Hi everyone \~
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For context, I’m a 28 years old Registered Architect in Portugal, with a master’s degree and 5 years of working experience.
I’m going to start working in a Japanese architecture company located in Tokyo in July, and I’ve been wondering about the fairness of the salary that I’m getting.
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Before accepting this job, I researched the medium income for architects in Japan on sites like Glassdoor, Payscale, Eri, and so on. However, those values don’t usually correspond to the reality and if you actually ask for those values to the interviewer he will just roll his eyes at you.
So I’m looking for the advice and knowledge of people that actually know the reality of the architecture industry in Japan.
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In the end, I got an offer of 260.000 yen gross per month, and a warning that other architecture companies pay much less, so this salary was actually pretty good.
But we are talking about a salary of 3 million yen per year, it looks like nothing compared with the information that those statistic sites give you. AND I’ve been seeing other salary post here on reddit (not about architecture tho) and no one is being offered less than 6 million per year.
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What do you guys think? Is this salary really that good for the architecture field? What’s your experience and take on this?
And if this is just a low salary, what is an acceptable salary for architects, and which companies offer it? Do you think that making 450.000 gross per month is doable?
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Thank you so much for your help \^\^
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(P.S.: If you please could also share so that more people can help, I would really appreciate it.
Thank you all for everything.)
13 comments
That’s about what an entry level Japanese straight out of college would make. Expect take home to be closer to 200,000 yen. It’s pretty meager salary and won’t afford a very comfortable life. You will need to cut costs to live in Tokyo. If you have student debt you might actually go into the red.
260,000/mo is in line with the average entry-level salary for a fresh Japanese grad.
But you’re not a fresh graduate, so… This doesn’t seem like a particularly great offer.
Most of the folks you see throwing salaries around here are in tech, so their numbers aren’t going to be directly comparable, but still. You’re an experienced architect and I’m assuming you are *not* applying for entry-level positions.
>a warning that other architecture companies pay much less, so this salary was actually pretty good.
Any company that tries to say this should ***immediately*** not be trusted. Salary info is widely available, so the instant they start pulling “This is a great salary, really. You should totally take our word for it” you should start looking for another opportunity.
Lol they definitely took advantage of you. Do you even want to work with people who is taking you for stupid and are straight lying to your face? Because there’s no way to sugarcoat what they’re doing to you.
Don’t take this offer it’s peanuts and you’ll deeply regret it in the future. Unless you’re running away from Portugal for criminal reasons or whatever, then I guess go for it.
Maybe it’s like your “base salary” or sonething ? In my company the “base salary” is also like 260.000 yen, but then we get additonal “allowances” for housing, transportation, gas ,children, familymembers, flights home, grocerys etc so it triples.
I think when you also plan on living in tokyo you need atleast 700.000 Yen/month
My 2-cents.
260k gross does seem a bit low. I take it the Japanese firm is sponsoring your visa? How is your Japanese ability? Is the 6-month contract a trial period where upon completion you can re-negotiate?
With your qualifications, experience and English ability I think you can command a higher salary. You may want to spend the 6 months in Tokyo making contacts and seeking out international firms that will value what you can offer.
260000 yen is average salary but dont expect a high salary, i heard architecture jobs arent paid that well unless you have 1級建築士 and work on huge public buildings. Source: have an architect friend
Not an architect, but honestly 260k gross is *shocking*; that’s basically what untrained ALTs are earning. Given you’ve got decent work experience in your field, that company is obviously taking advantage of you. As dalkyr82 has mentioned, you are in no way obligated to go ahead with the job even if you’ve signed a contract and received your CoE.
The only thing is that you may burn bridges with that particular company in the future. However it may be better than trying to jump ship after coming to Japan because (1) no guarantee you’ll find a job, in which case you’re back to square 1, or (2) you find a job but the expat architect community is small enough that your company badmouths you to other future potential employers.
Also you mentioned that the company is not covering any other benefits, which means you’re looking at going into a couple thousand $ in debt from moving costs (unless you plan to move to like a Leopalace or something), *especially* since you’re going to be located in Tokyo.
A tough lesson to learn, but anyone who values their work and time should always try and wring out as good an expat package for themselves as possible. I am nowhere near as ‘experienced’ as you, younger than you and secured a decent package for my industry. As much as I love Japan, I wouldn’t have taken just anything to come over.
I feel you man. It can be really hard to tell what a fair salary is in advance between all the boni, allowances and included standard overtime. In my personal experience, it is best to compare your monthly hours with the expected total annual salary, if that information is available.
On this note, you mentioned 260.000 monthly and around 3mil a year.
Does this mean that you won’t get any substantial boni?
Just curious cause I hunted for Jobs in Japan the past year (unrelated field)
and a good number of companies advertised yearly boni of 3-4 gross salaries per year.
No idea if that holds true across fields though (prob not).
Additionally, if you have to pay your plane ticket and other one-time bulk expenses out of pocket without any kind of reimbursement or support, that isn’t the greatest sign either imo.
Wish you all the best nonetheless. I am sure you will find and make the best decision for your specific situation! ^^
I’m not an architect, but as far as my understanding goes base on what I heard in the past, you need a license to design a building. If you don’t even have 二級建築士 and are not a registered architect、your work may need to be supervised by someone who has the license, otherwise, it would be illegal. This could affect your salary a lot because you are not on your own when you carry out the tasks. I’m under the impression that a lack of the license makes them treat you the same as new grads.
According to the google search, an annual income of 二級建築士 is 3.5M to 4.5M. Without the license, it might be lower.
Hey there, I was in the same kind of position to be honest. Got offered 5.6mil per year gross with a masters in engineering and 5 year work experience . I am already making 58k gross a year in the Netherlands, but they offered to pay rent up to 70k per month. So if you count all the stuff it is more or less about the same. But be careful tho in Japan they also pay you bonus. That’s the system they have. My normal take home salary is about 280k yen per month.
Architect with experience abroad, currently at grad school in japan. Your salary is what a fresh graduate makes. And you’re right, the growth will be negligible here because they simply don’t need to pay you or anyone better. The pay should tide you through survival comfortably but it’s way lower than what other experienced professionals make here. Architecture jobs are pretty universal in how low they pay and how much life they suck out of you – but somehow a bit worse here. I knew this before I came to tokyo and was prepared to focus on grad school with no expectations of landing a job worth doing post. I thought i might do something part time in a more international firm if it atleast offered decent experience. But now that I’m here I can assure you, it’s not something I am considering too seriously. I don’t speak much Japanese either which means despite my experience i must be prepared to do the lowest grunt work available and that simply does not interest me. You’ll be in a better position to assess if the other jobs you encounter after arriving are better than your current one or just as poor. But your decision to come purely depends on the why ? Is this meant to be an upward career move leading to better pay and potentially basing life here ? I’d say that’s not gonna work out very well. You just want to spend an year living in japan and working in architecture instead of being an ALT – sure. Atleast they’re paying you the minimum. Ive heard of foreign students sometimes paying the starchitects here simply to hire them as interns. It’s not even an unpaid internship it’s paying someone to be a slave just cause they want to do a stint in japan. You can imagine why your firm seems to be so proud of paying you what they are. Moving countries as an architect with experience is always harder cause you’ll always be held back over not having a valid license / knowing the local code and manner of construction etc. Maybe you start low, find a fit and begin learning and growing over a few years. But in a country like Japan that operates in a language you don’t even speak and builds in a way that is significantly different from your native country, thats a whole other beast to tame. Add to it poor, stagnant pay and a work culture that doesn’t seem to ever clock out generally. You need to be sure you want to do this despite these factors, not hoping that you enter with this but find other places that might be better post arrival. Why you want to come here is purely what your decision should be based on, not any hopes of the situation being radically different once you arrive.
I think you really shouldn’t join this firm, because 6 months later, when you try to switch your job the interviewers will take your current salary in account also that you switched in 6 months, and they will pay you according to that only.