Is 4-5 million yen a good salary in Tokyo?

[pilgrim23]

I am a 30 year old mechanical engineer that moved to Japan as a student. I used to make 70-80k USD a year back in the US. Recently got offered a job with 4-5mil yen salary. I understand salaries are much lower in Japan and considering I only have JLPT N2 and no work experience in Japan, is this a good salary?

 

[edk]

@pilgrim23 Here's a likely scenario:

Take the job, work for two years, leave for a job offering 6-8 million, work two more years, leave for a job offering around 10 million.

Making 10 million at 35, and assuming you are single, is doing way better than most in Japan income-wise. Then after that, it depends on your ambition but you could be in a senior/managerial role at 40 making 15-20 million, which is top 10% of salaries in Japan.

Still doesn't compare well with US salaries but then, nowhere does. If you just look at your earning potential and spending power within Japan, and you plan to stay, the next few years look pretty rosey for you.

 

[lifeabundant]

@edk This is good advice. Vouch.

 

[enchanteddjsnj]

@edk But this is very difficult for Mechanical Engineering field since Japan has still many good Japanese Mechanical Engineers who will accept 5-6M salaries yearly thus also making it more difficult for foreign Mechanical Engineers especially SEA. Most companies will give 7M-8M/yr salary if you have 10yrs plus experience in Japan (not counting experience from the home country). I am talking about haken companies. Being directly hired (not in a haken company) as a Mechanical Engineer requires native level of Japanese for most companies plus qualifications/skills/experience. If you negotiate for bonus, they will lower your monthly salary. Different story for IT field.

 

[zenith544]

@edk did ou just say nowhere compares well with us salaries? haha crazy

 

[lishacccc]

@pilgrim23 Don't get caught up in "is it good." That's meaningless. It's higher than a bunch of people's salaries, and lower than a bunch of other people's salaries. There's nothing useful to tell you there.

What's good enough for you? What do you need? What are you trying to achieve?

The fact that you're considering it means you're not strictly prioritizing income. So what are you prioritizing?

 

[brittt25]

@lishacccc Funny to end your comment with "The fact that you're considering it means you're not strictly prioritizing income".

@OP, here is your answer. A 4-5M salary in Japan means you're not prioritizing money. A.K.A it's not good.

@ImJKP, "is it good?" is not meaningless. It means "will other people think I didn't make my career/salary a priority? Or will they assume I did and I succeeded?". And you answered it perfectly.

 

[jennyb23]

@brittt25 I read it differently. Coming from 70k, not compared to other Japanese salaries, means that they are not strictly prioritizing income (i.e. living in Japan is a priority)

 

[illumine]

@lishacccc no, he is asking as living expenses, etc as he doesn’t know anything about tokyo.

 

[lishacccc]

@illumine I dunno what OP wants. Based on post history, he's lived in Japan for about a year, so he has some idea what it costs to live here. He's an adult with an Internet connection, so it's not like cost of living information is beyond his reach.

My questions in my comment above weren't rhetorical -- I was hoping OP would clarify what his goal is so that people could give him more useful feedback.

 

[jags]

@lishacccc Is it above average is what he is asking

 

[bipolarskepticbeliever]

@lishacccc Agreed. It’s the old “How long is a piece of string?” conundrum.

 

[fancyface]

@lishacccc Good answer.

 

[1answer2]

@pilgrim23 Many people mentioned that 4-5mil is low and that you can easily get higher is not true in my experience. I used to work as a Mechanical Engineer as well and TBH 4-5mil. is quite average for your age and usually you won't get a higher offer unless you have more experience. Also one reason why I chose not to continue as a Mechanical Engineer.

 

[gaz54au]

@1answer2 2020 survey from Doda says the average for a male in their 30s working as an engineer is 4.84 million. And 17% of people in their 30s make above 6 million.

So I agree, it seems 4-5 million would be average. And 6 million would be “good”.

I also agree it makes sense to switch fields. Relatively easy for a mechanical engineer to get into IT. And there’s lots of international companies hiring foreigners in the 5-6 million with minimal experience and 10-20 million with strong experience in the IT field.

 

[enchanteddjsnj]

@1answer2 How did you transition to IT field? what you say is true. I am a mechanical design engineer here in Japan. It is difficult for a mechanical engineer here in Japan to get higher salaries since Japan has still lots of good Japanese mechanical engineer that will accept salaries as you mentioned, so it would be much more difficult for a foreigner to even advanced since most are not native level in Japan. It would be different story if IT field since Japan is lagging behind in IT.

 

[msulli]

@pilgrim23 The average salary in Tokyo in 2022 was ~3.9M JPY

 

[crozier]

@msulli Gross ?

 

[resjudicata]

@crozier Yuck

 

[wallflower1]

@resjudicata Bleh