Guest viewing is limited

Average salary in Tokyo

K

Kaspar

TAG Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2017
Messages
249
Reaction score
363
What would an acceptable before-tax salary in Tokyo be? I have accepted a position and will begin mid-August: I did my homework of course and know for sure my salary will be higher than the average foreign professional in my industry... but but but will it be enough to survive, save something and still nurture my interests and social life?

So, according to everybody's experience, what would a decent salary for a freshman in Japan be? Don't need specific figures, just a range to have an idea of what to expect... Thanks
 
  • Like
Reactions: AliceInWonderland
There is absolutely no way to answer your question with just the information you provided. Except maybe to say that in general in Japanese companies you don't ever need to use the words "freshman" and "decent salary" in the same sentence.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wwanderer, AliceInWonderland and Kaspar
There's a lot more variables at play here. Will you get an expensive apartment close to town or commute for an hour+ (pretty common here) to save some cash? How much money do you expect to spend on clothes, electronic toys, going out, etc? None of that is cheap here.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MossBoss and MikeH
MikeH said:
There is absolutely no way to answer your question with just the information you provided. Except maybe to say that in general in Japanese companies you don't ever need to use the words "freshman" and "decent salary" in the same sentence.
Click to expand...
Good point... well, I'm trying to reveal about me as little as possible, and still get all info I need ;)

Ok, just for the discussion's sake: is 350k acceptable by any standard?
 
  • Like
Reactions: AliceInWonderland and MikeH
ShowaJidai said:
There's a lot more variables at play here. Will you get an expensive apartment close to town or commute for an hour+ (pretty common here) to save some cash? How much money do you expect to spend on clothes, electronic toys, going out, etc? None of that is cheap here.
Click to expand...
I will have a 15k commuting allowance and my apartment will actually be quite close to my work... I'm considering getting a bicycle and cash in all the allowance...
 
  • Like
Reactions: AliceInWonderland
The two main things here in my opinion are (1) how much is your rent and (2) are you single or in a relationship of any kind. Those are the two most costly things that men have to contend with. Commuting would be another but that's seems to be somewhat less of an issue in your case.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kaspar
I think there has already been a couple oF long threads related to salary, comfortable living etc. so you'd be much better off searching through those for answers.

350k which currency, if ¥ its not good.
 
Lukes said:
The two main things here in my opinion are (1) how much is your rent and (2) are you single or in a relationship of any kind. Those are the two most costly things that men have to contend with. Commuting would be another but that's seems to be somewhat less of an issue in your case.
Click to expand...
Rent will be 110k, which is not cheap. Apartment will be provided by the company, but I will have to cover half of the rent... something that doesn't make me happy...

I'm married with a kid, but wifey works and makes as much as I do, so money isn't a big concern at the moment.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AliceInWonderland
NormalGuy said:
I think there has already been a couple oF long threads related to salary, comfortable living etc. so you'd be much better off searching through those for answers.

350k which currency, if ¥ its not good.
Click to expand...
I'm in Japan so I'm thinking in Yen... so, 350k a month is considered low? Tokyo-wise of course...
 
350k Yen a month is really low for a bi-lingual lawyer with 20 years corporate experience.

Try again.
 
Kaspar said:
I'm in Japan so I'm thinking in Yen... so, 350k a month is considered low? Tokyo-wise of course...
Click to expand...

So 350k a month pre-tax and half of the rent? If you are a freshman straight out of the university with no work experience then I don't know if that can be said to be low. But in any case it's not great either.

Depends also how many hours you have to pull for that. If you are treated like a standard Japanese new recruit then your hourly salary is going to be flipping burgers levels.
 
OK, 350k Yen a month is out-of-the question high for a convenience store clerk.

You are making us guess what your background is and say if your pay is good/bad for that unknown background.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MikeH
ShowaJidai said:
OK, 350k Yen a month is out-of-the question high for a convenience store clerk.
Click to expand...

Well, pull 10 hours a day every day and get all the perks they offer for night shifts and stuff and you are at least close already! :eek:
 
Y350k/month is Y4.2 million annually pre-tax. Assuming your wife makes about the same, around 8 million annually pre-tax for your household with a child. I'm assuming here that you all live together.

Annual rent you pay is Y720k if the company subsidizes half the rent, around 1/10th of your total income.

Can you survive on that? Probably. But I don't know if that gives you a comfortable life with savings *and* hobby money to spare on top of that. Maybe someone else could tell you that.

Based on your salary, the fact that you speak English and are a foreigner, my guess is that you are an English instructor.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MikeH
Lukes said:
Based on your salary, the fact that you speak English and are a foreigner, my guess is that you are an English instructor.
Click to expand...

Well, the average English teacher doesn't make that much money. But then they are employed by the English conversation schools so they don't have that many hours to teach either.

If you are a resident English teacher in a big corporation then that is not a very good salary. I think the last big corporation I was involved paid around half a million per month to their young teacher who only had 1-2 years of experience in teaching but had a degree for it from university.

But I did some quick back of the envelope calculations and with that salary and rent you end up bringing home just over 200k per month for utilities, food and such. Which is totally doable, if you eat like a Japanese and don't need fresh croissants and frappuccino every morning. Is it enough is then everyone's own decision though.
 
I think you can get by.
Many young Japanese guys and foreign english teachers make only 200.000 a month and they survive somehow. Not comfortably, but somehow.

I'd say if your wife makes the same and you can share some costs, you can be reasonably comfy.

And guys, he's asking if he can live a comfortable life in Tokyo with that salary, i think, not if its a fair salary for his profession and experience. So you dont need the details.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tokyosteven77, Kaspar, Wwanderer and 4 others
User#8628 said:
And guys, he's asking if he can live a comfortable life in Tokyo with that salary, i think, not if its a fair salary for his profession and experience.
Click to expand...

Actually he asked "what would a decent salary for a freshman in Japan be?". That needs background like what is the education and industry. High school graduate and a lawyer would be in quite different starting levels.

A Japanese person on social security will get 130.000 per month. There are many who survive with that so obviously 350k is doable. Will it be decent or comfortable is another question and depends also much on the person himself but obviously it doesn't allow many high level soap land visits per month. It also depends on how many hours he has to spend for getting that money. Lots of free time can mean either savings or more spend money :confused:.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kaspar and AliceInWonderland
3.5-4.5m is entrance level salary in many careers. Just check some job portals. Is it comfortable in Tokyo? I don't think so. Will you have to starve? Probably not. However such things really depend on your lifestyle. If you only have to pay 55k rent for a decent apartment in a convenient location, that's a good start.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Yuriko and MikeH
I think the average household gross income in Tokyo is around 480,000. So if you and your spouse make around 350,000 each then that would put you well above average. Of course as mentioned above it all depends on the lifestyle you plan to live. I remember having colleagues that made that much and they seemed to survive. You probably won't have much for P4P.

I have been wondering lately what the average salary is for regular users of TAG. I make a decent living, but can't see myself spending as much as some of posters. Either I'm not making enough or am just a cheap bastard. Probably the later.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kaspar and AliceInWonderland
i wonder where people get 3.5m entrance level salary... certainly not in my field and in most japanese companies (correct me if im wrong)... sounds more like foreign IT companies to me...
i get about half of that...
 
  • Like
Reactions: AliceInWonderland
Nikkei Guy said:
I have been wondering lately what the average salary is for regular users of TAG. I make a decent living, but can't see myself spending as much as some of posters. Either I'm not making enough or am just a cheap bastard. Probably the later.
Click to expand...
Poor as fuck flight school student reporting in:cry:. And Ive gone to a soapland 4 times in last few weeks but thats only because I'm on vacation on my inheritance.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kaspar and AliceInWonderland
You must log in or register to reply here.