Question on Living Expenses in Japan

[adaong]

Hi!

I am from Malaysia. I am now considering a job opportunity in Tokyo which pays around 200,000 Yen per month.

I heard from Malaysians that it is not enough for survival in Tokyo.

I really hope that any of you who are Japanese or familiar with Tokyo's living standards could provide me with some insight.

Thank you.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by adaong

Hi!

I am from Malaysia. I am now considering a job opportunity in Tokyo which pays around 200,000 Yen per month.

I heard from Malaysians that it is not enough for survival in Tokyo.

I really hope that any of you who are Japanese or familiar with Tokyo's living standards could provide me with some insight.

Thank you.

Tokyo is a big place with many price ranges in terms of apartments/living expenses. What sort of job are you being offered?

[adaong]

Hi! Woah that was fast. I didnt expect a reply that fast.

It is related to retail in the clothing line. Will be working sort of like a store manager. I am not sure which part of Tokyo as it is not comfirmed yet.

But I would like to ask what are the average income of normal Japanese? Is 200000 Yen considered little or average?

[GoNative]

I'd think that's a pretty low wage for living in Tokyo. Will accommodation be provided as part of your job? Are there any other expenses they are offering to pay? It is possible to live pretty cheaply even in Tokyo but Y200,000 a month certainly wouldn't allow you to live it up much at all. You'd just struggle to get by I'd think. Depends if you have to pay rent or not.

[adaong]

Hi there!

Thank you so much for your reply. The company is subsidizing 30% of our accomodation.

I read through a lot of other threads and seemed like a lot of people think that 200,000 Yen is very little.

However, I am just a fresh graduate and if I were to stay in Malaysia, I would be able to get a job which pays me almost RM1000 higher than market rate.

I would really like to know from any of you out there if it will be worthy for me to take up this opportunity in Japan while forgoing the comforts of home?

Is 200,000 Yen what normal fresh graduates in Japan will get? What about Japanese high achievers? And most importantly, fresh graduates working in retail clothing line?

Hopefully some kind people out there could really help me.

Thank you so much.

[Polar]

With 200,000 Yen, you're looking at roughly $2,000 USD a month to live and eat in one of the more pricier cities like London and Manhattan.

Your rent is going to be an average of $150,000 YEN a month depending. That's not written in stone, could be more, could be less which leaves 50,000 for food, transportation, phone/internet and entertainment a month.

[sarasi]

Originally Posted by Polar

Your rent is going to be an average of $150,000 YEN a month depending. That's not written in stone, could be more, could be less which leaves 50,000 for food, transportation, phone/internet and entertainment a month.

This is not true, unless adaong plans to live in an upmarket area in central Tokyo. Tokyo is also one of the cheapest places in the developed world to eat in- you can get a decent sized lunch or dinner (noodles, tempura, beef bowl, bento etc for 400-500 yen here).

Rents in the suburbs about 30 minutes' train ride out of the centre for a 1 room apartment are closer to 70,000 yen per month- nowhere near 150,000.

200,000 yen, while not a high salary, is plenty to live on provided you don't expect to be dressed in Louis Vuitton and eat at French restaurants every day. Plenty of English teachers are earning about that these days. I used to live easily on about that amount myself a few years back, and prices haven't gone up since.

That is also about the average salary for a newly-graduated Japanese office worker. I would expect Japanese people working in retail, even managers, to be earning less than 200,000 yen per month, a lot less in many cases.