On 28 August 2026 the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced that completed questionnaires from the FY2026 Basic Survey on Minimum Wages had been lost and that personal information may have been leaked.
This article sets out what the Ministry published. It contains no legal assessment or advice from this firm.
What was published
| Item | Published content |
|---|---|
| Date of announcement | 28 August 2026 |
| Date of dispatch | 18 June 2026 |
| Questionnaires lost | 101 sheets covering 86 establishments |
| Personal information involved | 339 individuals in total |
| Secondary harm | None confirmed at present |
How it occurred
According to the announcement, on 18 June 2026 the contractor handed the Okinawa-prefecture questionnaires to its subcontractor, Yamato Transport Co., Ltd. The questionnaires did not arrive at the Okinawa Labour Bureau, and when the responsible official checked with the contractor it emerged that a loss may have occurred.
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According to the announcement, the lost questionnaires contained the following: establishment name, address, contact person's name, contact details, worker's name, sex, form of employment, age, length of service, occupation, wage amount, allowances, prescribed working days per month, and prescribed working hours per day.
The number of individuals is stated as 339 in total.
Measures published
・Explaining the facts and apologising to those affected, in sequence ・Filing a lost-property report with the police station with jurisdiction ・From the next fiscal year, stating in the contract specifications the requirement to track and confirm status from dispatch to arrival
Primary source
・Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, "Loss of questionnaires from the FY2026 Basic Survey on Minimum Wages and possible leak of personal information" (28 August 2026) https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_75810.html
About this article
This article summarises information published by a Japanese government body, compiled by our editorial team. It has not been reviewed by an attorney and contains no legal assessment or advice on any specific matter. Please contact us for advice on a particular case.
