The unemployment rate in Japan was last reported at 4.5 percent in October of 2011. From 1953 until 2010, Japan's Unemployment Rate averaged 2.60 percent reaching an historical high of 5.60 percent in July of 2009 and a record low of 1.00 percent in November of 1968.
Although unemployment increased compared to the past, seems pretty good to me compared to the USA and some EU countries.
An unemployment rate of below 5% isn't very achievable outside of extremes like slave labour; in a healthy economy, there will be people moving from job to job as they find a good fit; this turnover should show up as unemployment. If it doesn't, it either means huge numbers of people are "trapped" inside corporations, or the unemployment statistics are not very comparable. 5% in most Western economies is considered a very tight market with potential problems of overheating and wage inflation. I'd put my money on a different accounting method.
Although unemployment increased compared to the past, seems pretty good to me compared to the USA and some EU countries.
Source: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/japan/unemployment-rate