Paid leave in Japan (有給休暇): how many days you get and the 5-day rule

Paid leave in Japan is a legal right for every employee, Japanese or foreign. Under the Labor Standards Act (労働基準法), you get 10 days of annual paid leave (年次有給休暇, often called 有給 or yukyu) after 6 months if you attended at least 80% of working days. It rises to 20 days a year after 6.5 years, and your employer must make sure you take at least 5 days a year. All as of October 2026.

Does paid leave in Japan apply to foreign workers?

Yes. Article 3 of the Labor Standards Act bans different working conditions because of nationality. Your visa type doesn’t change your leave: an engineer, a specified skilled worker and a part-time student get leave under the same rules.

The right arises automatically once you meet the conditions. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (厚生労働省) says that if your contract or work rules (就業規則) give fewer days than the law, that part is void and you get the legal days. The ministry’s English Working Conditions Handbook, updated October 2026, covers the same rules in 13 languages.

How many days of annual leave do you get in Japan?

You need two things: 6 months of continuous service from your hiring date and at least 80% attendance on scheduled working days. After that, each year of service adds days, as long as you keep the 80% attendance.

Days you take as paid leave count as attendance. So do work-injury time off, maternity leave, and childcare or family-care leave. Service keeps counting during a sick absence while you stay employed. If your attendance drops below 80% one year, you get no new leave for the next year, but the steps continue once you meet 80% again.

How much paid leave do part-time workers get?

Part-timers (パート, アルバイト) get paid leave too. If you work 30 hours or more a week, or 5 days a week or more (217 days a year or more), you get the full table above. If you work fewer than 30 hours and 4 days a week or fewer, you get proportional days (比例付与):

Check your weekly days in your labor conditions notice (労働条件通知書).

What is the 5-day rule for paid leave in Japan?

Since April 2019, if you get 10 or more days in a year, your employer must make sure you take at least 5 of them within 1 year of the date they were granted (Article 39, paragraph 7). This covers part-timers who get 10 or more days, and managers too.

Days you take yourself count toward the 5, and so do planned leave days (計画的付与), which companies can fix by agreement only for days beyond 5. If you haven’t taken 5 days, the employer sets dates for you. It must first tell you and hear your preferences, and must try to respect them. Breaking the 5-day rule can bring a fine of up to ¥300,000.

Can my employer refuse or move my paid leave?

You choose the dates, and you don’t need your employer’s approval. You also don’t have to say why you want the time off: the purpose is up to you.

The employer has one tool, the right to change the timing (時季変更権). It can move your leave only if your dates would hinder the normal operation of the business, such as a peak season like year-end, or many staff asking for the same days. It can’t simply say no.

• The ministry’s handbook says “chronic understaffing” is not a valid reason to move your leave.
• If the employer could arrange a substitute and doesn’t try, the Supreme Court has held it can’t use this right.
• For long leave, such as a month at once, courts give the employer more room to adjust the dates and length. If you plan a long trip home, ask early and be ready to split it.

Your employer also can’t punish you for taking leave. Lowering your bonus assessment, or counting leave days as absences for a perfect-attendance allowance (精皆勤手当), counts as disadvantageous treatment, which Supplementary Article 136 prohibits.

Leave is taken in whole days by default. Half days are possible if your work rules allow them. Hourly leave, up to 5 days’ worth, needs a labor-management agreement.

Does unused paid leave carry over?

Yes, for one year. Paid leave expires 2 years after it is granted (Article 115), so this year’s unused days move to next year and then lapse. When the 2020 reform lengthened the time limit for wage claims, the limit for paid leave stayed at 2 years. A work rule saying leave can’t be carried over doesn’t cancel the right.

Is there sick leave in Japan?

Not by law. The labor ministry lists sick leave (病気休暇) as non-statutory leave: a company may offer it in its work rules, but nothing requires it. Read your work rules or ask HR. Many workers use paid leave for sick days instead.

For longer illness, employee health insurance (健康保険) pays a sickness and injury allowance (傷病手当金). Kyokai Kenpo (協会けんぽ) sets these terms for its members:

• It’s for illness or injury not caused by work. Work and commuting injuries fall under workers’ accident insurance instead.
• You must be off for 3 days in a row. Payment starts from day 4. Paid leave days and holidays count toward those first 3 days.
• It pays about two-thirds of your average daily standard pay, for days your employer doesn’t pay you in full, for up to 1 year and 6 months in total.
• It can continue after you leave the job if you were insured for at least 1 year before leaving and qualified while still employed.

If your insurer is a company health insurance society (健康保険組合), check its own rules. For finding a doctor, see our guide to English-speaking hospitals in Japan.

What happens to my paid leave when I quit?

Your paid leave ends on your last day of employment. The labor ministry says that if you ask to use all your remaining leave before you leave, the employer can’t use the timing-change right (there are no later dates to move it to) and has to allow it. If the company asks you to push back your leaving date for a handover, that is your choice.

Plan it backward from your leaving date and put it in writing.

Leaving also triggers visa and insurance deadlines. See quitting your job in Japan on a work visa and unemployment benefits for foreigners.

Where can I get help in my language?

If your employer refuses leave or punishes you for taking it, you can report it to the Labor Standards Inspection Office (労働基準監督署). Article 104 bans dismissal or other bad treatment for reporting. The ministry runs foreign-language lines, as of October 2026:

The 0570 dial also takes Chinese (0570-001-702), Portuguese (-703), Spanish (-704), Tagalog (-705) and Vietnamese (-706) on weekdays, Nepali (-708) on weekdays, Burmese (-707) Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, Korean (-709) Tuesday to Friday, Thai (-712) and Indonesian (-715) Tuesday and Thursday, Khmer (-716) Wednesday and Mongolian (-718) Friday. Calls cost ¥9.35 per 180 seconds from a landline and ¥22 per 30 seconds from a mobile. Both lines close 29 December to 3 January. Days for other languages on the free hotline vary, so check the ministry’s list, which also shows Foreign Worker Consultation Corners at labor bureaus by prefecture.

More guides

• Labor rights for foreign workers in Japan
• Maternity and childcare leave in Japan
• Take-home pay in Japan
• Quitting your job in Japan on a work visa