In an effort to encourage young families and reverse the country’s historically low fertility rates, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike declared that metropolitan government workers would begin working four days a week in April of 2025.
“We will review work styles with flexibility, ensuring no one has to give up their career due to life events such as childbirth or child care,” Koike said in a policy speech at the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, underscoring the significance of flexible work arrangements.
Japan’s worrying fertility rate, which dropped to just 1.2 children per woman in 2022—much lower than the 2.1 required for population stability—led to the implementation of this new program. Despite several government initiatives to promote family expansion, just 727,277 births were reported in the previous year, according to
