How much is the minimum hour rate in japan as of july, 2011?

Question:

Answer:

Firstly it depends on a prefecture. Tokyo has a high minimum wage that's relatively high, and Osaka as well. Generally, those prefectures in which big cities are located have higher minimum wages than rural prefectures.
The absolute minimum that's set by the government is something like 650 yen/hr, which is like seven bucks, but people don't work under that kind of wage. Where I come from, which is Kagawa prefecture, a very rural prefecture in Shikoku, highschool kids who work at Mcdonald's get paid something like 750 yen/hr which would be 8 bucks. And Mcdonald's + highschool means the worst pay so 750 yen would be the lowest in the region.

And I don't actually think 750 yen isn't bad considering all they do is just fry beef pates and refilling a soda fountain. Even if you aren't a student anymore, if you work 6 hours a day and 20 days a month, then you'll get 6 * 20 * 750 = 90000. It will be a little less after tax and pension payments and what not but if you live with parents then this is more than enough. You can even save some money. Of course it isn't a real job though.

V Okinawa is the poorest of all prefectures, and no one wants that kind of wage in the main land, I think. During a highschool vacation I worked at a post office for 740 yen/hr and that was like the absolute worst, even in Shikoku.

I was reading this news article reporting that one is much better off living on welfare than working with the minimum wage, and that Kanagawa is the prefecture in which the welfare payments exceeds the minimum wage most. However the minimum wage in Kanagawa is 820 yen, which is itself is a good amount for partimers in rural regions and probably inconceivable for a highschool kid in Okinawa. And it says the average minimum wage in all prefectures is 730 yen, so there's something wrong with Okinawa. It's not a place I want to move to.