan: Hot Springs and Remote Work Together.