ABSTRACT
Mandatory retirement was firmly established as an essential aspect of Japanese employment practices after the Second World War. Although the employment practices of Japanese firms have gone through major changes — especially relating to wage and personnel management policies — in the face of economic globalization and rapid population ageing, the vast majority of companies retain contractual mandatory retirement. The mandatory age of retirement is predominantly set at 60. The merits of mandatory retirement are seen to exceed its shortcomings by many employers and employees alike. Currently, the system of mandatory retirement is the most effective method of employment adjustment available to employers in Japan. For employees, except for the increasing number of those under fixed-term employment contracts, mandatory retirement still functions as a system of job security with certain age limits (Yashiro 2009).
