Job Discussion Forums

iteachenglish · Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Posts: 4

After rerading a large amount of ads over the last year. I noticed 250 000 is the most common salary for an ESL teacher in Japan. A few jobs pay 260 000.

For a Tokyo position, I wonder how people live in Tokyo on 250000. 12 years ago i was on thejet program and was paid 300 000 yen per month in a country town. My guess is that the 250 000 a month salary would be just enough to cover bills only. I'm curious on how big city teachers get by on this salary. I guess sharing accommodation would be compulsory. Maybe , the cost of living hasn't increased much in 10 years.

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

Look at it this way.
Rent could cost you anywhere from 50,000 to 150,000 yen/month. Even with a middle of the road value for a single apartment of 100,000, that would mean utilities (20,000), phone (5000-8000), food (30,000) would give you a total expenditure of 158,000 yen/month.

Anything else (other than insurance and perhaps haircuts) is a luxury. So, you still have roughly 100,000 yen to play around with every month.

Want to drink? Luxury.
Want magazine subscriptions or cable/satellite TV? Luxuries.
Want to see a movie or rent DVDs? Luxuries.
Do you smoke? Luxury.
Want to sightsee? Luxury.

So, the basic necessity bills still leave you money for the luxuries.

About the only other things to be careful of are emergency medical bills (because national health insurance covers all but 30% of them) and any bills you have back home (like student loans or mortgage).

patsensei · Joined: 06 May 2006 Posts: 27 Location: Tokyo

yep. It is pretty depressing actually. Salary for teachers is gradually going down. Guess it is basically supply and demand at work.

sethness · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 209 Location: Hiroshima, Japan

Yes, the gov't's previous insistence that no foreign english teacher be paid less than 250,000 is a thing of the past.

However, it sounds like you've done this work before, in the countryside... that experience may give you the edge when applying for better-paying jobs. High schools and some private schools may pay 280,000.

If I were you, though, I'd forego Tokyo in favor of working in a more rural setting. In some rural schools, the apartment might be FREE, or as low as 30,000 a month, and may offer an apartment for which you needn't pay the "key money" (roughly 5 months' rent and non-refundable cleaning fee, paid at the outset of an apt. rental contract).

Life in the countryside is generally cheaper in all respects-- supermarket goods, for example, would generally be about 25% less than what you'd pay in the city.

On the down-side, depending on which bit of countryside you're in, you might feel VERY isolated, sort of like a bear kept alone in a cell at a zoo.

Life in Tokyo, however, will feel very much like everyone's constantly digging deep into your pockets and extracting all your cash. Expect to pay about 80,000 yen for an 8-"jo" studio apartment, depending on which bit of Tokyo you're in.

Someone else in this thread said that apartments in Tokyo might go for as little as 50,000 yen, but I've never heard of such a cheap deal in Tokyo. All over the countryside, yes, but not Tokyo.

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

Not for 50,000 yen in Tokyo unless you are out near Hachioji (1 hour by train from Shinjuku) somewhere, definitely. There are places that cheap closer in, but they have no bathroom (meaning bathtub or shower- they do have a toilet and sink). A few of my Japanese friends have lived in those places while saving money- the rent was around 40,000 yen per month. They had to use the local sento or coin showers.

Once out of Tokyo prefecture, up in Saitama for example, rents can be quite low, but I wouldn't want to live there Smile

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

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

I'm sure there are plenty of people who like Saitama, but I unintentionally (was placed there by companies) lived there twice, for a total of about 18 months, and I really don't like the place. Flat, landlocked, dusty, hotter than Tokyo in summer and colder in winter, very little to do, plus the dreaded Saikyo line.

That's just me though, I leave everyone to make their own decision on the relative merits of all Japanese prefectures. My hell might be someone else's paradise...

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

Plenty of tennis courts in Saitama, generally located in wide-open spaces next to baseball fields with hills and loads of trees. Pretty sweet.

sethness · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 209 Location: Hiroshima, Japan

I've seen videos of Saitama, and had an exceptionally nice girlfriend from there. From what I can tell, Saitama is to Tokyo as New Jersey is to New York City: the nearest slightly dull suburban sprawl, and the butt of lots of jokes by cosmopolitan city-dwellers.

I don't think Saitama, or "da-saitama" as it's unkindly nicknamed, is at all a bad place, for a big flat landlocked suburb-- it's just next to the biggest, busiest, trendiest city in Japan, so the comparison is inevitable.

Audentia · Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 9:15 am Post subject:

I am currently making 250 000 a month (plus bonuses, plus my apartment is subsidized by my company...I pay 42 000 a month) and I also live in Saitama. I have been living in Japan for nearly a year and have not only travelled to Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan and some places in Japan (mostly around Tokyo) but I have done so and still been able to send money home every second month. Tokyo is only 45 minutes away on one train line and I go there every second weekend or so. Going out to Tokyo means all nighters though cause the trains stop just before 12. So, yes, I drink and I eat out all the time. I cook too, but I go to izakayas with my students at least once a week.
So is it enough, ya, for me it is. I'm not too keen on shopping for new clothes all the time, but I treat myself every now and then. I spend my money on my gym, 11 000 a month, expensive ya, but hey, I can afford it. I think it comes down to what your spending habits are like and what your expectations are. If you are teaching to make money, go to Korea.

ripslyme · Joined: 29 Jan 2005 Posts: 481 Location: Japan

ElleB · Joined: 07 Feb 2005 Posts: 20

I think that living in the suburbs is the way to go. In addition to Saitama, there's Chiba and Kanagawa. I live in Chiba, and my rent is 55,000. Plenty of my coworkers pay less. Chiba isn't very pretty, though.

I think that people living in Tokyo get by by doing these things:
1. Sharing the rent
2. Living in guest houses
3. Teaching privates to supplement their incomes
4. Have their rent subsidized by their schools to some degree (i.e., the employer pays any amount over 60,000. My company does something like this.)

Additionally, I think that some eikaiwa jobs in Tokyo pay more like 270,000 or 280,000, but maybe I'm wrong.

Some days I think I'd like to live in Tokyo, but I'm glad I don't have the temptation to spend all my money on food, drinks, and clothes out here. I can get to Tokyo in about 45 minutes and that's fine with me.

seanmcginty · Joined: 27 Sep 2005 Posts: 203

I don't know about Tokyo, but in smaller cities you can get by quite comfortably on 250,000 yen per month. I lived in Himeji (population 500,000 so not a big city but not too small either) on that much and was able to save quite a bit of my salary (which varied over the years between 250 and 300) while living quite comfortably.