Currently living in Utah making about 200K USD (pretax from dual income) total. Have my wife and one kid (3 years old)and we eat out pretty often because we both work. Our in laws watch our kid while we work so pretty good set up.
Have an opportunity to move to Japan possibly by December this year with a salary base of 9Million Yen plus stock rsu and transportation cost each month.
I am a Japanese citizen and grew up in Japan and my wife is learning Japanese. We are a little worried if 9-10million yen would be enough for us to thrive in Tokyo or Chiba/Kanagawa. I would only be going in the office once a week and so don’t need to live in the city too closely luckily.
Let me know in your experience i’d 9-10million yen is ideal? with a family of 3.
Taking into account taxes, insurance, pension. I’m assuming my take home yearly pay will be closer to 5-7 million yen. Would I be able to save money, go out to eat, shop?
Thanks!
by OrewatokyoUmare
34 comments
I think you will be getting a lot less than you are now.
Curious how you would define “thrive”?
I think it’s better to stay in the US especially with the yen getting weaker, since your in-laws are there to help with the kids, and your getting paid higher in the US, I don’t think it’s a good move
Child care is very expensive in Japan
There are a lot of pros and cons, but ultimately, this is a decision only you can make.
200,000 USD vs 5,000,000 yen which is about $35,000… why would you do that to yourself?
Thats, at minimum, a 75% pay cut. Are you really willing to take that big of a pay cut?
You should work out a budget and a list of expenses and calculate by researching the costs of those individual items in Japan. Do some research basically, youll need to do that anyways if you are serious.
You’ll probably get much better answers here if you asked specifically about the general expense of a certain item. Otherwise, people will just answer subjectively to your question. Expenses are highly individual.
You’ll have to work 4-6 years to make what you’re making in 1 year. It’ll take 20-30 years of working in Japan to make what you’d make in 5 years in the USA. I would personally stay put for now.
I’d save/invest until you have 1-2 million so that interest from the principal can pay you a nice salary then move to Japan. Japanese or not, love the country or not, I wouldn’t sacrifice that kind of pay right now.
Japan will always be there. Take a month vacation there or something. Then move when you’re financially free.
I view life in terms of time quite often. Money is not everything, but unless you absolutely hate your life right now, I would come up with a financial plan to be set and go to Japan with more options because you’re financially free.
Just my opinion.
Hi. WE are a family of 5. Is 9-10M is that you basic salary? or does it include the winter and summer bonus?
People I know that make 20m yen and live in Nagoya park their cars outside because they can’t afford a big enough garage.
Buy a house in Japan and use it for vacation.
So I’m currently in Kanagawa making a similar salary with a similarly-sized family. However for me the move wasn’t taking a pay cut like you would, so I can’t compare.
We’re fine. We go out to eat (or order in) a couple times a week. We have hobbies, etc. I’m not shopping at Chanel or anything, but we have nice clothes, live in a nice place, you get the idea. We travel (domestically and internationally) a lot, but we do dip into our previous savings sometimes for that.
Also, childcare is MUCH cheaper if you need it. So that’s a savings. However, if you want your child to go to international school that will be a HUGE cost. Ours is attending domestic schools, but will switch at middle school due to our feelings about the school system. Thankfully we have doting grandparents with money they’ll happily spend on kid’s school.
My husband had a similar opportunity which we decided against it based on [articles like this](https://ieagent.jp/blog/money/3ninkazoku-seikatsuhi-157730).
It’s a personal decision so just because we didn’t want to do it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t but I’d suspect you’d definitely have to watch your budget and probably save less than what you’re currently used to.
My husband and I love food, so what really surprised us was the “average”monthly expenses only includes 13000yen in dining out (& still leaves us with not much to save on a 6mil/year tedori). It’s definitely a big change in lifestyle if you’re used to going out more often and/or to nicer places.
Could you get by on 9m yen a year. Sure. Plenty of people survive on less. But I don’t live in some huge house in some prime location and my rent almost 5m a year. Add in utilities, transportation, food healthcare I’m already up against that budget total. Add in kids activities like piano, swimming, soccer etc. buy stuff I want not just need. Traveling. I prob spend double 20m yen and I am not living some crazy extravagant lifestyle. Your lifestyle is going to change dramatically just living in Japan. I personally wouldn’t take a 75% pay cut. In many ways the cost of living is cheaper here especially moving from Southern California (prob less to Utah). But it’s not 75% pay cut less expensive. So you are going to need to make financial sacrifices and changes outside of just the cultural aspect. But many people do live comfortably enough on 10m a year so you could too. Only you can decide whether than changes and sacrifice an are worth it for the experience.
It will be a solid salary especially if you live in Chiba
It’s obvious that going from the US to any other country where pay is lower will not be a move up financially. Having said that, there are two main things to consider:
– How bad will be the financial hit ?
– How much is the cultural / life experience worth to you ?
Depending on your answers, this could totally be a good move. The life experience alone, plus having your wife and child learn the language of their ancestors could be considered invaluable. Living abroad is mind broadening and truly life changing for a lot of people. Sending kids to international school is also. Here are some questions I’d ask to help make the choice:
– How does your wife feel about it ? How would having her go from working to raising your kid full time affect them both ? It could be positive or not depending on her feelings.
– How easily can you reverse the decision ? Ie how fast can you find another good job in Utah if you dont like your new life?
– How easily can your wife get back to the workforce if she stops working for a number of years ? This isnt the same if she is a nurse vs if she works in corporate.
– How much are the RSUs ? This is hugely important because the RSUs will be in USD which goes a long way in Japan. They can probably be saved directly or have a massive impact on your income in Japan. This will soften the financial blow.
– How much do you save currently? This is necessary to determine the extent of the financial hit.
– How old are the grandparents involved ? They’ll see a lot less of their grandkid for a few years. If they’re 90, that might be a big deal.
Calculate the financial difference. Take in consideration the well being and future of your wife and kid. Weight how much the cultural and life experience is worth to your family. And then make your decision. Without any of that information, none of us here can say anything relevant other than “thats a lot less money lol”
What do you do? Tell em I learn everything you can do, and I’ll take the position 😂
Nah but for real though $200k a year 70% of people will never see that even working at a place for 30 years
On the financial side I think it depends on whether you’ll move back at some point. We have a saying in California that if you leave for several years, it’s hard to come back, because most people won’t be able to to build up as much home equity in another state. Plus salaries outside California can be lower. And that’s just within the US! So with a salary of 65k you won’t be able to save much for a retirement in the US.
Also keep in mind that, with a trailing spouse, the odds are that you’ll I’ll need to move back eventually and you may not be able to get 200k again.
My limited time in Japan 2 years or so. I’m military so things are easier on my part. But the things I can contribute. The railway system is on point no huge need for a car maybe have like a Honda civic mini van. Cars are cheap to buy but expensive to have like tolls and jci. Most things will be convenient. Kids from what I’ve seen off base have just walked around. Housing is relatively cheap compared to the states. My opinion save to buy a house, car outright and some savings and then just move here. There’s a lot of little details always you’ll find out. Money is always going to be an issue, why fret when you have a degree and experience that is wanted. And you speak Japanese. You have a huge market and a beautiful country
Your kids know Japanese? You’re not going to be able to afford an international school on that salary.
It really depends on several factors like rent and where you want to eat out. Cocoichi or Sushiro dinners? You’re fine. 120,000 yen a month rent? You’re fine.
Cost of living here is low but prices are slowly increasing.
If you want to save money to use in the future in the US, I think it’s a bad idea to move here.
Exist yes. Thrive, far from it.
I’ll say this.. my family income is close to your projected Japanese income. I live fine, but def not rich.. if I could change places with you and make 200k in Utah, it would be a no brainier. I’d be on that plane tomorrow. You moving here would be the worst financial decision of your life. If you want to move to Japan, start saving hard now and make the move later down the line. If you could move here with a million dollars+ in assets , the pay hit wouldn’t matter as much.
If you were single I’d be more understanding. 10 million is plenty to live on, even support a family. But is it in *your* *family’s* best interest to uproot them to a foreign country, put your kid through the Japanese school system and sacrifice 75% of your earning potential?
People are truly insane to move to Japan to make such little money just to be around Japanese people. I love Japan but I would never in a million years suffer to live here. It’s a great place to visit and hang out and then leave.
Dude, no, stay…. You will definitely not have the same living, plus getting nurseries now is difficult. And better keep the kid with the inlaws.
Sounds like a super bad move to accept the Japan package for you.
Were you also hip hop sodachi?
We also live in Utah. Would love to move back to Japan but with the exchange rate and just general ease of living here, I don’t think we’ll move anytime soon.
We’re a dual income family of 3, I make by myself a bit more than you’re going to make, but our total household income is substantially higher.
For a few years when my wife was on maternity leave I covered everything and let her keep the salary she received from her benefits for her personal savings, so during that time we lived on a salary close to what your looking at. Take home for me at the time was 60-63万 a month.
We live in Shinagawa, had a larger 1DK at the time, not great for 3 people but not horrible with a baby. We own a house now in the same neighborhood which is great but it also more than doubled the cost of housing for us. Financially I don’t recall ever feeling stressed at that time, but at the same time I did have to be very mindful of being thrifty because things can easily get out of hand.
I see living in Tokyo, at least the 23ku area as having a reasonable starting cost to live an ok life. But once you start trying to improve things, cost exponentially increases. 9M is enough for a family of 3 to be reasonably comfortable for a while, but you’ll need to keep your expectations in check and be vigilant with your spending. Moving further out is an option but what you save on rent needs to be weighed against what you’re going to need to spend to make up for being more out in the suburbs. Something as simple as your wife needing to take the train places can add up pretty quickly. You might also want to check what benefits you get for your kid, some cities in the 23ku area offer a lot of subsidies that you might be paying out of pocket for in the suburbs.
No, man. I know there’s the saying that money isn’t everything but with this level of difference it kinda is…
OP, just letting you know it’s definitely doable but just depends on the life style you’re looking for. I can tell you that it’s possible, but you won’t be living lavishly unless your wife is working as well in Japan. If she will not be working then I would advise refraining on moving forward with this decision tbh, but you do you.
9M yen is realistically around 6.5M after taxes (47K usd) annually.
Your monthly take home is roughly 550,000 yen (roughly $3900). I used multiple Japan tax calculators online to find an average, you can look it up yourself too if you want to see the detailed breakdown. I used my annual salary and it’s pretty close, so do what you will with this info.
Last thing, if you’re absolutely adamant with moving to Japan then at least have over 100K in savings just in case. If you have more then even better.
¥9M base salary without any benefits other than transportation?
Hard pass for what it would likely be a worse work-life balance for you and your family.
I am currently in an assignment getting ¥18M with housing, utilities and transportation paid and even then most days still struggle to cope with the mental toll of working in this hellhole.
If your situation will be different, then I do think you would enjoy Japan but I still wouldn’t recommend leaving all that money on the table.
Gotta be an idiot to leave 200k usd for 10 mil jpy lol
OP try to find a better job offer in Japan to close the gap. I understand your reasoning, you’ll have a better life in Japan, a lower cost of living but the pay gap is probably too much here. If you really want to go, you’ll need to actively look for better job offers. What about expat jobs that pay US salary but you work in Japan?
You earn the equivalent of 28 mil yen in Utah out of all places and you want to REDUCE your income by 85% just to move to Tokyo ?
Are you insane ?
Your quality of life is much higher in the US due to the fact that you make so much here. You will be financially struggling in Japan compared to here. Work and save money here, then vacation or retire in Japan.