Edit re: woman aspect: I make the same as a male colleague in the same role, but he has more experience and qualifications than me.
What u/Moritani says. I’m a woman and in some schools, I learned that foreign male coworkers with less teaching experience and no qualifications made more.
In one situation I protested and the employer raised my salary to match the male coworker, but that’s got to be rare.
Started out lower, now much higher.
But I mean, a lot of foreign workers may or may not even get health insurance or pension payments through their companies. Foreigners can often be unaware what is “normal”, so end up getting fleeced, especially in entry-level teaching positions.
Salary in and of itself is nice, but on top of that the ones making very little are often stuck paying for kokumin health and pension, which is like adding insult to injury.
I have been here for 13 years. 7 years under that, the last 6 years over it. Permanent position in a private high school
5.25 mil for me
[deleted]
i make 4bn
That is actually the average starting salary for new grads in white-collar jobs. That is, a freshman employee at a large company who has just started their career. More experienced, long-term employees obviously make a lot more; people at smaller companies make a bit less; and those who are blue collar workers obviously will make quite a bit less.
I also think people should consider the industry average, and not just the national average. It seems obvious that someone in business is going to get paid more than someone in education. Education has never really been a lucrative feild – people don’t become teachers to get rich.
And considering that ESL is not taken seriously as an academic subject in Japan,the average pay is going to be a lot less it will be in other academic subjects, such as engineering or business.
Finally, if you came to Japan after graduating from university and joined the ESL industry without any qualifications in the feild, then you can’t expect to make as much as someone who went to university specifically to become a teacher, and who has MA level qualifications.
In other words there are more factors to consider than just what the national average salary is.
I’d say that ESL teachers who don’t have teaching quals and don’t teach in academic contexts are going to be pretty much on par with the average blue-collar worker in Japan. It’s considered a non-professional job.
Anyone considering coming to teach in Japan should understand that, and be prepared for it.
First year in Japan under it (teaching English), every year after over it (freelance translation).
Public school DH ALT so about 100k over.
Definitely gone up and down especially the first 7-8 years. Slaved and did tons of extra work to get just over ¥3mil my first two years. Slow climb to ¥4-¥4.5mil for the next 4 years (doing the same job.) Then a small-ish jump to ¥5mil (plus bonus) after changing field of work. Finally a jump to ¥8.3mil a couple of years ago (no bonus.)
A little under 1m more than the article average. private JHS/SHS
Previous 5 years dispatch ALT. Just a BA in unrelated field and 30$ Groupon TEFL.
I make about the same or a little more.
Perhaps what’s more meaningful is a comparison of the average salary for teachers.
A glance at salary websites says that the average monthly salary for public school teachers is about Y4 million. It also indicates that high-earning veteran’s salaries that are around Y6-7 million.
I’m earning a bit more than the all average national salary and the average teacher salary but it’s lower than the average for my age range. On the flip side, I don’t work the brutal hours most of my full-time Japanese colleagues do.
Converted to USD in today’s exchange rate it is 32,300 USD a year.
Going to make a video about this soon, but started on JET (3.6m at the time) in 2000 and my income last year (finished working in March) was the highest ever, about 7m.
I’m pretty happy with my career (mainly) teaching English in Japan.
I thought my salary was low but I guess in a relative sense it’s not too bad.
Does that factor in pension, health insurance, and bonuses which many Japanese workers are getting, but many non Japanese aren’t?
5 years under. 2 years on. 3 years over. ( I don’t imagine myself being under 5mil anytime soon.)
Uni for the last 5 years. Don’t plan on changing.
Slightly over as a direct hire SHS for the past two years.
With bonuses I would say I make about 4 million after taxes.
Starting my 4th year as a dispatch ALT 2.5 million for 10 months a year. Highest I’ve ever been paid.
Worked my way up to 3.4 a year. Changed jobs last year. Back down to 2.7. with less holidays.
This doesn’t factor in education. Someone with a BA will be making over a bit over that on average
Tenured jr/sr hs teacher. 7.5 million.
I earn over ¥7m… pro rata.
Yearly salary doesn’t really give you the full picture. You also have to consider how much people are selling each hour of their time for.
I imagine the average person is working about 40 hours a week for that ¥4.45m per year (perhaps some are doing 35 but plenty will be doing a lot of OT). Let’s say they work 48 weeks a year with holidays etc taken out. That comes to ¥2317 an hour for the time they spend working. That’s what I was earning as a fresh eikaiwa employee at 25 years old. As an immigrant who couldn’t speak a lick of Japanese and had no experience as a teacher, I was coming in at the average hourly rate of a citizen of any age, industry and experience level. Not bad really.
A few years on and a couple of jobs later I’m earning about ¥4m a year, so still a bit below the average. However, I also work under 20 hours a week on average (more during term time, much less during holidays). I earn about ¥4000 an hour I’m present at my salaried job and between ¥5000 and ¥6000 for my side jobs. It’s not silly money but it is a lot considering the type of work I’m doing, and it’s certainly far above that national average.
People are rather fixated on the bottom line, which I get… they need to support families and save for retirement. But I still think it’s worth doing these sorts of calculations before dismissing teaching salaries. If your goal is to work less, I struggle to think of many better jobs.
Around 6 million yen as a private high school teacher. Although I get all the school holidays, it’s not worth the stress of being a HR teacher.
29 comments
Make 3m
Well, I’m [a woman](https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Society/Gender-gap-persists-in-Japan-as-women-earn-74-as-much-as-men).
Woman, first year in Japan and doing better 💪🏻
Edit re: woman aspect: I make the same as a male colleague in the same role, but he has more experience and qualifications than me.
What u/Moritani says. I’m a woman and in some schools, I learned that foreign male coworkers with less teaching experience and no qualifications made more.
In one situation I protested and the employer raised my salary to match the male coworker, but that’s got to be rare.
Started out lower, now much higher.
But I mean, a lot of foreign workers may or may not even get health insurance or pension payments through their companies. Foreigners can often be unaware what is “normal”, so end up getting fleeced, especially in entry-level teaching positions.
Salary in and of itself is nice, but on top of that the ones making very little are often stuck paying for kokumin health and pension, which is like adding insult to injury.
I have been here for 13 years. 7 years under that, the last 6 years over it. Permanent position in a private high school
5.25 mil for me
[deleted]
i make 4bn
That is actually the average starting salary for new grads in white-collar jobs. That is, a freshman employee at a large company who has just started their career. More experienced, long-term employees obviously make a lot more; people at smaller companies make a bit less; and those who are blue collar workers obviously will make quite a bit less.
I also think people should consider the industry average, and not just the national average. It seems obvious that someone in business is going to get paid more than someone in education. Education has never really been a lucrative feild – people don’t become teachers to get rich.
And considering that ESL is not taken seriously as an academic subject in Japan,the average pay is going to be a lot less it will be in other academic subjects, such as engineering or business.
Finally, if you came to Japan after graduating from university and joined the ESL industry without any qualifications in the feild, then you can’t expect to make as much as someone who went to university specifically to become a teacher, and who has MA level qualifications.
In other words there are more factors to consider than just what the national average salary is.
I’d say that ESL teachers who don’t have teaching quals and don’t teach in academic contexts are going to be pretty much on par with the average blue-collar worker in Japan. It’s considered a non-professional job.
Anyone considering coming to teach in Japan should understand that, and be prepared for it.
First year in Japan under it (teaching English), every year after over it (freelance translation).
Public school DH ALT so about 100k over.
Definitely gone up and down especially the first 7-8 years. Slaved and did tons of extra work to get just over ¥3mil my first two years. Slow climb to ¥4-¥4.5mil for the next 4 years (doing the same job.)
Then a small-ish jump to ¥5mil (plus bonus) after changing field of work. Finally a jump to ¥8.3mil a couple of years ago (no bonus.)
A little under 1m more than the article average. private JHS/SHS
Previous 5 years dispatch ALT. Just a BA in unrelated field and 30$ Groupon TEFL.
I make about the same or a little more.
Perhaps what’s more meaningful is a comparison of the average salary for teachers.
A glance at salary websites says that the average monthly salary for public school teachers is about Y4 million. It also indicates that high-earning veteran’s salaries that are around Y6-7 million.
I’m earning a bit more than the all average national salary and the average teacher salary but it’s lower than the average for my age range. On the flip side, I don’t work the brutal hours most of my full-time Japanese colleagues do.
Converted to USD in today’s exchange rate it is 32,300 USD a year.
Going to make a video about this soon, but started on JET (3.6m at the time) in 2000 and my income last year (finished working in March) was the highest ever, about 7m.
I’m pretty happy with my career (mainly) teaching English in Japan.
I thought my salary was low but I guess in a relative sense it’s not too bad.
Does that factor in pension, health insurance, and bonuses which many Japanese workers are getting, but many non Japanese aren’t?
5 years under. 2 years on. 3 years over. ( I don’t imagine myself being under 5mil anytime soon.)
Uni for the last 5 years. Don’t plan on changing.
Slightly over as a direct hire SHS for the past two years.
With bonuses I would say I make about 4 million after taxes.
Starting my 4th year as a dispatch ALT 2.5 million for 10 months a year. Highest I’ve ever been paid.
Worked my way up to 3.4 a year. Changed jobs last year. Back down to 2.7. with less holidays.
This doesn’t factor in education. Someone with a BA will be making over a bit over that on average
Tenured jr/sr hs teacher. 7.5 million.
I earn over ¥7m… pro rata.
Yearly salary doesn’t really give you the full picture. You also have to consider how much people are selling each hour of their time for.
I imagine the average person is working about 40 hours a week for that ¥4.45m per year (perhaps some are doing 35 but plenty will be doing a lot of OT). Let’s say they work 48 weeks a year with holidays etc taken out. That comes to ¥2317 an hour for the time they spend working. That’s what I was earning as a fresh eikaiwa employee at 25 years old. As an immigrant who couldn’t speak a lick of Japanese and had no experience as a teacher, I was coming in at the average hourly rate of a citizen of any age, industry and experience level. Not bad really.
A few years on and a couple of jobs later I’m earning about ¥4m a year, so still a bit below the average. However, I also work under 20 hours a week on average (more during term time, much less during holidays). I earn about ¥4000 an hour I’m present at my salaried job and between ¥5000 and ¥6000 for my side jobs. It’s not silly money but it is a lot considering the type of work I’m doing, and it’s certainly far above that national average.
People are rather fixated on the bottom line, which I get… they need to support families and save for retirement. But I still think it’s worth doing these sorts of calculations before dismissing teaching salaries. If your goal is to work less, I struggle to think of many better jobs.
Around 6 million yen as a private high school teacher. Although I get all the school holidays, it’s not worth the stress of being a HR teacher.