Job Discussion Forums

redcliff · Joined: 23 Nov 2006 Posts: 46

Looking at a 400,000 a month job and trying to figure out my take home pay. The school says they pay for national health which I'm guessing just leaves the pension deduction and income tax? Not in japan at the moment, can anyone do the math for me and let me know what my take home pay aprox should be...

feisty-red · Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 29

Um, depends on many things.

What deductions do you have? Rent, insurance, etc. ??? Have you worked in Japan before?

What job is this, if you list the school you will get better responses from those in similar to and near your situation. Very Happy

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Moreover, since you seem to hail from Canada, are you coming on a working holiday visa or regular work visa? WHV holders get taxed 20%. I'm rather stunned at someone considering hiring a foreigner from abroad for such a large salary. Can you give more details on what kind of place it is?

moot point · Joined: 22 Feb 2005 Posts: 441

Glenski, 400,000yen is a large salary!? It only works out to 4.8million a year which is less than average for most folks, I reckon. In Canadian money, it is only $45,000. Hardly anything above and beyond.

Roughly expect a 10% cut for income tax and another 10% for residential taxes. You'll also need to pay about 25,000yen each month for health insurance which only cover 70% of the medical fees.

All in all, Japanese taxes don't differ much from Canada. In the end, because taxes are drawn from numerous levels of government, you can expect that a third of your salary will be spent on tax.

Venti · Joined: 19 Oct 2006 Posts: 171 Location: Kanto, Japan

Quibby84 · Joined: 10 Aug 2006 Posts: 643 Location: Japan

that is a large salary for a person coming for the first time. When I was researching jobs 250,000 was the average, if it were 400,000 I didnt even look into it because I knew it had to be some sort or hoax.

Quibby84 · Joined: 10 Aug 2006 Posts: 643 Location: Japan

woops, I accidentally posted it twice.

redcliff · Joined: 23 Nov 2006 Posts: 46

worked in japan a number of years ago. now the wife and I are looking at a move back.
the job is with an international school hence the higher salary than a typical language gig, though, this is actually on the low end for int. schools.

Khyron · Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 291 Location: Tokyo Metro City

My first job in Japan worked out to about 360,000/month. I have a prospective job for next fall that will be 500,000/month. Those are with a private and an international school, respectively.

If you have the qualifications, or the connections Smile

, then this isn't so unheard of.

Venti · Joined: 19 Oct 2006 Posts: 171 Location: Kanto, Japan

Not unheard of, but definitely more than the average newcomer's salary.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

taikibansei · Joined: 14 Sep 2004 Posts: 811 Location: Japan

johanne · Joined: 18 Apr 2003 Posts: 189

400,000 is an Ok salary for an international school, but there are quite a few that pay about 500,000 a month, or more. The range I've seen and heard about is 4-8 million yen a year, with the higher end being for teachers who come over with about 10 years classroom teaching experience and then move up the pay schedule at their school here in Japan. Latest I've heard is that the American Interational School in Japan has the best salary scale, but that is second hand information. I do know of half a dozen schools where the starting salary for a teacher with 2 years experience is roughly 6 million a year.

As for taxes, well, I'm Canadian and my taxes here are way cheaper. In Canada my take home pay was only 60% of my gross. Here it is 85%, and that's after I've paid all the levels of government. I don't use the national health care, but instead have my own private insurer.
As an aside, if you have kids the day care here is incredibly cheap compared to Canada, or at least compared to Vancouver. There I paid $700 a month and here I am paying $300 for longer hours and snacks and healthy lunch thrown in.

To answer your original question, on 400,000 a month you should be taking home about 360,000 for the first year and that will go down to 330,000 or so the second year when the city tax kicks in.

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

Yes, the kindergartens here are great. We pay about 30,000 yen/month and that includes lunch and a bus home. Hours are from 8/8:30-2:00, with an option to stay longer, Monday to Friday. Many kids start at 3 yrs old, even if the mom is at home. My daughter really likes it.

redcliff · Joined: 23 Nov 2006 Posts: 46

thanks for the info.

to answer a few of your questions, you can find info on int schools at shambles.net where they list many of the int schools. not just in japan but in asia. another good source of info is tieonline.com where many of the int school advertise.

i've found out about salary by exploring the schools websites. of course to teach in an int school they are typically looking for a teacher's degree.

gord and taikibansei: I'm guessing you are taking a look at HCT in the mid-east too? I'll pm you both with some specific budget questions.

yes, my wife is japanese and we are now in the process of deciding whether a permenant move back to japan is in the cards. good news about the day care!

and as an aside Ive decided not to take the job offer as it would have been a january start.