Is my salary enough to live in Japan?

10 comments

1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

   —

   **Is my salary enough to live in Japan?**

   Hello!
   I am a foreign national (Canada+Irish citizenship) considering a postdoctoral fellowship with JSPS. The salary is not very high and I would be grateful for your help in deciding if this program would facilitate a manageable quality of life in Tokyo.

   The contract provides:
   1. Airfare
   2. A ¥362,000/month salary (
   3. A settling-in allowance of ¥200,000
   4. Overseas travel insurance

   I would aim to stay in the International House of Tokyo Tech, which is ¥59,000/month for a single room.

   My potential research supervisor noted that the salary is less attractive given the decline of the yen and wanted to make sure I understood this before applying, so I am trying to understand the lifestyle I could have under these conditions in Tokyo.

   For me, this would be more of a cultural and learning experience, and does not need to be a time where I am saving large portions of my salary for retirement. But I also don’t want to be struggling to survive.

   Is the above salary sufficient to live comfortably in Tokyo? I do not have an extravagant lifestyle, but I would want the freedom to eat out regularly, try some of the nicer restaurants, and travel (by train) on some weekends.

   Thank you!

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2. If you’re able to get that rent then your salary is more than adequate to live somewhat comfortably. Most Japanese people have salaries way lower and live within their means, so I think you’ll definitely be fine as long as you prioritize what you want to spend money on.
   Congratulations on your job and this new chapter in your life btw 👍 it’s not a struggling salary so no worries 🙂

3. I’m applying for the JSPS too and from what I’ve read the money is not considered regular income (more of a stipend) so will not be subject to income tax.

4. 362,000 jpy. Is this your salary after tax/pension/insurance deduction? or without any deduction.
   Note that about 18-20% gets deduct from your base salary

5. For a postdoc, it is slightly above average. (When I searched post doc positions they were only offering about 320 to 350K).

   If your housing is 59K, 350K is an adequate salary for living in Tokyo. You should be able to eat generously and still have enough to go out and have a good time.

   You can confirm this part with your supervisor, but the impression I get is that postdocs are only temporary positions and raises/promotions may be few and far between (if any).

6. I received 3 years of JSPS funding during the pandemic, which I did not end up fulfilling (due to the pandemic). Zero special exemptions were given to me and RIKEN (host institute) dropped the ball several times throughout the waiting trial. I ended waiting 2 fucking years before my first entry opportunity became available to me. Life moved on by then.

   Anyway, the stipend is enough to live on somewhat comfortably. You can save some money on that salary, since Japan can be relatively cheap. But the conversion will kill your savings, so it’s good that you’re aware and ok with it. On the plus side, if you have saved over the years, any conversion to yen will be a boon when you go there.

   I don’t believe you are subject to tax in Japan (pension, etc), it’s all on the JSPS website/handbook, btw. But if you’re from America, you actually will be subject to taxable income, I believe. The US has a policy to tax your international income as primary income, though I am not sure if it’s after conversion back to US dollars. Take a look around, but you will be taxed to some extent (so prepare for it). Pretty sure if your salary is around ~4 million yen, it would be taxed at the conversion (so ~$25k). Not bad.

   And for what it’s worth, it’s likely best going into this realizing that the vast majority of foreigners that work in Japan will return home. It’s not like America where decent foreign postdocs can work at a good research institute/university and H1B their way into a company. In Japan, it will be much more challenging finding permanent work (though not impossible).

7. Don’t expect to save a lot but you will be fine!

8. minus rent you would have about 235k jpy to spend which is quite a lot for a single spender.
   as long as long life like locals and don’t cling to import goods you should have at least 50k to save or to spend on hobbies. for a reference:
   1 oven-ready meal from conbini would cost you roughly 600jpy
   1 kfc/mcd set meal for 1350jpy (mostly under 1000)
   1 set from yoshinoya/sukiya range from 400-800jpy
   1 bowl of ramen ranging 1200-2000jpy
   1 day train pass cost 1600jpy (exclude bullet train)
   don’t drink as often, but when i do group with my team we each spent 5k for 1 all you can eat/drink session

   I strongly suggest you take this opportunity, cheers!

9. The salary’s value in your home country’s currency means nothing, except in terms of what you can save for retirement/later use in your home country. I recommend popping Tokyo and your current location into something like Numbeo’s Cost of Living Comparison tool to get a sense of how far it will go. (Opinion answer: Quite far enough!)

10. I had a JSPS fellowship a few years ago, the stipend was quite enough to live comfortably. As others have pointed out, the low yen means it’s not worth saving money to take home – spend it while you’re there.