Job Discussion Forums

SoKoNotes · Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 4 Location: Busan, South Korea

Many thanks to everyone who answered my questions on teaching at AEON/AMITY in Japan. There was some good and some bad, but the general impression I got was the Japanese are going to ask me to work a whole lot harder than the Koreans. Hard work is OK. I love teaching, but hard work is not OK when I am not saving an appreciable amount of the money that hard work is making.

So I have been trying to get a clear picture of how much money gets vacuumed up by monthly expenses such as gas, water, power, internet servce, transportation, rent and food. I have my own health care.

If anyone who is currently or has recently worked in Japan could give me a detailed report on this information, I would be greatly appreciative. Of course, I understand that reports on things like food will be wildly different as different people have different dining habits.

Also, what did you all find was your start-up costs? How much did that first month in Japan cost you before your first paycheck rolled in?

Thanks,

Stephen "Notes" Jones

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

Glenski has a bunch of threads on this. Use the search function. There is a lot of information about this.

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

Depends a lot on where you live (big city vs. small town, or center of city vs. suburbs), what your lifestyle is (vegetarian vs. carnivore; party-goer vs. shut-in, etc.), and so on.

AVERAGE figures for rent might run 70,000 yen/month.
AVERAGE figures for utilities might run 15,000-20,000 yen/month (depends on season and personal habits, too).
AVERAGE phone costs (which could include Internet) are 3500-5000 yen/month plus any long-distance charges (you also pay for local calls, by the way).
AVERAGE groceries might cost you 40,000 yen/month.

I usually tell people that you will burn half of a 250,000 "standard" paycheck on basic necessities. I think most employers will pay for your local transportation.

This does not include getting satellite TV, magazines, gym club memberships, hair permanents, massages, or going out.

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

Start-up costs are different.

You will probably have to pay your own airfare to get here.
If you opt for employer housing, you won't pay for key money. If you live on your own, key money can run 2-5 times a month's rent equivalent, and you will probably move into a place bare as a bone (no utilities of any kids there, and no light fixtures), so you will have to furnish the place by yourself. Dumpster diving and secondhand shops are common places for the larger items, and 100-yen shops help with smaller things.

If you live on your own, you'll probably have to install a phone. Cell phones can be free or several 10,000 yen (depending on the model and year), PLUS the installation/setup charges (about 10,000 yen).

If you set yourself up in a gaijin house first, you may or may not have to pay a 25,000 yen deposit (refundable in many cases, I think).

If you come here without a job in hand, you will also have to pay for local transportation, about 20,000 yen/month.

cornishmuppet · Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Posts: 642 Location: Nagano, Japan

My first month I brought about 40,000 with me, and it did just fine, even though half of which went on an enforced weekend away with my new boss. I didn`t have any friends, you see, and I was too scared to go out to any restaurants or bars on my own. It quickly goes up though, once you start meeting people and get over the `fear`.

Glenski`s quite right on those average costs. It can be significantly different, for exampe I pay only 28,000 rent a month, but I live in a box in what by Japanese standards is a small mountain town. I think that outside the main population centres if your rent is above 50k you`re unlucky. I only know one person who pays more than that and he lives in a cavernous house big enough for four (and pretty annoyed now he`s got it, the landlord won`t let him get a lodger for fear of what the neighbours`ll say!) Obviously in Tokyo or somewhere it could be anything, just have to cross your fingers.

Glenski, what phone are you basing that estimation on? If you have a phone whose bill comes in at less than 4k a month, can you let me know which company its with and what contract? I regularly get rap ed by Vodafone to the tune of 12k whether I make any calls or not. Cheers.

Jazz1975 · Joined: 14 Feb 2006 Posts: 301 Location: Zama, Kanagawa

I read on another thread and heard at the ECC interview that it's recommended that we get a cell phone instead of a landline. What's the deal there?

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

Jazz1975 · Joined: 14 Feb 2006 Posts: 301 Location: Zama, Kanagawa

luckyloser700 · Joined: 24 Mar 2006 Posts: 308 Location: Japan

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

And lots of people don't bother with landlines any more, due to the expense and hassle- you actually have to "buy" the line, around 20-30,000 yen just to get your phone connected.

My (Japanese) husband and I didn't bother with a landline when we moved in together- we just rely on our cellphones, as do many people these days.

Cornishmuppet, a lot of people say vodafone is the most expensive. I'm with AU and never pay more than 5000 yen a month- I don't do a huge amount of talking, about average I think, and I send loads of emails.

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

Jazz1975 · Joined: 14 Feb 2006 Posts: 301 Location: Zama, Kanagawa

Thanks guys. I knew the company was just trying to "persuade" us to get a cell phone for their own reasons which was EXACTLY why I came on here to get the lowdown. And I did. Thanks again Very Happy

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JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

True.. You DO NOT have to buy a phone line. That stopped being the case years ago (even before I came to Japan). There are many threads about this and how to go about getting a land-line.

Personally I have both. My cellphone is useful, and my landline is a /dev/null. I give out my landline number to government offices, on application forms, in-laws, basically to anyone who I don't want bugging me, as we are very rarely at home and there is no answering machine.

Jazz1975 · Joined: 14 Feb 2006 Posts: 301 Location: Zama, Kanagawa

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

I was saying before we didn't have a landline, but that doesn't mean we don't have internet access. We pay about 8000 yen per month for J-Com, which gives us cable TV with seemingly thousands of channels, and unlimited high speed internet access.

I really don't think your company was advising you to get a cellphone for their own nefarious purposes, they are probably thinking that like themselves , you wouldn't be able to survive without one. I advise you to get a cellphone too, and I can't possibly have an ulterior motive!