Hello fellas!
I (27M, India, Single) will get to the point, I recently got a work opportunity to move in Tokyo, it’s a software engineering job. What I need some assistance with is knowing how much should I make every year to have a good, safe and healthy lifestyle in Tokyo?
While it is a remote/WFA job, I have been asked that I need to move to Japan, specifically Tokyo.
Now my potential problems:
1. I don’t know any Japanese, is it gonna be too tough without knowing it? I have about 5 months here in India while I can learn, rest all is gonna be in reality.
2. Food, I can cook basic food but what are other options? I eat everything so that won’t be a problem except cooking things might get problematic!
3. Rent? How is the rent in Shibuya, Tokyo? (I know this question is not sufficient but I’d just love some insights)
4. The current offer that I’ve been given is a little more than 9 mil JPY, while the number is high, I know that the usual cost of things is also high.
Any ideas would help! 🙂
3 comments
>Food, I can cook basic food but what are other options? I eat everything so that won’t be a problem except cooking things might get problematic!
Sorry, there is only grilled salmon, miso soup and rice for every meal here in Japan. Why do you think everyone is so skinny! /s
Real answer. You can find anything and everything to eat. If you have religious limitations or allergies, it may be a little harder, but you should be easy to adapt to. If you just need to eat food from home, there are many, many, many Indian places that can take care of you. Even down here in suburban Fukuoka, I’ve got 4 Indian places within a 15 minute drive.
Gorcery stores even carry pre-cooked foods in large quantities and varieties so while not the healthiest, it’s not difficult to pick up something on the way home..
>I don’t know any Japanese, is it gonna be too tough without knowing it?
Tokyo is a world city. While more Japanese is more better you can thrive without it. Outside of Tokyo all bets are off though. Even inside Tokyo, you’ll have a much better time of things if you’re able to hold at least a basic conversation.
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>Food, I can cook basic food but what are other options?
There are plenty of ready-made options in grocery stores. Loads of meal-plan type service things. Plus restaurants and convenience stores are everywhere. I will point out that I did see somewhere that the absolute number 1 predictive factor regarding ones long term health was whether the individual cooked for themselves. So for your own future health sake I’d recommend getting used to cooking for yourself.
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>Rent? How is the rent in Shibuya, Tokyo?
The general rule when budgeting accommodations is to not spend more than a third of your take home on rent. So for you I wouldn’t budget more than 175,000yen monthly for rent. That’s enough for studio apartment in Shibuya. If you don’t mind going a bit further out, you should be able to get a much larger place. For comparison, my place in Chiba (around 30 minutes from Tokyo station) is a 100+ square meters 3LDK around 30 minutes from Tokyo station and I’m paying around 125,000 monthly on my mortgage.
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>The current offer that I’ve been given is a little more than 9 mil JPY
That’s around double the national average salary for Japan. The Tokyo average salary is around 6mil. So you’d be on the lower end of upper-middle class. Definitely plenty of room for salary growth, and since you’re 27 you’ll have plenty of time to do that growth.
>Food…
Not an issue if you’re making “9 mil JPY”—You could get fat very quickly eating 1,200yen lunch sets in Shibuya and 3,000yen Indian banquets every night.
>Rent? How is the rent in Shibuya, Tokyo? (I know this question is not sufficient
You will encounter some (a lot, in my case) discrimination in renting. However, with a budget of 200,000 yen/month you will be able to a nice place SOMEWHERE around Shibuya once you arrive here. Arranging/renting before you arrive will double/triple the cost of rent as a gaijin {you need to find 1~2 month temporary accommodation so you can look for a proper/reasonably priced rental}.
>The current offer that I’ve been given is a little more than 9 mil JPY
That’s twice the average salary for a younger, educated, mid-level, Japanese salaryman. Are you trolling us?