Questions about Moving to Tokyo from the SF Bay Area

13 comments

1. I did the same move and happily took the tradeoff. I also had around a 20-25% cut in pay. Fortunately in the meantime my equity portion has increased in value a good amount.

   Yeah, the currency thing has not been great. I think it’s difficult to have the request to be paid in US approved unless it’s a small startup with a branch in the US or you’re set up as a temporary assignment.

2. Here’s what I can say. Rent is extremely cheaper than living anywhere in the Bay Area.

   I pay 56% less rent of what I did in Denver. Utilities, internet, and phone are about the same if not cheaper due to exchange rates. In total my wife and I make 11% less but now more of our income is tax free due to the special post allowance.

   We have a best of both countries situation where we can get American goods on base while getting better quality goods off base.

   Not receiving pay in USD would be a big bummer.

3. We moved from outside of the Bay Area to Yokohama, with a family. Rent for us was about the same (I say that, but I recently found out that the rent of our old place in the US just jumped up by almost $1K USD, so now we’re definitely paying less), but we were not in the Bay Area proper, so our rent wasn’t as insane. Only slightly insane. But we wouldn’t have been able to buy a house. I think in Yokohama we could afford it.

   Childcare and healthcare is much cheaper though. That has REALLY helped our COL. Seriously, it was basically cut in half, and will go down again when we switch schools in April— but we’re going to a local school, not an international school (which would be pricey). Our area is super family friendly and safe. Our kid loves it. We love being able to walk and bike everywhere with her. Downside: we don’t have a car and have to walk and bike (or bus/train) everywhere with her, haha.

   Can’t comment on work culture and whatnot, I have a somewhat non traditional job.

4. My income.dropped by more than 50% moving to Japan and besides being less able to enjoy cruises, weeklong overseas vacations and other high price luxuries, over all quality of life and freedom to travel and enjoy domestically have increased. Things are just a lot cheaper here.

5. [deleted]

6. > How has Japanese work culture been like?

   Presumably you’ll work for an American company which won’t have a Japanese work culture, so you don’t need to worry about it. More traditional Japanese companies are generally a bad choice – lots of overtime, you’re expected to stay late, hierarchies based on age, generally low pay, etc.

   > Their offer is about 30% less than what I currently make here but AFAIK the cost of living in Japan is quite a bit cheaper than the Bay Area so I’m hoping to be able to afford a higher quality of life.

   QoL is pretty subjective, what exactly do you care about and what do you not like about the bay area? Rent in the center of Tokyo is not going to be much cheaper than the bay area if you consider apartment size. American apartments tend to be much larger (and older, especially in the bay area) on average and Tokyo apartments are compact. But perhaps you don’t care about size, in which case Tokyo is cheaper. I’m somewhat of a minimalist, so I prefer modern compact apartments instead of the big old bay area homes, so Tokyo ends up being cheaper. But some people really care about size, in which case this may not be true.

   But Tokyo has excellent public transportation, so you have the option of living a little further out without needing the horrible commute that is standard in the bay area. In that case, you can get a much cheaper place. You don’t really have that option in the bay area unless you want to commute for 1+ hours.

   Eating out is generally significantly cheaper in Japan than in the bay area. Many people eat out and never cook themselves. Buying fresh groceries and cooking yourself will be more expensive and you may have fewer options.

   Utilities like internet/phone/etc are cheaper and better in Japan. 2GB fiber here is normal.

   > Raising a family

   Much cheaper, and it’s incredibly safe for children here. In the bay area you rarely ever see children on the street alone, for good reason. In Tokyo you see them everywhere, they can go to school alone, ride trains alone, etc.

7. Out of interest, how do you get an offer like that? And why does the company have an office in Japan?

8. Hey OP, I grew up in the Bay Area. You’re right in that the COL in Tokyo is so much cheaper, despite being one of the largest cities in the world. It’s wild to me how expensive it’s become up there; like, why is my parent’s house approaching $2mil in value? Fucked up.

   Anyway, one of our sub rules is to try searching the sub before posting. Did you try that? Because this is one of the most common questions we get — and we have received a LOT discussing moving from California to Tokyo RE: COL and pay. Here are a few examples:

   [Relocating to Japan from California](https://www.reddit.com/r/movingtojapan/comments/a4eoa3/relocating_to_japan_from_california/)

   [Quality of life in Tokyo as a Software Engineer](https://www.reddit.com/r/movingtojapan/comments/fkiqp5/quality_of_life_in_tokyo_as_a_software_engineer/)

   [How’s the life in Tokyo with ¥270000(after tax) monthly income?](https://www.reddit.com/r/movingtojapan/comments/k9mpv9/hows_the_life_in_tokyo_with_270000after_tax/)

   [Has anyone taken a pay cut to move from Silicon Valley to Tokyo?](https://www.reddit.com/r/movingtojapan/comments/qz2k7j/has_anyone_taken_a_pay_cut_to_move_from_silicon/)

   Many of your other questions are CONSTANTLY asked here. Please try to follow our rules. You can use [this search string](https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Areddit.com%2Fr%2Fmovingtojapan+%22work+culture%22&biw=1440&bih=679&sxsrf=APq-WBvzfWLXN9hHRRVYowE0u7lx_bGGFQ%3A1647755369502&ei=acA2YoCgHoKl2roPt8-HiAI&ved=0ahUKEwjA-OaL_9P2AhWCklYBHbfnASE4ChDh1QMIDg&uact=5&oq=site%3Areddit.com%2Fr%2Fmovingtojapan+%22work+culture%22&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EANKBAhBGAFKBAhGGABQnQhY0Dtg-DxoBXAAeACAAVOIAa0KkgECMTiYAQCgAQHAAQE&sclient=gws-wiz) to look at posts about working culture, and then replace the term in quotation marks in the search bar to whatever else you’re wondering about.

   Normally I’d lock this post, but you have ONE question that isn’t commonly asked:

   > Has anyone been able to secure their employment contract to be denominated in USD instead of JPY? I’m worried about JPY losing value against the USD (it’s already 120:1 now).

   One clarification: You might be seeing 120:1, but that’s not a rate consumers are getting. Right now, Prestia is offering me 118.10:1 to convert the USD in my account to Yen. I can send Yen from my US bank account via Wise at 119.145 (plus a few fees) — and that’s been the rate for a few days. So, don’t take 120 as gospel. Once the banks start buying at 120? Different story.

   I get paid in USD because I work for a US company on a full-time contract. That’s one of the only ways I think that can happen. I was interviewing with a US company/brand with Japan offices a few years back, and they said they would offer me a US 401K — so if this is a US company with international offices, that can be something you could negotiate.

   But a Japan-only company? Might be hard.

9. I’ve been told by someone familiar with tech compensation that the CoL ratio for Tokyo to the CA Bay Area is 0.67.

10. I’m a Bay Area native that just moved to Japan.

    You’re going to be able to find much cheaper places to rent. I was paying something like $2400 per month in the East Bay for a 1 bedroom.

    You won’t need a car because public transportation is really great here.

    I’ve spent less when eating here and the food is way higher quality.

    I also take medication that was costing me over $200 per month with insurance in the US and from what I’ve seen the same medication should be less than $100 here.

11. a bit cheaper lol

12. Did the same move 2 years ago, no regrets besides leaving friends and family and the 30% pay cut, which seems to be standard among most international companies.

    Quality of life is much better, including public safely, public transportation, and food. Japanese work culture is only a problem at Japanese companies, and it sounds like it’ll be fine on your case. Cost of living is cheaper, but not enough to increase your savings rate compared to SF. Can’t speak to raising a family.

    The closest I’ve gotten to a USD-based offer is one that converts the amount to JPY at the time of beginning employment. I think you might have trouble getting a visa if you’re not paid in JPY.

13. Been in Japan for a while. Don’t move for the money. I earn far far less than I would in the US. It’s a choice about lifestyle. I love living in Japan for the high quality of life. Also educate yourself about taxes. For a SWE, you’re likely to either now or eventually pay more than you do in the US as your pay and equity rise. And you’ll pay double tax on equity when it vests/is granted, though you can claim credit when you pay your US taxes. With the yen being incredibly weak now, maybe you’ll benefit if it strengthens. But if it weakens more, your savings, if you plan to save in dollars, will continue to decrease. Look at how the yen has weakened over the last 10 years. Anyway, if you do go, have a wonderful adventure.