Statutory days off (法定休日): The one day off a week, or four in four weeks, that the law requires

Japanese law guarantees fewer days off than most foreign managers assume. Article 35 requires one day off a week, or, if the work rules set a starting date, at least four days off in any four-week period. That is the statutory day off. Everything else a company gives, the second weekend day, national holidays, company holidays at year end, is a prescribed day off set by the company, not required by the Act.

The distinction drives pay. Work on the statutory day off is holiday work and needs a 36 Agreement and a premium of at least 35%. Work on a prescribed but non-statutory day off is not holiday work. It counts towards the 40-hour week, and if it takes the employee over 40 hours it is overtime at 25%. In a typical Monday to Friday office where Sunday is the statutory day off, Saturday work is usually overtime, not holiday work.

The law does not require a particular day, and the work rules need not name one, though the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare recommends it. If they do not, disputes over which day was statutory are settled by the facts. The four-in-four-weeks rule means that, in theory, as many as 48 consecutive working days are lawful today. A government study group has proposed capping consecutive working days at 13 as part of a planned overhaul of the Act, which had not been legislated by October 2026.

What it means for a foreign employer

Name the statutory day in the work rules. It avoids arguments over whether weekend work is paid at 25% or 35%.
Holiday work hours count in the overtime caps. The monthly limit of under 100 hours and the 80-hour average both include holiday work.
National holidays are not statutory days off. Japan's public holidays are days off only because the employer says so. If you operate on them, the pay follows your work rules, not a legal premium.

Sources

Labour Standards Act, Articles 35, 36 and 37; Cabinet Order on the minimum rate of premium wages (35% for holiday work).
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, report of the study group on the Labour Standards Act, January 2025.

Spotted something wrong, or have an example from your own hiring in Japan? Suggest an edit.

General information for employers, not legal advice. Thresholds and dates are checked against the sources listed and dated above; confirm anything you act on with a Japanese employment lawyer or a licensed labour and social security attorney.