Good morning, friends! I found a smart post on the internet about Japanese officials and their salaries.

A good example is Japan.

For Japan, the practice of voluntary pay cuts by politicians and leaders due to their own mistakes, a crisis, or public dissatisfaction is indeed the norm. It is an integral part of their culture of responsibility.

Here’s what it looked like in real facts (the figures are usually 20–30%, not 50% for everyone):

How and why did Japanese politicians cut their own pay?

2011 (after the Fukushima disaster): Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda voluntarily cut his salary by 30%, and all ministers of his government by 20%. They took this step to demonstrate solidarity with the public, since the government had been forced to raise taxes to rebuild the country.

2020 (the COVID-19 pandemic): lawmakers in Japan’s parliament decided to cut their monthly salaries by 20% for an entire year. It was a gesture of support for citizens whose incomes had plummeted due to quarantine restrictions.

2023: Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his ministers refused a legally planned increase in their salaries. The reason was public dissatisfaction itself: Japanese people were outraged that top officials receive bonuses amid inflation and the economic hardships faced by ordinary people.

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Where did the 50% figure come from?

A salary reduction by exactly half happens more often in Japan’s corporate sector, or when a specific official is hit by a major scandal.

Corporate responsibility. The most famous example: in 2014, Nintendo company president Satoru Iwata cut his salary in half—exactly by 50%—after the Wii U console flopped in sales. He did it to compensate for losses and not lay off regular employees.

Local scandals: if there’s a data leak, a corruption scandal in a government office, or a serious mistake, city mayors or ministers often give up 30–50% of their pay for several months as a form of public apology.

This phenomenon is based on a deeply rooted Japanese principle: a leader bears personal responsibility for the failures of their team or country, rather than simply shifting blame onto circumstances.

When will greedy officials in Ukraine start practicing this?