Job Discussion Forums

[Kylehawkins2000]

Hello,

I'm wondering what kind of money is available in Japan. I don't wish to sound mercenary but it is a huge factor when deciding where to teach.

I've taught ESL in Korea for two years to a variety of age- and skill-levels, and I am a certified teacher (I possess an Education Degree).

What kind of money could I expect to be paid in Japan?

What are the costs of living in Japan? How much is rent? how much does it cost to buy food for the week (assuming self-catering), How much is a budget restaurant meal (of local cuisine). How much does a cup of coffee cost? How much for a beer?

Anyone have a rough idea of a monthly budget including a rent, bills, Transportation, food, a few restaurant meals and a couple of nights out on the town?

I've found the money in Korea to be quite good. I was able to save $2000 Canadian Dollars a month, and now I'm being offered positions that pay an additional $400-500/month. I'm assuming I'll be able to save around $2200 a month. How does this compare to Japan?

[Glenski]

Kyle,

I have an Excel file with breakdowns of the costs you are looking for. You can also find some grocery prices at this web site:

http://www.pricechecktokyo.com

If you want a nice breakdown of salaries, look at www.eltnews.com and on the first page you'll see a link to Teaching in Japan. Take it.

Costs of living in Japan, for those who don't want to ask me for my Excel file, are roughly as follows. (Please don't give exceptions that you may have found if they are related to a special case. I just spent a long thread elsewhere dealing with someone who argued with me over trivial figures because he chose to live much more cheaply than most people. My figures are based on my own living costs over the past 4 years, and on averages of what the typical person spends.)

Rent: Variable, from 50,000 to 125,000 yen/month (ave. 70,000)
Taxes: 5-6% for work visa, 20% for working holiday visa
Groceries: 15,000 to 30,000 yen/month (closer to the higher end)
Utilities: 15,000 yen/month (seasonal average, of course)
Insurance: 2000 - 2500 yen/month (national health insurance plan)
Phone: 4000-5000 yen/month basic charge (with no calls made)
Haircut: 1000-12,000 yen/month (decent cuts, no perm for 2,000)

Figure an average salary of 250,000 yen/month, and these necessities will leave you with about 115,000 yen/month to spend on all of your vices, snacks, reading material, photo developing and film, postage, Internet costs, local and long distance phone calls, video rentals, movies, sightseeing, car (if you have one) and parking, replacement clothes and other things, and EMERGENCIES. Of course, if you have any bills to pay back home, this will also come out of the 115,000.

A couple nights on the town will probably run you 30,000 - 50,000 yen per month, depending on what you drink & eat, and whether you go to places with "charm charges", and whether you miss that midnight train home (and are forced to pay double taxi fares).

So, that 115,000 could be down to 85,000 or even 65,000 yen if you go out even moderately often.

Budget restaurants meals of Japanese cuisine? Well, there are all you can eat (tabehodai) places for about 1000 yen.

Transportation costs (for commuting, I presume you mean) will probably be about 10,000 to 15,000 yen/month, but I would expect an employer to pick this up. If not, lop this figure off the tally.

How much can you save? Look at the 65,000 to 85,000 yen/month figure and subtract whatever you like for all of the vices and other things from my list. You'll be very hard pressed to come close to saving what you did in Korea, but a lot depends on rent, where you live and what your lifestyle is, and whether you can pick up private lessons or additional part-time work.

[Celeste]

Kyle-

Glenski's numbers are pretty accurate. My husband and I have been here for 8 months, and we both earn 300 000yenper month. We manage to bank one salary (we send home about $3800CAD each month) and spend the other to live. We live well, (I probably spend more like 90000 yen per month on groceries for the two of us; I am very picky and I like to cook a lot) but we don't go out on the town a lot. If you organize private lessons carefully, then you can significantly increase your salary. I think that it is certainly possible to send home over $2000CAD a month, but only after you have been here a few months and gotten good contacts for the best paying privates.

[Kylehawkins2000]

Thanks for the info guys. It's much appreciated.

Happy Teaching!

Kyle