Annual Business Days and Scheduled Working Days: Working Back from Annual Holidays
When a Japanese job listing says "120 annual holidays", you can quickly work out how many days you'd actually work. Counting your annual holidays from a company calendar is a bit more of a chore. This article sets out annual business days for each pattern of closed days, how annual holidays relate to scheduled working days, and how to find the monthly average of scheduled working days.
Annual business days by pattern of closed days
A year has 365 days (366 in a leap year), but how many are business days depends on how closed days are set. Counting them gives the following.
| Closed-day pattern | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Weekends and national holidays off | 244 days | 245 days |
| Weekends, national holidays and New Year period off | 240 days | 242 days |
| Weekends off (open on national holidays) | 261 days | 261 days |
| Sundays and national holidays off | 296 days | 297 days |
With weekends off only, the count stays steady at around 260 days regardless of the year. With national holidays off, it varies from year to year by how many holidays fall on a Saturday. The 1-day difference between 2026 and 2027 comes from this. Adding a New Year break adds 3–4 days off besides New Year's Day.
Guide to business days by month
By month, even the same "one month" ranges from 18 to 23 business days. This gap matters when you split sales targets or work estimates by month.
| Month | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| January | 20 days | 19 days |
| February | 18 days | 18 days |
| March | 21 days | 22 days |
| April | 21 days | 21 days |
| May | 18 days | 18 days |
| June | 22 days | 22 days |
| July | 22 days | 21 days |
| August | 20 days | 21 days |
| September | 19 days | 20 days |
| October | 21 days | 20 days |
| November | 19 days | 20 days |
| December | 23 days | 23 days |
All figures assume weekends and national holidays off. February and May have the fewest, and December the most. February simply has fewer calendar days, and May has Golden Week, the run of holidays around the start of the month. December has the most because, since the Emperor's Birthday moved to February 23, it has no national holidays at all. If you add a summer or New Year break, subtract those days.
Working back to scheduled working days from annual holidays
The "annual holidays" figure in a Japanese job listing is the total of weekends, national holidays, summer break and New Year break. Scheduled working days come from a simple subtraction.
- Annual scheduled working days = 365 days − annual holidays
- 120 annual holidays means 245 days, 125 means 240, and 110 means 255.
- A full two-day weekend (Saturdays and Sundays off) alone comes to about 104–105 days. Adding around 16 national holidays brings it to around 120.
- If annual holidays exceed 125, a summer break or New Year break has probably been set on top of national holidays.
| Annual holidays | Annual scheduled working days | Likely pattern |
|---|---|---|
| 105 days | 260 days | Full two-day weekend only (work on national holidays) |
| 110 days | 255 days | Two-day weekend + some national holidays |
| 120 days | 245 days | Full two-day weekend + national holidays |
| 125 days | 240 days | Full two-day weekend + national holidays + New Year break |
There's a reason the figure of 105 annual holidays comes up so often. The legal limit on working hours in Japan is 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, so annual working hours top out at 40 × 365 ÷ 7 = about 2,085 hours. Dividing by 8 hours a day gives about 260 days, and subtracting that from 365 leaves about 105 days as the floor for annual holidays. The legal working hours are covered in detail in how to calculate working hours.
Annual holidays don't include annual paid leave. Annual holidays are days off set by the company, while paid leave is time off that workers take on top of those. At a company with 120 annual holidays, taking 10 days of paid leave means 130 actual days off. How many paid leave days you get is explained in paid leave days and when they start, and for part-time workers with fewer scheduled days per year, in paid leave days for part-time workers.
Where the monthly average of scheduled working days is used
Monthly business days move between 18 and 23, but a monthly salary pays the same amount every month. So payroll uses a monthly average to get a unit rate.
- 1
Find annual scheduled working days
Subtract annual holidays from 365. With 120 annual holidays, it's 245 days.
- 2
Divide by 12 for the monthly average
245 ÷ 12 = about 20.4 days. This is the average number of working days per month.
- 3
Multiply by daily scheduled hours
20.4 × 8 hours = about 163.3 hours. This is the monthly average of scheduled working hours.
- 4
Divide the monthly salary to get an hourly rate
Dividing the monthly salary by these hours gives the hourly rate used as the base for premium pay. For deductions for absences calculated by the day, use the monthly average of working days rather than hours.
Multiplying this hourly rate by the premium rate gives overtime pay. How premium rates are applied is covered in how to calculate overtime pay. For rounding when closing daily attendance, see attendance rounding rules.
Count with your company calendar
The table figures assume weekends and national holidays off. If your company has a summer break or founding anniversary, you'll need to recount with your own calendar. The "Annual calendar" tab of the Business Day Calculator gives annual and monthly counts with the closed days you set.
- 1
Choose the closed weekdays
You can specify by weekday, such as weekends off, Sundays only, or Wednesdays off for shift work. You can also switch whether national holidays count as closed.
- 2
Add your company's own closed days
Enter summer break and founding anniversary days one per line in "Additional closed days". Formats like "2026-08-13" and "8/14" are supported.
- 3
Choose a year and check the monthly table
Calendar days, business days and closed days from January to December are listed, with annual totals. That year's national holidays are shown too.
- 4
Paste into a spreadsheet
The copy button gives you tab-separated text you can paste straight into an attendance sheet or annual plan.
To count only a specific period, use the "Business days in a period" tab. It's handy for fiscal-year totals or the working days in a project. If you're curious about how national holidays fall, see also how Japan's national holidays are set.
FAQ
- How many business days a year with weekends and national holidays off?
- 244 days in 2026 and 245 in 2027. It varies by 1–2 days from year to year because the number of national holidays falling on a Saturday differs. A holiday on a Saturday gets no substitute day off, so there are effectively fewer days off that year. Adding a New Year closure (December 29 to January 3) gives 240 days in 2026 and 242 in 2027.
- How many working days with 120 annual holidays?
- 365 minus 120 is 245 days. This is the typical figure for a full two-day weekend plus national holidays, and it nearly matches companies closed on weekends and national holidays. 125 annual holidays means 240 days, and 110 means 255. The annual holidays in a job listing include summer and New Year breaks, so the breakdown tells you how days off are taken.
- What's the minimum number of annual holidays?
- With 8-hour days, the effective floor is 105 days. Legal working hours are 40 hours a week, so the annual limit is 40 × 365 ÷ 7 = about 2,085 hours. Dividing by 8 hours a day gives about 260 days, and subtracting from 365 leaves about 105 days needed as holidays. At companies with shorter scheduled days, such as 7 hours 45 minutes, fewer annual holidays can still stay within the legal limit.
- Which month has the fewest business days?
- With weekends and national holidays off, February and May. Both have 18 days in 2026 and 2027, 5 fewer than December's 23, the most. February simply has fewer days, and May has Golden Week. If you spread monthly targets or work estimates evenly, keep in mind that the effective load is higher in these two months.
- How do I calculate the monthly average of scheduled working days?
- Divide annual scheduled working days by 12. With 120 annual holidays, 245 ÷ 12 = about 20.4 days. Multiplying by daily scheduled hours gives the monthly average of scheduled hours, about 163.3 hours at 8 hours a day. The monthly salary divided by these hours is the hourly rate used as the base for premium pay, and daily deductions for absence use the day count.
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