I really didn't mind how the video switched between english and japanese! If sometimes you are too tired to speak english (or don't have time to prepare a script) i'd be down watching videos in japanese only with subtitles.
I work in Japan and in more I have citizen taxe 12000 yens from 2nd year and labor union 1000 yens, 500 yen for association (bowling, bbq, cinema , concert ticket and more) and 2000 yens for travel company (japan and abroad). But in more I have bonuses twice by year , July and December and total is 4.5-5 months of salary base.
@@madlad7144 Well, everyone speaks better English than the English :P . To quote _Snatch_, "I thought this country spawned the fucking language, and so far nobody seems to speak it"
I love the mix of English and Japanese. I'm studying Japanese and it's the perfect excuse to watch something fun and interesting under the guise of "listening practice" ;-)
Same here! And I plan to get a job in Japan as well, it's great to know all the salary deductions and basic costs in Japan! Oh and ya, I think your rent is amazing!
I work as a caregiver in Sweden, my income is very similar to yours, and I live in an apartment that looks to be of a smiliar size, probably a little bit bigger, but that costs me about $900 a month! So I think the $650 is a great prize!
I think his rent is awesome, there are people that pays ¥57,000 without any bills included and Tokyo has the most expensive m2 in the world and as I could see the average rent price is over ¥90,000 if it’s a new building
"I can save around $950 but I sometimes eat out and buy clothes so I only save around $47" Took me a minute to realize he forgot a 0 on the actual savings. So he actually saves around $470 which is more understandable. Thank you very much for sharing your numbers, extremely interesting!
I think that the salary is very low in Japan. You can save 950 dollars as long as you don't get out of the flat and stay inside all the time. If you want to get a bit around in the city for a walk or to visit some place you don't even need to buy clothes or eat outside (actually eating outside isn't expensive in Japan, you can even say it's super cheap!) in order to spend the rest of the money. All you need to do is to take a train or subway and all the money disappears magically, ahahahah.
@@momonatu4998 its a starting salary. also we don't know what job he has (did i miss it?). given the low cost of living (compared to where I live in the US) and low income tax, id say its about the same as the US. for tokyo though, i would have thought that he'd make more. but If mid-tokyo is just $650 that is cheap, so it might not be fair to compare it to US cities. NY usually is around at least 1500-3000, in a farther neighborhood, with a studio (no rooms). people barely make ends meet at $80k.
@@aj-sz8mu forget about the job, almost any job in Tokyo starts with aprox. 250.000 yen/month (and because it's Tokyo, otherwise it's much lower!) I think it's higher if you are a shop-assitant or have very specific qualification in IT. Tokyo isn't 650 / month for rent ahahah. This guy was just patient and lucky enough to find a jewel, but it's not the normal price XD Basically with that salary you don't have a life as a foreigner.
@@momonatu4998 yeah it kind of matters. me as a developer, i know i have a higher starting salary than someone doing clerk, assistant etc type of job. with all the tax, and insurance though, my paycheck is actually very close to his. and rent here in usually at least $1000, its not even NY, just CT. so id still say its about the same (even considering higher rent). since i have a higher cost of living. A life as a foreigner? what does that mean?
not that expensive. my 320,000yen monthly salary only pay ~80,000yen/ year for city tax. The biggest deduction is pension, but we get back that money when we retired anyway so consider it is a kind of saving.
Pretty decent. But overtime 40 hours to even be able to receive your overtime wage is kinda exploiting and not correct towards the employee. Overtime should be optional, not forced!
Was looking for this comment. Not getting paid for less than 40 hours of overtime is essentially 39 hours of free labor for any company. I honestly can't believe they get away with this, very exploitative
Strictly speaking by American work standards he didn't work any overtime. Can't speak for other countries. Most US states base overtime on a per week basis and you have to work over 40 hours in a week. Even the few states that base overtime on a per day basis have it set at over 8 hours per day. Just doing the math he worked 8 hours per day for 23 days in the month. Depending on how the weekends fall that fits both within the per day and per week averages in the US. There are easily 21 to 23 work days in any given month. If he worked more than 23 days or more than 184 hours in the month then you might have an argument.
@@koloth5139 interesting thanks for the info. I guess in the end the work schedule is different approach same result. Still, japan and usa are some of the most overworked countries in the world so either way they both need some changes if they want to improve mental health (although this work ethic is maybe part of why they are wealthy in the first place so idk)
@@jak.cr1ym please. wtf. japan and korea are cheap? delete yourself. also don't give me some compared to US shit. you can't compare the us and japan. starting with healthcare and shit, you know.
Crying with our 3rd world rates. That Japanese fresh graduate salary is like the equivalent of a director level or upper management salary in some industries here.
In my middle of the Midwestern US (Indiana) you can easily find a factory or warehouse job that pays USD 14+ hourly with a High School equivalency (GED), or not. This guys compensation is around 14.40 USD which is what my employer pays the Temporary Workers. Once they are hired on they get 16 hour. No prior experience in anything required. Warm body hiring. 60 days good attendance and conduct and pretty close to automatic full time hiring. Tops out at just shy of USD 20 (after 3 years), but add on pay like being a coordinator or welder/skilled position (which employer pays for training) can bump it up, and positions with additional responsibility but short of management can be on higher pay scales, IIRC the maintenance gets something like 70k a year before over time pay. Over time is anything over 6 minutes past the 40 hour work week, and is 50 percent higher wages, and if you work 7 consecutive days the last day is double time. No overtime is uncompensated, all worked hours must be paid. Which means that a typical 2000 hour work year should pay out just shy of 40k, but with bonuses and OT ends up well higher than 45k. That is for a entry level factory job in a non union shop in a lower wage US state. Other places pay more, but this part of the country is cheap to live in. I was able to go from having 3k in debt and living with my parents (living a NEET life) to owning (albeit with a mortgage, $950/mo including taxes and insurance) a 2k square foot house in the nicer part of town (5 minutes from a world class university) within just 2 years of working. My GF, whom I'm fully supporting other than tuition, is studying at said University and already has had job offers to leave school and make 60,000 yearly. But she is holding out because the entry level in her field approaches 90k yearly. I was actually shocked how little Japanese make TBH, the average salary is much lower than in the US.
@@joseph1150 Well... People in the US are wealthy as fuck. From my perspective as an Egyptian, this guy is very wealthy and I dream to have his living standards someday. xD
@@PrinceDolos As an American I have to say my fellow American's have no idea how the rest of the world lives. I got into a heated discussion with somebody who lives in NYC who thinks dire poverty label by the UN applies to poor people in NYC. I told them people living on welfare in the public housing in NYC have it better off than the majority of the world's population. In the US the poor are fat. In other places they can barely live at all. I've known a few of your countrymen (and people from nearby areas like Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Syria) who managed to immigrate to my area, and other than a rough couple of winters (it can get to -30C and lower), they are thriving as small business owners. People take it for granted how easy it is to do well here.
I live in South Africa and honestly in my culture alot of kids physically got chucked out the house when they reached 18 a generation ago. Another one before that you either gave up on school and became a farmer, went to study so you could avoid military service for a few more years, went to the military, got married, or some combo of the lot. The only scenario that had you stay at "home" would be if you became a farmer/took over the family business. You finished school, went to study (and probably stayed in a res or lodged at family/family friends)/got a job, met your partner at either, essentially lived off of air, took out a bond, got a place befitting the loan you could get even if you couldn't afford furniture or proper food, probably had your first kid, got promoted, got a bigger place if your job allowed a bigger bond, second kid, pets. Boom. You're 30 now, congrats. It's more common now to stay with your family because living costs have gotten mad/banks are insane/you can't rent or buy small places anymore cause the neighbourhoods that were affordable a generation or two ago aren't safe anymore, but no matter what the reason there is still quite a bit of guilt/shame involved for both the parents and children. Always "having" to give a bit too much of an explanation at social gatherings etc, type of thing. Like no one will openly scoff or anything anymore usually (-usually), but you can see the looks on people's faces of "oh, typical useless young person" (unless their kids the same) regardless of if you have qualifications/+hold a steady job vs flunked out of everything/+literally do nothing with your life. We have soooooooo may cultures in SA so of course it differs, and for example my family and neighbourhood would be considered liberal (though I'm technically Afrikaans) so it's not too bad, but for example my best friend's family and their social circles are far more conservative (also Afrikaans) and even though she is far more of an exemplary young adult than I ever managed to be at her age, there have been people who should have zero input in their family affairs who have caused unnecessary waves because she didn't perfectly follow the "life plan" I described above
@@Kannot2023 it's the same in South Africa, I think she lives in a very specific region, but in the capital it's extremely normal for kids to stay with parents till around 23-25 I think, unless they go to college right after school and immediately move out once they graduate and get a decent job, which would around age 22
@@Kannot2023 As someone from Northern Europe i really don't understand the obsession with having your own place unless you have kids, most people end up jumping into a rental house paying someone elses morgage for a house you will never own.
Japan is actually very cheap to live compared to other financial centers such as London and New York. Your money goes a long way. It is not only cheap to rent, but also cheap to buy. For example, I pay only ~230,000 a month for a 4 bedroom near Meguro station, which is one of the better locations in Tokyo.
@@megacat that is wonderful and you are so lucky to be living in such a beautiful country I am honestly jealous lol :) I hate not being able to travel at the moment I miss Japan very much
@@withinjapan2024 I lived in both Tokyo and other financial centers as well. It always amazes me how Tokyo always rank so high up on the most expensive cities list when real estate is so cheap. I'd say cost of living is actually around 1/3 that of say San Francisco and your salary really goes a long way here. A house in good areas of Yamanote line can be bought for ~1M (less good stations you can get them for ~600k), and living in areas around 30-60 min away by train drops price down to 300-500k. Those prices would have been insane in the lower ranked places such as New York, London, Hong Kong, etc.
When I first got out of university, I had a suburban apartment that was relatively equivalent to your urban apartment. I made nearly all of my meals. After those expenses plus transportation, I had only about 25% of my income remaining. It would have been less if I had student loans to pay off, but I worked 60-80 hours, weekly (across multiple jobs) while in university to pay for my school expenses as I accrued them. In fact, even once I graduated, I continued to work two full time jobs to be able to get ahead. When you broke down your income and costs, I was shocked that it wasn't worse in a city like Tokyo. Thank you for sharing!
Hey bro, as a Japanese learner with aspirations of visiting Japan in the future, your videos are super interesting and helpful for learning about the culture, and our cultural differences. Thanks man and I can’t wait to see this channel blow up!!
Drew be careful though because it only takes one visit to Japan and you will get addicted to it lol and every time you go home your stomach will keep turning until you get back there :) a mind blowing amazing country it is...
@@MrZuga89 Everything seems perfect in japan but everything seems phony, I worked as a office worker and the place seems to bright and jolly but i've never felt so alone in my entire life and coworker won't tell you you're wrong you will realize either you're fired. People treat you really good though because they need to but the reality is different no one seems real. Omote(public) and Ura(Private face) are wildly applied. Province are quite okay atleast in Sendai. Nevertheless It's an amazing place would definitely comeback for visit though not live maybe another 10-15 years but still maybe i'm just unlucky every country has that.
@@DK24S even in the chicago burbs it's more expensive, the cheapest apartments I can find that are not shit are around 850-900... and I only make like $300 more a month than him... and I don't get "bus fair" payment for my car haha. my health insurance cost is about the same but I get taxed quite a bit more so I think he may even be ahead in take home pay lmao. I do wonder how many square feet his apartment is though, the above amount in my area is for around 800 sq feet for 1 bedroom 1 bath. hell a 2 bedroom 1 bath would be about $100 more a month (and what I will probably go with since I have a large military collection and would like a room to dedicate to it) and that would come out closer to 900 sq ft overall. food is close to the same depending on where I buy, my phone is cheaper only because I am on a family plan though I have to pay for my net. Still living with my family atm even though im 30... it blows and I want to move out asap, I was planning on doing it this year until I got laid off though I start a new job next week (which the above numbers note). I was able to save a shitload of money though so I am hoping to skip the apartment and go right to a house.
@@b4804514 I'm in CHI as well and its expensive for housing. But you can get around without a car, which saves a ton. Still $600 for a nice 1 BR...not darn likely here.
Cool video, but just like most it doesn't mention Residence Tax (municipal tax), and that does chew quite a bit of money so it is important to mention. What we consider spacious here in Japan would be considered tree house back in Europe or not to mention US so those who are used to "normal" space would have to pay around 3000$ or more in rent to get that here. If you have a car, that will be about +400$ per year for "normal car" road tax (or around 800$ for slightly "bigger" engine) plus 1000 up to 2000$ every 2 years for vehicle inspection. Having a parking will cost you about 200$ or more per month in Tokyo. Most people I know circle around that 200 000yen or roughly 2000$ per month income mark so while that's a strong middle, it seems to be hard to go above that "step". Also, for foreigners, pensions is daylight robbery here... You are obligated to pay no matter what, but once you leave you can get only 80% of 3 years back in return through rather complicated process (probably purposely so that people give up). Rest of 20% is then another complicated process away (since 20% were taxes). So in other words, if you were living and paying pension 10 years here, Japan will give you money back for only 3 years and... Thank you for the rest of the money! They also don't send pensions outside of country once you retire (like Germany would do for example) so be aware of that. Also, monthly amount is fixed at 200$ no matter what your income is, so people with lower income might struggle to pay.
@@BOYVIRGO666 If you like working unpaid overtime for around 10-30 hours a month, don't mind having to "deal" with being a "foreigner" in Japan (yeah, Japan is still pretty ethnocentric and racist as whole, but then again, depending on where you live and your race, that may be a step up), then yeah sure its not bad. Also, transportation is kinda expensive compared to the US. Most public transit is subsidized by the government in the US. Since you live in LA, you probably know its like $2.5 for a one way trip all around LA/LA County. In Japan, the cost is based on distance, so from one end to another end in Tokyo is around $15 bucks for a one way trip. If you want to drive, its even more expensive, because there is basically no such thing as free parking in a major city, and most apartments do not have parking space. Foods cheap, since if you want to save money, you'll probably be buying day old bento boxes for less than 5 bucks. It also has a stricter work culture, but that may be a step up depending on where you work. Just know that most starting jobs and positions barely have vacation, and have strict requirements for showing up to work, even if you are sick. But as I said before, this may actually be no different for you. What I'm saying is that the grass is greener on the other side. If your job really does suck, I would suggest trying to find another one if you can, before you decide to abruptly move to Japan without any work plan (Japan limits immigration way more than the U.S., so getting a working and living permit there is pretty hard without a guaranteed job, since they like to maintain ethnic homogeneity). Go abroad and teach english or something. If you aren't asian, it'll be easier to get those english teaching jobs.
@@darkevilazn I go to japan semi regularly. Im very familiar with the homogeneous culture and work/life issues. I dont like other people enough to really worry too much about alot of the major problems and im pretty good at my job. I know it woudnt be easy but honestly nowhere is easy right now. But you arent wrong on any points.
@Brian Li Not true. i was looking at apartments in Hatagaya which is a 10 minute train ride from shinjuku and it was 725 a month for a fairly nice place. I live in los angeles now. California rent is fucking nuts.
I'm sure it's bracketed, I'm in the UK and in the 20% bracket but that is 20% OVER the minimum of £12.5k so I pay closer to 16% of my total income for tax and social health insurance. He may be on the same kind of taxation bracket but is only taxed on the money he makes over the minimum requirement so it's not actually 20% - 25% of his total wages. My income before and after taxes are very similar to him as a recent graduate. Our brackets go up like so, if you make £52,000 a year, you pay nothing on the first £12,50 then 20% (£7,500.00) on the next £37,500 and 40% (£800) on the next £2,000. Are taxes in the US just taken from the total income or is it a similar system?
@@LoudMouth_ Taxes in the US are very high. The Federal govt. takes its cut using a similar bracketed system. General rule of thumb is your federal tax is somewhere in the range of 10% and 26%, depending on adjusted gross income (AGI). Some states, like California and New York, have an incredibly high state income tax. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 10%. So that brings it up to a whopping upper limit of 36%. If your AGI is too low because you have a lot of tax deductions, in America we have a nasty tax called the AMT which is basically a side tax that increases as your AGI goes down. In addition to all of that, there are many other taxes that are taken based on your consumption (sales, property, etc.). All in all, good earners pay up to 60% of their gross income in taxes when all is said and done.
@@rtkevans Oh right, I'm in the UK but not in England but even here our income taxes are consistent with what I mentioned + National Health Insurance. I worked out that after the brackets if you're making 150k you're in the 40% bracket but pay closer to 31%. with social health insurance capping out at 2%. With the USA being so big I'm sure it's difficult to enforce consistent taxation. Our brackets go up to 45% over 150k and while you'll never """technically""" pay 45% of your total gross income, the lower tax amounts at the lower brackets become negligible fast. Honestly I'm not making enough to be concerned with things like property tax since I rent but I've hear that US add sales tax at the checkout or as a "+ ##" on the price tag. Is this true? Here our prices include tax on the price tag.
@@LoudMouth_ Sales tax is never labeled in the US. It is simply calculated at the register. Every county in every state sets their own sales tax rate, in California, for instance, it hovers around 9% with small variations from county to county. We are taxed way too much!!!
@@rtkevans Honestly reading can't say if you seem to pay more or less tax in comparison but your tax systems seem far more complicated and confusing! I can't imagine picking something up in a shop and being charged more at the register than the stated price when I decided to buy it.
69000yen in japan... for that amount of space in tokyo? nope not at all. Cheap as all hell, though I do wonder about its location since that can have pretty big impact. Since he also count utilities to his rent this is even better rent. In Sweden where I live that is what you pay for an out of the way 40~square metre one room and kitchen apartment and it considered cheap. If you include all utilities for the same place its closer to 10 000 kr (154 000 yen)
The monthly pay is pretty ok considering your fresh off university, but the hours seem to be pretty flexible as well. And the living expenses are super cheap compared to the U.S by far. So in Japan I guess 2,400 a month doesn't sound too bad.
It depends where you live. I make 5,400 a month as an IT consultant in Texas. The cost of living is pretty low here compared to California. The average apartment rent in Tokyo is US$1,903 a month. I do not think that someone making 2400 would live comfortably in Tokyo.
@@albertsmith99 I used to find decent places (for a Brazilian) in Tokyo for about U$700 in more distant areas. A little box with kitchen and toilet but clean and safe.
TLDR: OP makes roughly $13.15 an hour before taxes and deductions. Here in the states, unless the living expenses are cheap, that is considered low income. It translates to 25k a year. In the states that's barely enough to rent a 1 room apartment + food.
@@Aerotactics I love Japan but the culture does exhibit xenophobia when it comes to foreigners. Living there (unless you can learn to be very fluent in there way of social etiquette and language) could be harsh on you. I would suggest trying it for maybe a year with a contingency plan to come back if it doesn't work out.
@@Aerotactics just make good money where you live and fly to Japan when you want to stay in your lowly priced rental. And use nord vpn for cheaper flights.
@@seven4280 Well in Japan the government wants to increase innovative ideas rather than keeping money in the banks as a fixed deposit therefore the government enacted a law forbidding banks to give positive interests and brought the interest rates in the negative so only current accounts having 0% interest are chosen because who would want their money to have negative interests right This forced them to search for other ways like investment in stocks real estate and bonds that's how Japanese economy thrived so much after the 1990s
@@seven4280 That's why to balance out the negative interest rates low taxes were allotted this was partly also done to attract companies to have their main offices in Japan so as to have less taxes
Also the income level is high because the country's GDP level is high That's why in poorer countries the pay is low and in richer country's the pay is higher for the same job this is also because of Japan's population is depleting day by day because average age in Japan is 47 years
Mahalo for sharing. I've been in Aomori for two years now but my home is Hawaii which I noticed you posted a picture of you at Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden. I enjoy your videos very much!
It is, but it seems he was lucky and found a really great place. What was also not mentioned here is that it's very expensive before you actually start living in that apartment you're about to rent. There are things like _reikin,_ which is some sort of a gratitude fee you have to pay the owner. This can cost around 3x the monthly rent. Sometimes more, sometimes less.
It is more expensive if you are a foreigner renting a place there. The rental can be from $700 to $2000 USD. That is for the 1 Bedroom, Living/Dining Room, Kitchen.
@@JulianDarkeCloud Yeah I always hear this a lot actually, it tends to be very difficult for foreigners to find a job and a place to live that is at a reasonable price that they can afford. I'm not sure if this is a race thing or a culture thing though please educate me!
That rent is my dream. In eastern Canada, specifically my province, even in really dangerous, high crime areas, you won't pay less than 1000 cad a month, not including utilities (electric, water, heat, parking space, which usually totals to another couple hundred) even studio apartments in not safe areas. I'm so damn jealous
You should react to “People who think they can speak English because they watch Netflix”. It’s a reversal and parody of the “People who think they can speak Japanese” video.
So true and sad truth here in our country. No wonder why many of our countrymen go to other places, like Japan, who pay a good sum of money per month. A Japan bread factory worker can earn P7,500.00 per day (157.75$) while in our country a typical bread factory worker can earn P200.00/Day (4.19$). We're losing so much good talents every year.
I think the belief that Tokyo has one of the highest costs of living in the world is based on old data from old media that's persisted. I think at the peak of the Japan Miracle this was the case, but with how insane prices have gotten in the West since the 2008 housing bubble burst, I don't think this is true anymore. In Tokyo you can get a one bedroom apartment in a low crime area that's "30 minutes from everything" the city has to offer for an entry level wage and still have money left over to survive and even save. Can't really raise kids, but you can at least survive. That's not really the case anymore in NY, LA, London, Paris, Berlin, Sydney, Vancouver.
Japan is a low crime area...And I live in Osaka, in what seems to be a similarly sized apartment and pay 61,000 a month. Before gas, electricity and water, which can amount to another 7 tp 11,000 depending on the season. To me, his rent looks really cheap.
@@krhlaw1 Yeah, but the awesome metro system and overall non-existent crime rate in Tokyo area is a great equalizer. In a shithole countries (like US), that 5 minutes on Chuo line becomes extra 40 minutes by car, forces you to live in actual high-crime neighborhood and as a bonus it sentences your kids to an extremely underfunded and crime ridden school (which kills their chances at getting to decent uni and creating useful connections needed later in life).
I livei in New Zealand. Our rent is insane too. We just managed to buy a house but before that we were living in a tiny two-bedroom unit which was actually really cheap at $465 NZD a fortnight (about $300 USD I think).
Rent including all utilities and internet is super cheap compared to Canada! having something similar in Ontario, Canada, is about $1,100 (not including utilities and internet) outside of our major city of Toronto if you're lucky.
That was really interesting, definitely might be helpful for my plan to go to Japan for a few weeks after I graduate. I don't mind if you speak in a mix between English and Japanese, like you did in this video, or fully in one of those languages. Choose the one you think is the most comfortable one to speak in front of an camera ^-^
campkira yea of course. Trips like these need to be planed out and it's better planning early. Thanks for your concerne tho dw not here to travle during a pandemic :)
Definitely good information on the standard of living in Japan! Quite interesting and insightful to see you break it down. Keep up the great content and enjoy your summer 🙌💯🇯🇵💰
Shun, I like having about 50/50 split between Japanese and English. It is good to hear the language spoken and interesting to see how your mannerisms change depending on which language you are speaking. I think you exude more confidence when you speak English. As for rent, in what part of Tokyo do you live and how long is your commute? By my calculation, your net pay is $11/hour, which seems like not very much for a college grad with English. Also, try to save $200 a month so you can buy a place. Thanks for sharing the details and your language!
I pay for smaller apartament double in Tokyo. Since he was paying more than 14000 yen for transportation his apartment wasn’t that close to his company, so probably some smaller, residental area? Or even Saitama/Chiba?
@Jeremy Don't really agree? Square footage is sure more expensive than where? I was renting a 50sqm for 100k yen in Nishi Ogikubo (very pleasant area so close from Shibuya/shinjuku that I'm not even sure you could call it suburb, it is Tokyo). That price for that size is impossible in my home country in Western Europe, it would be more like 1600/1700eur to 2500 in more fancy areas. I'm curious to where you were comparing.
i worked as an Assistant Language Teacher for JET in 2005-2006, so this is out of date, but I made about 36,000,000円/year in that job (net) - roughly $36,000. My rent/utilities were subsidized, but even so, that was MORE than enough to live on. I didn't have to worry about money at all. Saved a good $10,000/year as well. Took trips (Tokyo, Kyoto, all over Hokkaido where I lived). I cooked a little, but to be honest ate out as much as possible for dinner lol. At least stopping at a conbini and grabbing something delicious. Fast-forward to today and my salary is $103,000/year (gross - about $67,000 net). My expenses are higher in Canada (I definitely could NOT have the same lifestyle in Canada on $36,000 as I did in Japan omg), but I'm very comfortable. No delicious conbini tho. :( God, I miss the food in Japan. Never had a bad meal from hyakuenkan gyoza to ~fancy restaurants.
@@valhallakombi7239 The median income in NJ is $85k. After state and federal income tax you would take home roughly $64k if you're unmarried. Now keep in mind in America health insurance, utilities/internet, transportation etc aren't subsidized/ included.
@@lauryrodriguez9443 the thing is too that even though many people in these rich metropolitan areas have good jobs and can afford the rent, many people are poor and have to live with roommates/family and work extra hours to afford it. So what shunchan makes (2k) is actually a fairly common wage where i live but the rent is also roughly 1500-2k for 1-2 bedroom appt. When i was making 3-4k/month it was even difficult for me to afford everything, with rent alone being a nightmare.
@@lives4datube oof. That seems like a similar issue here in the states especially in rural areas A lot of people get married early or have room mates into their 30s because they cant afford rent alone
end of the month me: rent: $400 gas: $15 electricity: $15 water : $15 phone: $20 food amount of month: around 70-75$ gas for my car: $40 per week total is= 700 and my salary is about $780 if I overwork its around $810-$820 and yeah that salary is a dream... I dont know how many times I calculated this I just lost track at this point :D
Same as me as a Malaysian here. 21 years old graduate I get a work at my own hometown equivalent to USD $300. after 10 years old my last salary is only like $750.
My monthly salary is Net P $320 Rent - $22 low standard small room Food- $60 to $80 with dine out twice Data- $12 with 2g daily But, at the end of the month im still figuring out for having no savings. One thing for sure... debts
Your deductions are so low. With that income you would have to deduct twice your amount in Germany. So with an income of 2400€ you would have around 1600€ after all deductions.
@@lester2162 haben die teilweise auch. Arbeitslosenversicherung war bei ihm 7$, Krankenversicherung wurde auch abgezogen. Glaub dss einzige was fehlte war Rentenversicherung. Und wenn man alleine sieht was er an Tax zahlen muss und wir an Lohnsteuer, ist schon ein deutlicher Unterschied. Und wenn man dann die Infrastruktur von uns anschaut und deren, dann weiss man gleich welcher Staat besser mit Geld umgehen kann.
@@C.Chabot i dont know the tax in usa. But the health insurance is just optional or not? I thought in usa are many people without it. I wouldnt have any problems with the german tax, if they used it smart. But the potician here waste so much money with stupid things, its such a shame.
@suprep Side note: He's not currently paying residential tax because it is based on previous year's income. Since he graduated from college in 2019 in the U.S., he doesn't have any 2018 Japanese income, therefore no residential tax. Start in June 2020, he should be paying residential tax based on previous year's income--which will be lower than the normal amount because it isn't based on a full year of income. Just as a reference, if you have 240,000 yen month of income, the residential tax will be about 15,000 yen/month. The rest are as stated in the video. I just ran these numbers as if this income was in the U.S. and the deduction is still higher than in the U.S. even after a fairly high income tax state like California, New York, or Oregon. Part of the problem is that their pension(which is like Social Security) tax is pretty high but the payout when you receive is rather low. 240,000 yen is about 1921 Euro. As his income rises, the rates will increase rather quickly.
I think this pay is a joke from my perspective and this is why I went back to my home country after graduation. There my initial salary was approx equivalent of 300000 yen at much lower cost of living. This is sad, I would have loved to stay in Japan and wouldn't even mind the overtime and stress... but then payment should be decent...
$651 is less than £500 and that's inclusive of your utilities and wifi? THAT'S SO CHEAP. You wouldn't even be able to rent a room in a share house with 4-5 other people in London for that amount NOT including utilities.. You're looking at atleast £600-£900 which is 83,177- 124,765 Yen. London is so unnecessarily expensive it's not even funny.
@@ikuzoburandeon No, that is so false. The average income is 2880€ for people who have just graduated from university. The amount after you deduct taxes is closer to 1800€, but I found varying sources siting different amounts. It depends a lot on what you studied and what kind of job you get.
The rent really makes a lot of difference. Technically what you are making is below minimum wage in the US, even before deductions but your cost of living seems cheaper than in the states. I'd kill for 69000円 rent in a city like Tokyo. In nyc the rent usually starts around 157987円 and it isn't really different elsewhere. If you go elsewhere, the pay usually adjusts downward so you're not actually saving money. Do you think your salary is typical?
Minimum wage is much lower in the US than this in most states still, about $7-$8 per hour in kansas at the moment and the cost of living is higher than he is paying on pretty much everything besides food.
He is making about 11.50$ an hour (post taxes, like 13.25$ pre). That is much higher than most states minimum wage. That being said, he is a university grad. and people making minimum wage are generally people out of high school or lesser education.
$651 for a 1 bedroom apartment in Tokyo 😭 I live in Koreatown, LA. My one bedroom apartment is $1800 and that's with a covid discount. (Usual price is about $2100) うらやましい！
Ohaiogozaimasu, Shun...😉Sankyu Desu, for letting people know your living expenses in Tokyo compared to salary...In Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area in California, US $651 for an apartment of your size and cleanliness would be unheard of in 2021.(Maybe 30 years ago...) Now it is probably $2000 at least, and only if a person is willing to look all over the entire metropolitan area for a solid month or so.
8:18 It's most definantly true, I asked some of my friends if they are willing to stay with their parents after they finish highschool or college, they all said that they would never, Personally I would do it if it's relativley near my job or anything which In my country is very likley.
im Indonesian, my salary is around 400$ and im 23 y.o, i want to visit japan someday, but i should save 50% of my salary every month xD in the next 2 years
$400 a month? That's so mind-blowing to me. I suppose the one good thing about our crazy cost of living in the US is that it's comparatively easier for us to move to other countries (financially) since we are already accustomed to paying more than whatever it will cost to be somewhere else.
Compared to my education (i didnt study)and what i have to do - its a very low salary. I life in switzerland. Work 42 hours/week. 25 days paid holiday/year. CHF 5‘900 salary (this is a relatively low salary here) But everything is expensive...
This video was really interesting since it's a nice perspective to watch how the expenses get calculated! I also really enjoyed the mix between Japanese and English, you should speak in the language you feel more comfortable with so you shouldn't worry about adding subtitles! :) Keep up the great work! Love from Germany! :D
@SHUNchan Let me make an observation. You are a Japanese making videos for people who are not Japanese. Your audience are ENGLISH speakers. I do not see a reason a Japanese, or Japanese speaker would like to see this video in Japanese, because either they are already working in Japan or worked at some point. They do not need to watch this video. The point remains, your channel is for English speakers. If your channel would be a Japanese (language) channel with some English (language) to help people learn Japanese, that would be different. But this is not the concept of your channel. PS Thanks for the video
I noticed you didn't mention anything about a bonus. Back when I worked in Japan in the early 90s, most companies seemed to pay out sesonal bonuses that amounted to around 5 months worth of salary. And this was regarded as an expected part of your yearly pay. Even when the company did poorly, we'd still receive close to the expected amount. Do they still have this bonus system? Also, I'm pretty surprised at how low the salaries have stayed in Japan since I was there. Your pay actually seems lower than what I remember most fresh graduates were making 30 years ago. Granted, I was there before the bubble economy burst in Japan. But cost of living also seems to be similar or cheaper than 30 years ago. So I'm guessing there has been virtually no inflation for 30 years there?
So work a month to save 50$, after a year you would have increased your bank account by 600$. Isn't that super horrible? you're not going to go anywhere.
You're English is better than most Americans. You're rent is cheap( I live in a less expensive part of the US). Expecting employees to work overtime and not pay them is crazy. I also watch a lot of sub Anime so speak however is most comfortable=D
His apartment was a 20-30m2, based on the quick clip. how big of a place you get over there for that money all inclusive? I still think, that UK and Netherlands are more expensive when it comes to metropolitan areas. I was shocked by the food prices though.
@@V4zz33 400-650 ft^2 apartment... roughly comparable to what I lived in in the US... His price would be borderline bad in midsized Midwestern cities, but incredibly good on the coasts (We're talking >$1500/month rents). Then there's the $120 per month for health insurance. In the US, health insurance is typically $450 a month...
absolutely irrelevant what is your gross/net salary. What matters is how much money you can save after living expenses (and not living on a noodle cup from lawson) and how much free time you have after work. Its funny what graduates in Tokyo think about their "life" - one day a week off if they lucky and all "go out" is to the cheapest places and only with coworkers as they have no time to meet other people. Most graduates living in smaller cities or a countryside can enjoy Tokyo more that people "living" in Tokyo, not to mention the tiny can apartment they rent for most of their life listening to the neighbour toilet, travelling to work over 2 hours on a train... no wonder there is so many suicides in Japan
I was born/raised in Japan and graduated from my college in 1999 which was in the middle of the worst recession in Japanese post-war history. Based on this guy’s pay stub, it is clear that wage in Japan has been stagnant for at least 20 years. Back when I was fresh out of college my annual pay was US$24-30k range plus overtime and benefit. That’s average annual pay for college graduates (bachelor) and English skill was not requirement at that time. My rent was about $700/mo. in center of downtown Tokyo. So literary the same as this guy’s situation. Again, that’s more than 20 years ago. Japan is really going down the hill.
salaries have been stagnating everywhere for the last 20 years while everything gets more expensive...its not only about japan but also true for every western country...
I'm from LA. I always thought that Japanese people draw very high salaries. I was surprised to find out otherwise a few years back. I guess I'm used to seeing rich Japanese expats and tourists!
You should watch the episode of the show "Seinfeld" where Japanese tourist visited and Kramer thought they were rich. On a more serious note, there was a documentary stating that the majority of international students that come over here are from rich families, the average person from most countries cannot afford to live here long-term.
@@333angeleyes Very true. I went to high school with a Korean kid whose brother was going to Purdue, his parents weren't what I would call "rich" but they bought the older brother a relatively expensive car (for the area) just to have to go to college (and a small house, which sounds excessive, but west/central Indiana has cheap housing costs). When the older brother graduated the younger brother got the car to drive to school (older brother had to go back for mandatory military service). I went to a private Catholic school, and he had one of the better cars in the parking lot. This was in the era of people wanting Suburban and Grand Cherokees though, so a domestic sports car wasn't really that cool. The Indian (small enough school that we only had 3 kids who weren't American) kid did end up rolling his 1 year old Jeep by clipping a lane divider trying to make a U-turn. His parents weren't even mad, they were like, "that's why we got you a big car, to keep you safe". The Japanese girl was relatively well off, her father was working his way up the corporate ladder in Fuji Heavy Industries and was living in the area as he helped set up an automotive plant. When he was done he left her behind with a friend to finish high school.
You should continue to use Japanese with English subtitles sometimes. It really helps otakus like me pick up more normal Japanese instead of just anime speak
2:31 - While it's very common in Japan for companies to have みなし残業 (minashi zangyo - fixed overtime) it's actually illegal to include it in your base salary. Any hours worked over 8 per day or 5 days per week must be paid separately. There should be a line-item on your pay slip which says みなし残業 or else just a regular listing for overtime hours and pay. It's one of the more annoying things to deal with when looking for jobs in Japan, because one company might offer a 5M and another 6M per year, but both have 40 hours of みなし残業 and the job offering 6M might just be including that in their job posting, while the job offering 5M will actually come to 6.25M when you add in the fixed overtime. (source: live and work in Tokyo)
How is work culture in Japan in general? Do employees get worked to the bone and then not get paid for it? Even if they do get paid, is the working hours like 15+ so that you never have any time to do anything except work? As a foreigner, how was your work at the beginning?
Kronos From my experience, I think most English teachers don’t work overtime or very little overtime and it’s usually paid. If you are an office worker, then you’re more likely to work overtime with no pay. Each company is different of course. I would say most of my non-teaching friends do get overtime pay. Oh and don’t forget the nomikais. Basically drinking. You technically can say no but you’re not really supposed to. Yup, weird right? That itself would be like 2-3 times a week. My ex did that for a year and everytime he went to drink with his boss, he would come home at 9PM but at times, even the last train.
I recently moved from Upstate (New York) to Seattle. In NY I was the first occupant in a new apartment (about 750 Sq. Ft.) The cost including heat and AC was $490 a month. Now in the Seattle area and in an apartment the same size I pay $1,200 without the heat and AC.
As someone trying to learn some Japanese, I find this format pretty fun to watch. I try to follow what you're saying in Japanese while reading the subs. Tbh I'm still _such_ a beginner that I can only understand a few random words from here and there. It's still fun to try though :D Your outline for income and living expenses correlate pretty closely with uni students here in Finland. Switch all of your numbers in USD to EUR and you have a decent estimate for what it's like for a bachelor graduate to live here in the bigger cities, like Helsinki, Tampere, or Turku. Overall the general price level here is scaled up, despite the difference in value between currencies. There is one thing that specifically caught my eye, - namely your phone bill. An average joe's bill would hover around 25€ (30$). Side story: the last (and only) time I visited Tokyo with some friends it surprised me that the prepaid SIM cards in Tokyo were like 50% more expensive than in Finland :) So there's that. It was fun walking around Asakusa and Akiba, among a few places that we'd visited. Hope you'd make more vids in this format with both languages mixed together. 楽しいです！
It's fair. The same thing for the hours and all the deductions where I'm from, it's about that that. (Of course not including the over time they would do)
I love how you mixed Japanese and English together lol. Anyway, here's my comparison while living in a major city of 2 countries - no mention of one means I've no good estimates: Fresher Salary - might be similar in Saudi Arabia (need confirmation) - too damn high for Pakistan, even for an experienced engineer (Normally, Graduates get a starting salary of only 13,000円) Rent - about the same in Saudi Arabia , if you add the utilities - it's pretty low in Pakistan (around 19.000円 per month for 2 bedroom and 1 guest room) but all that comes without utilities Food - a bit more in Saudi Arabia if you eat out twice a day - too lavish for life in Pakistan (11,000円 is enough for a month, 22,000円 if you eat out twice a day) _BUT I live with family so it's around 5000 Rs monthly (3000円 )_ Phone and WiFi - In Pakistan, basic WiFi is 1,300円 monthly (which is pretty crappy) and phone usage is 320円 monthly (2 GB per month) _Also, it's pretty common to live with your family, even a few years into marriage in Pak and Saudi._
I'm earning 650$ a month working 8 hours a day. Living in small town in Poland with parents. Our rent cost is about 100$. In big cities rent costs 400$ or more.
Meanwhile in malaysia,fresh grads got; Diploma rm1800 (usd430) Degree rm2200 (usd525) And rental for a room was around Rm300-600(usd 71-120)-it was for a freaking room!!☹️ Rm1500-2500(usd 360-500)- high rise apartment/ ds terrace....dont even dream to buy a car if you wanna buy house
I live in Minnesota and i'm about 2 years removed from graduating with my Mechanical Engineering degree. I make around $4900 gross per month before deductions and my rent is $900 dollars per month. I would say my income is a on the middle to lower end for my position due to the fact that i'm not working in a larger city. If I were to move I could expect my salary to increase by around $10K but my living expenses would also scale up to match that.
@@xunter Yes, that's true. A lot of people moved to Germany and other countries when wages were even lower, like 300 Euro per month. Sometimes I'm thinking about getting a job in Germany, but I don't know German much...
This is interesting Shunchan, living in Tokyo with that kind of rent for the size of your apartment and to have utilities included. Foreigners working in Japan really get a raw deal because we dont see costs like those.
Yeah I watched a foreigners video where she talked about living costs there and she said it was pushing $3000, and that was for really cramped conditions. That's more expensive than our local prices where I live, but not by so much that it's un-doable (with proper planning). $651 is insanely low though.
I really didn't mind how the video switched between english and japanese! If sometimes you are too tired to speak english (or don't have time to prepare a script) i'd be down watching videos in japanese only with subtitles.
we are all used to hearing japanese and reading the subtitles thanks to anime :DD
sou desunee
i agree with this 100%, it felt very natural to be honest
Actually I enjoyed Japanese sub since it is part of my daily immersion.
Yass! More Japanese please, itadakimasu
It's pretty rare to see a Japanese citizen sharing their income and expenses publicly and I appreciate your honesty
I love the Hawaii pic btw :)
japan youtube paid well so alot people start to
Wut, I live in Japan for the past 5 years and everyone is very open about their salary.
@@zeffke008 maybe it's because Japanese citizens are rare overall to Kelly
@@zeffke008 Same experience for me. They don't have the weird hang-up like we do in the US.
I work in Japan and in more I have citizen taxe 12000 yens from 2nd year and labor union 1000 yens, 500 yen for association (bowling, bbq, cinema , concert ticket and more) and 2000 yens for travel company (japan and abroad). But in more I have bonuses twice by year , July and December and total is 4.5-5 months of salary base.
"but sometimes i go out to eat so i save $47"
me, eating stuffed crust: haha yeah same
It's missing a zero though...
He meant $470
"Speak english a bit" is the biggest understated and humble comment I've ever heard haha you speak English very well.
I said he speaks better English then some Americans born here!
true lol
He speaks better English than me and I was born in the UK!
@@madlad7144 Well, everyone speaks better English than the English :P . To quote _Snatch_, "I thought this country spawned the fucking language, and so far nobody seems to speak it"
Yep definitely, I see Americans every day that don't speak English that well.
I love the mix of English and Japanese. I'm studying Japanese and it's the perfect excuse to watch something fun and interesting under the guise of "listening practice" ;-)
PROTIP: Repeat what he says to learn even faster. This is easily the best use of youtube's playback speed adjuster. 👍
Yes! Same here!
Me too ❤❤❤
same!!! my listening skills sucks ): 頑張って笑
Same here! And I plan to get a job in Japan as well, it's great to know all the salary deductions and basic costs in Japan! Oh and ya, I think your rent is amazing!
I work as a caregiver in Sweden, my income is very similar to yours, and I live in an apartment that looks to be of a smiliar size, probably a little bit bigger, but that costs me about $900 a month! So I think the $650 is a great prize!
Same in Norway. I pay 9900NOK (~ $1000) a month.
Your rent is crazy good considering gas, water, electricity, and even wifi are included
Rent in downtown Montreal Canada over 1000$ CAD! Without the electricity wifi etc
@@mikexbox1 In NYC its well over 1000 especially in Manhattan rent can easily go over $3000
That’s what I was thinking, all that where I am is 2k!
Which is in the Portland, Oregon area!
I think his rent is awesome, there are people that pays ¥57,000 without any bills included and Tokyo has the most expensive m2 in the world and as I could see the average rent price is over ¥90,000 if it’s a new building
"I can save around $950 but I sometimes eat out and buy clothes so I only save around $47"
Took me a minute to realize he forgot a 0 on the actual savings. So he actually saves around $470 which is more understandable.
Thank you very much for sharing your numbers, extremely interesting!
It s true. Eating out, restaurants, club... and shopping in Japan are sooooo expensive.
I think that the salary is very low in Japan. You can save 950 dollars as long as you don't get out of the flat and stay inside all the time. If you want to get a bit around in the city for a walk or to visit some place you don't even need to buy clothes or eat outside (actually eating outside isn't expensive in Japan, you can even say it's super cheap!) in order to spend the rest of the money. All you need to do is to take a train or subway and all the money disappears magically, ahahahah.
@@momonatu4998 its a starting salary. also we don't know what job he has (did i miss it?). given the low cost of living (compared to where I live in the US) and low income tax, id say its about the same as the US. for tokyo though, i would have thought that he'd make more. but If mid-tokyo is just $650 that is cheap, so it might not be fair to compare it to US cities. NY usually is around at least 1500-3000, in a farther neighborhood, with a studio (no rooms). people barely make ends meet at $80k.
@@aj-sz8mu forget about the job, almost any job in Tokyo starts with aprox. 250.000 yen/month (and because it's Tokyo, otherwise it's much lower!) I think it's higher if you are a shop-assitant or have very specific qualification in IT. Tokyo isn't 650 / month for rent ahahah. This guy was just patient and lucky enough to find a jewel, but it's not the normal price XD Basically with that salary you don't have a life as a foreigner.
@@momonatu4998 yeah it kind of matters. me as a developer, i know i have a higher starting salary than someone doing clerk, assistant etc type of job. with all the tax, and insurance though, my paycheck is actually very close to his. and rent here in usually at least $1000, its not even NY, just CT. so id still say its about the same (even considering higher rent). since i have a higher cost of living.
A life as a foreigner? what does that mean?
Note that this doesn’t include deductions for municipal taxes (住民税), which he will have to pay the following fiscal year.
THIS!!! It's significant amount, and nobody ever mentiones it!
Curious how much is that in aprox, average if its even possible since i guess that is by what you owb also?
@@peffe it cost 1000$ for avarage salary man like 2000-2500$ per month but it will go up once you reach 3500-4000 onwards
@@johhnybravo3187 Damn, so it's almost 50% of the paycheck?
not that expensive. my 320,000yen monthly salary only pay ~80,000yen/ year for city tax. The biggest deduction is pension, but we get back that money when we retired anyway so consider it is a kind of saving.
Pretty decent. But overtime 40 hours to even be able to receive your overtime wage is kinda exploiting and not correct towards the employee. Overtime should be optional, not forced!
Well, it's Japan. Unfortunately that's their "work ethic". Doing overtime for free is considered normal and if you don't do it, you're very badly seen
Was looking for this comment. Not getting paid for less than 40 hours of overtime is essentially 39 hours of free labor for any company. I honestly can't believe they get away with this, very exploitative
That's one week of work.
Strictly speaking by American work standards he didn't work any overtime. Can't speak for other countries. Most US states base overtime on a per week basis and you have to work over 40 hours in a week. Even the few states that base overtime on a per day basis have it set at over 8 hours per day. Just doing the math he worked 8 hours per day for 23 days in the month. Depending on how the weekends fall that fits both within the per day and per week averages in the US. There are easily 21 to 23 work days in any given month. If he worked more than 23 days or more than 184 hours in the month then you might have an argument.
@@koloth5139 interesting thanks for the info. I guess in the end the work schedule is different approach same result. Still, japan and usa are some of the most overworked countries in the world so either way they both need some changes if they want to improve mental health (although this work ethic is maybe part of why they are wealthy in the first place so idk)
"Let's talk about money, because that's everybody's favorite"
Hits like instantly.
compared to US standards, that is fairly cheap for a major metropolitan area
Asian countries like Korea, China, Japan, and Vietnam are cheap.
Korea is cheaper than japan also
@@iloveumorethananything where is this from?
Yeah, thought it was supposed to be sky high prices
@@jak.cr1ym please. wtf. japan and korea are cheap? delete yourself. also don't give me some compared to US shit. you can't compare the us and japan. starting with healthcare and shit, you know.
Crying with our 3rd world rates. That Japanese fresh graduate salary is like the equivalent of a director level or upper management salary in some industries here.
yeah lol a fresh graduate will be getting an average of 400$-600$ depending on what he studied
In my middle of the Midwestern US (Indiana) you can easily find a factory or warehouse job that pays USD 14+ hourly with a High School equivalency (GED), or not. This guys compensation is around 14.40 USD which is what my employer pays the Temporary Workers. Once they are hired on they get 16 hour. No prior experience in anything required. Warm body hiring. 60 days good attendance and conduct and pretty close to automatic full time hiring. Tops out at just shy of USD 20 (after 3 years), but add on pay like being a coordinator or welder/skilled position (which employer pays for training) can bump it up, and positions with additional responsibility but short of management can be on higher pay scales, IIRC the maintenance gets something like 70k a year before over time pay. Over time is anything over 6 minutes past the 40 hour work week, and is 50 percent higher wages, and if you work 7 consecutive days the last day is double time. No overtime is uncompensated, all worked hours must be paid. Which means that a typical 2000 hour work year should pay out just shy of 40k, but with bonuses and OT ends up well higher than 45k.
That is for a entry level factory job in a non union shop in a lower wage US state. Other places pay more, but this part of the country is cheap to live in. I was able to go from having 3k in debt and living with my parents (living a NEET life) to owning (albeit with a mortgage, $950/mo including taxes and insurance) a 2k square foot house in the nicer part of town (5 minutes from a world class university) within just 2 years of working. My GF, whom I'm fully supporting other than tuition, is studying at said University and already has had job offers to leave school and make 60,000 yearly. But she is holding out because the entry level in her field approaches 90k yearly.
I was actually shocked how little Japanese make TBH, the average salary is much lower than in the US.
@@joseph1150 Well... People in the US are wealthy as fuck. From my perspective as an Egyptian, this guy is very wealthy and I dream to have his living standards someday. xD
@@PrinceDolos As an American I have to say my fellow American's have no idea how the rest of the world lives. I got into a heated discussion with somebody who lives in NYC who thinks dire poverty label by the UN applies to poor people in NYC. I told them people living on welfare in the public housing in NYC have it better off than the majority of the world's population. In the US the poor are fat. In other places they can barely live at all.
I've known a few of your countrymen (and people from nearby areas like Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Syria) who managed to immigrate to my area, and other than a rough couple of winters (it can get to -30C and lower), they are thriving as small business owners. People take it for granted how easy it is to do well here.
This is why I love America I make a little under triple what he makes and I don't have a degree.
I like when you alternate between English and Japanese.
I don’t think it is strange to live with your parents in the most of the world -
I live in South Africa and honestly in my culture alot of kids physically got chucked out the house when they reached 18 a generation ago. Another one before that you either gave up on school and became a farmer, went to study so you could avoid military service for a few more years, went to the military, got married, or some combo of the lot. The only scenario that had you stay at "home" would be if you became a farmer/took over the family business. You finished school, went to study (and probably stayed in a res or lodged at family/family friends)/got a job, met your partner at either, essentially lived off of air, took out a bond, got a place befitting the loan you could get even if you couldn't afford furniture or proper food, probably had your first kid, got promoted, got a bigger place if your job allowed a bigger bond, second kid, pets. Boom. You're 30 now, congrats. It's more common now to stay with your family because living costs have gotten mad/banks are insane/you can't rent or buy small places anymore cause the neighbourhoods that were affordable a generation or two ago aren't safe anymore, but no matter what the reason there is still quite a bit of guilt/shame involved for both the parents and children. Always "having" to give a bit too much of an explanation at social gatherings etc, type of thing. Like no one will openly scoff or anything anymore usually (-usually), but you can see the looks on people's faces of "oh, typical useless young person" (unless their kids the same) regardless of if you have qualifications/+hold a steady job vs flunked out of everything/+literally do nothing with your life. We have soooooooo may cultures in SA so of course it differs, and for example my family and neighbourhood would be considered liberal (though I'm technically Afrikaans) so it's not too bad, but for example my best friend's family and their social circles are far more conservative (also Afrikaans) and even though she is far more of an exemplary young adult than I ever managed to be at her age, there have been people who should have zero input in their family affairs who have caused unnecessary waves because she didn't perfectly follow the "life plan" I described above
@@OdieSwan this has to do more with cultures from northern Europe. In South and East of Europe it is normal to stay around the family.
@@Kannot2023 it's the same in South Africa, I think she lives in a very specific region, but in the capital it's extremely normal for kids to stay with parents till around 23-25 I think, unless they go to college right after school and immediately move out once they graduate and get a decent job, which would around age 22
True, I think mostly in Asia it's very common to live with your parents. ╮(. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)╭
@@Kannot2023 As someone from Northern Europe i really don't understand the obsession with having your own place unless you have kids, most people end up jumping into a rental house paying someone elses morgage for a house you will never own.
Damn I thought Tokyo rent was expensive, in England with his rent you could get a university dorm room with enough space for one bed and desk.
most people think Japan is expensive but it is actually really cheap, he is in the heart of Tokyo imagine how cheap it is outside of the city
Japan is actually very cheap to live compared to other financial centers such as London and New York. Your money goes a long way. It is not only cheap to rent, but also cheap to buy. For example, I pay only ~230,000 a month for a 4 bedroom near Meguro station, which is one of the better locations in Tokyo.
@@megacat that is wonderful and you are so lucky to be living in such a beautiful country I am honestly jealous lol :) I hate not being able to travel at the moment I miss Japan very much
@@withinjapan2024 I lived in both Tokyo and other financial centers as well. It always amazes me how Tokyo always rank so high up on the most expensive cities list when real estate is so cheap. I'd say cost of living is actually around 1/3 that of say San Francisco and your salary really goes a long way here. A house in good areas of Yamanote line can be bought for ~1M (less good stations you can get them for ~600k), and living in areas around 30-60 min away by train drops price down to 300-500k. Those prices would have been insane in the lower ranked places such as New York, London, Hong Kong, etc.
@@megacat yes and my Aussie friends won't holiday in Japan as they too think it's expensive regardless of how cheap I show them it is
i like your relaxed style of making videos ! feels like sitting down with a friend ;)
When I first got out of university, I had a suburban apartment that was relatively equivalent to your urban apartment. I made nearly all of my meals. After those expenses plus transportation, I had only about 25% of my income remaining. It would have been less if I had student loans to pay off, but I worked 60-80 hours, weekly (across multiple jobs) while in university to pay for my school expenses as I accrued them. In fact, even once I graduated, I continued to work two full time jobs to be able to get ahead. When you broke down your income and costs, I was shocked that it wasn't worse in a city like Tokyo. Thank you for sharing!
where do you live?
Hey bro, as a Japanese learner with aspirations of visiting Japan in the future, your videos are super interesting and helpful for learning about the culture, and our cultural differences. Thanks man and I can’t wait to see this channel blow up!!
Drew be careful though because it only takes one visit to Japan and you will get addicted to it lol and every time you go home your stomach will keep turning until you get back there :) a mind blowing amazing country it is...
don't it a waste of time... since unless your company paid for those you don't made money...and little saving..
@@campkira Bruh Japan seems amazing.
@@withinjapan2024 Absolutely, that is what happened to me and I am totally planning on moving there :D
@@MrZuga89 Everything seems perfect in japan but everything seems phony, I worked as a office worker and the place seems to bright and jolly but i've never felt so alone in my entire life and coworker won't tell you you're wrong you will realize either you're fired. People treat you really good though because they need to but the reality is different no one seems real. Omote(public) and Ura(Private face) are wildly applied. Province are quite okay atleast in Sendai. Nevertheless It's an amazing place would definitely comeback for visit though not live maybe another 10-15 years but still maybe i'm just unlucky every country has that.
Your rent is more affordable than most of Chicago I'm crying.
But in Chicago your take home would be twice as much. Living in a big city is expensive but well worth it if you can afford it
@@DK24S even in the chicago burbs it's more expensive, the cheapest apartments I can find that are not shit are around 850-900... and I only make like $300 more a month than him... and I don't get "bus fair" payment for my car haha. my health insurance cost is about the same but I get taxed quite a bit more so I think he may even be ahead in take home pay lmao.
I do wonder how many square feet his apartment is though, the above amount in my area is for around 800 sq feet for 1 bedroom 1 bath. hell a 2 bedroom 1 bath would be about $100 more a month (and what I will probably go with since I have a large military collection and would like a room to dedicate to it) and that would come out closer to 900 sq ft overall.
food is close to the same depending on where I buy, my phone is cheaper only because I am on a family plan though I have to pay for my net.
Still living with my family atm even though im 30... it blows and I want to move out asap, I was planning on doing it this year until I got laid off though I start a new job next week (which the above numbers note). I was able to save a shitload of money though so I am hoping to skip the apartment and go right to a house.
@@DK24S No one making $24,000 a year can afford to live the safe parts of Chicago. Median Chicago income is $55k Tokyo is way cheaper
@@DK24S 22000 is less than fast food workers make
@@b4804514 I'm in CHI as well and its expensive for housing. But you can get around without a car, which saves a ton. Still $600 for a nice 1 BR...not darn likely here.
Cool video, but just like most it doesn't mention Residence Tax (municipal tax), and that does chew quite a bit of money so it is important to mention. What we consider spacious here in Japan would be considered tree house back in Europe or not to mention US so those who are used to "normal" space would have to pay around 3000$ or more in rent to get that here.
If you have a car, that will be about +400$ per year for "normal car" road tax (or around 800$ for slightly "bigger" engine) plus 1000 up to 2000$ every 2 years for vehicle inspection. Having a parking will cost you about 200$ or more per month in Tokyo.
Most people I know circle around that 200 000yen or roughly 2000$ per month income mark so while that's a strong middle, it seems to be hard to go above that "step".
Also, for foreigners, pensions is daylight robbery here... You are obligated to pay no matter what, but once you leave you can get only 80% of 3 years back in return through rather complicated process (probably purposely so that people give up). Rest of 20% is then another complicated process away (since 20% were taxes). So in other words, if you were living and paying pension 10 years here, Japan will give you money back for only 3 years and... Thank you for the rest of the money! They also don't send pensions outside of country once you retire (like Germany would do for example) so be aware of that. Also, monthly amount is fixed at 200$ no matter what your income is, so people with lower income might struggle to pay.
I feel that his saving grace is rent. In the US thats not even close to enough in most metropolitan areas.
yeah i live in LA, make a little more than him and my rent is over 1k. so yeah...more reasons to move to japan.
@imaprouduclabruin I woudnt know. I havent had a real vacation in 4 years. America sucks.
@@BOYVIRGO666 Except for the other places. JK, there are some great places, but there are many more that suck way more.
@@BOYVIRGO666 If you like working unpaid overtime for around 10-30 hours a month, don't mind having to "deal" with being a "foreigner" in Japan (yeah, Japan is still pretty ethnocentric and racist as whole, but then again, depending on where you live and your race, that may be a step up), then yeah sure its not bad. Also, transportation is kinda expensive compared to the US. Most public transit is subsidized by the government in the US.
Since you live in LA, you probably know its like $2.5 for a one way trip all around LA/LA County. In Japan, the cost is based on distance, so from one end to another end in Tokyo is around $15 bucks for a one way trip. If you want to drive, its even more expensive, because there is basically no such thing as free parking in a major city, and most apartments do not have parking space.
Foods cheap, since if you want to save money, you'll probably be buying day old bento boxes for less than 5 bucks.
It also has a stricter work culture, but that may be a step up depending on where you work. Just know that most starting jobs and positions barely have vacation, and have strict requirements for showing up to work, even if you are sick. But as I said before, this may actually be no different for you.
What I'm saying is that the grass is greener on the other side. If your job really does suck, I would suggest trying to find another one if you can, before you decide to abruptly move to Japan without any work plan (Japan limits immigration way more than the U.S., so getting a working and living permit there is pretty hard without a guaranteed job, since they like to maintain ethnic homogeneity).
Go abroad and teach english or something. If you aren't asian, it'll be easier to get those english teaching jobs.
@@darkevilazn I go to japan semi regularly. Im very familiar with the homogeneous culture and work/life issues. I dont like other people enough to really worry too much about alot of the major problems and im pretty good at my job. I know it woudnt be easy but honestly nowhere is easy right now. But you arent wrong on any points.
I live in San Francisco, when I read $651 for rent in Japan I’m almost choked on my water.
Rent out here is $3,000 a month on average 😭
@Brian Li Not true. i was looking at apartments in Hatagaya which is a 10 minute train ride from shinjuku and it was 725 a month for a fairly nice place. I live in los angeles now. California rent is fucking nuts.
@@BOYVIRGO666
Yeah but at least we can all agree on one thing-that California blows
Japan doesn't have housing issues as California IIRC, so even in big cities the rent is cheaper.
Well for me japan's rent is something I cant afford.... in my country rent is like $100 - $300...... maybe due to lower currency rates
That's such a waste of money. I don't care how cool the city is.
面白かった！俺のお婆さんは日本人だったから、日系人ビサをもられるよ！どこに日本で住むのおすすめは何ですか？
That's a very spacious, considering that the location is Tokyo.
your income tax is unbelievably low in Japan. Total income tax (state, social security, federal, etc) can be almost 40% in US!!
I'm sure it's bracketed, I'm in the UK and in the 20% bracket but that is 20% OVER the minimum of £12.5k so I pay closer to 16% of my total income for tax and social health insurance. He may be on the same kind of taxation bracket but is only taxed on the money he makes over the minimum requirement so it's not actually 20% - 25% of his total wages. My income before and after taxes are very similar to him as a recent graduate.
Our brackets go up like so, if you make £52,000 a year, you pay nothing on the first £12,50 then 20% (£7,500.00) on the next £37,500 and 40% (£800) on the next £2,000.
Are taxes in the US just taken from the total income or is it a similar system?
@@LoudMouth_ Taxes in the US are very high. The Federal govt. takes its cut using a similar bracketed system. General rule of thumb is your federal tax is somewhere in the range of 10% and 26%, depending on adjusted gross income (AGI). Some states, like California and New York, have an incredibly high state income tax. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 10%. So that brings it up to a whopping upper limit of 36%. If your AGI is too low because you have a lot of tax deductions, in America we have a nasty tax called the AMT which is basically a side tax that increases as your AGI goes down.
In addition to all of that, there are many other taxes that are taken based on your consumption (sales, property, etc.). All in all, good earners pay up to 60% of their gross income in taxes when all is said and done.
@@rtkevans Oh right, I'm in the UK but not in England but even here our income taxes are consistent with what I mentioned + National Health Insurance.
I worked out that after the brackets if you're making 150k you're in the 40% bracket but pay closer to 31%. with social health insurance capping out at 2%.
With the USA being so big I'm sure it's difficult to enforce consistent taxation.
Our brackets go up to 45% over 150k and while you'll never """technically""" pay 45% of your total gross income, the lower tax amounts at the lower brackets become negligible fast.
Honestly I'm not making enough to be concerned with things like property tax since I rent but I've hear that US add sales tax at the checkout or as a "+ ##" on the price tag. Is this true? Here our prices include tax on the price tag.
@@LoudMouth_ Sales tax is never labeled in the US. It is simply calculated at the register. Every county in every state sets their own sales tax rate, in California, for instance, it hovers around 9% with small variations from county to county. We are taxed way too much!!!
@@rtkevans Honestly reading can't say if you seem to pay more or less tax in comparison but your tax systems seem far more complicated and confusing! I can't imagine picking something up in a shop and being charged more at the register than the stated price when I decided to buy it.
I am quite surprised at the low living expense in Tokyo. You are able to save half your salary. All things considered, it is not bad.
SHUNchan: 69,000 yen in rent...is it expensive?
Me: Cries in Toronto 193,000 yen rent.
Then we have San Francisco with average price of $2400 for one bedroom apartments and $3800 for two bedroom. Yay~
@@jibraum As a teacher, I've never seen a check thats more than 2500 net at the end of the month...
@@jibraum but you don't get a free healthcare in SF 🤣
@@yoshidasaki17703 Yeah lol its not great
69000yen in japan... for that amount of space in tokyo? nope not at all. Cheap as all hell, though I do wonder about its location since that can have pretty big impact. Since he also count utilities to his rent this is even better rent. In Sweden where I live that is what you pay for an out of the way 40~square metre one room and kitchen apartment and it considered cheap. If you include all utilities for the same place its closer to 10 000 kr (154 000 yen)
Last time I was this early I didn't have to kill another human for toilet paper
The monthly pay is pretty ok considering your fresh off university, but the hours seem to be pretty flexible as well. And the living expenses are super cheap compared to the U.S by far. So in Japan I guess 2,400 a month doesn't sound too bad.
It depends where you live. I make 5,400 a month as an IT consultant in Texas. The cost of living is pretty low here compared to California. The average apartment rent in Tokyo is US$1,903 a month. I do not think that someone making 2400 would live comfortably in Tokyo.
@@albertsmith99 I used to find decent places (for a Brazilian) in Tokyo for about U$700 in more distant areas. A little box with kitchen and toilet but clean and safe.
@@albertsmith99 That's after tax? Sorry if I'm just curious
TLDR: OP makes roughly $13.15 an hour before taxes and deductions. Here in the states, unless the living expenses are cheap, that is considered low income. It translates to 25k a year. In the states that's barely enough to rent a 1 room apartment + food.
ok.
Step 1) Learn Japanese
Step 2) Move to Japan after I graduate University
Step 3) SAVINGS
@@Aerotactics I love Japan but the culture does exhibit xenophobia when it comes to foreigners. Living there (unless you can learn to be very fluent in there way of social etiquette and language) could be harsh on you. I would suggest trying it for maybe a year with a contingency plan to come back if it doesn't work out.
@@Aerotactics just make good money where you live and fly to Japan when you want to stay in your lowly priced rental. And use nord vpn for cheaper flights.
Ty for this. Luckily, his living expenses seemed pretty decent. I live in the US and make around the same as him, but my living expenses are insane...
I didn't even know there were apartments like that in Tokyo... Enough room to think, and even... Have guests?? 😱
I enjoy when you speak Japanese, love the sound of it and it helps me learn
What industry is this level of income? Plus: the rent is not bad at all, and the income tax is so low!
Actually income tax is low because in Japan there are interest rates in bank are in negative so you can't FD them
Crazy right🤣🤣
@@shreeyashghatpande explain please
@@seven4280 Well in Japan the government wants to increase innovative ideas rather than keeping money in the banks as a fixed deposit therefore the government enacted a law forbidding banks to give positive interests and brought the interest rates in the negative so only current accounts having 0% interest are chosen because who would want their money to have negative interests right
This forced them to search for other ways like investment in stocks real estate and bonds that's how Japanese economy thrived so much after the 1990s
@@seven4280 That's why to balance out the negative interest rates low taxes were allotted this was partly also done to attract companies to have their main offices in Japan so as to have less taxes
Also the income level is high because the country's GDP level is high
That's why in poorer countries the pay is low and in richer country's the pay is higher for the same job this is also because of Japan's population is depleting day by day because average age in Japan is 47 years
He: Paying $650 for rent
Me: Let's move to streets of Tokyo
Love from India :)
$885 in the states 🙋🏾♂️ lol
@@jordinhocharles $1,200+ in Brooklyn
500$ in My country
MoopLord lmao I bet my apartment is bigger though 😂😂😂 I’m from Texas
Me: *cries in Californian*
Mahalo for sharing. I've been in Aomori for two years now but my home is Hawaii which I noticed you posted a picture of you at Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden. I enjoy your videos very much!
It’s cheaper than the worst part of NYC, I always thought rent in Tokyo is expensive.
It is, but it seems he was lucky and found a really great place. What was also not mentioned here is that it's very expensive before you actually start living in that apartment you're about to rent. There are things like _reikin,_ which is some sort of a gratitude fee you have to pay the owner. This can cost around 3x the monthly rent. Sometimes more, sometimes less.
It is more expensive if you are a foreigner renting a place there. The rental can be from $700 to $2000 USD. That is for the 1 Bedroom, Living/Dining Room, Kitchen.
@@JulianDarkeCloud why?
@@lukasmihara what is reiken and why one has to give them a grattitude money? I am confused
@@JulianDarkeCloud Yeah I always hear this a lot actually, it tends to be very difficult for foreigners to find a job and a place to live that is at a reasonable price that they can afford. I'm not sure if this is a race thing or a culture thing though please educate me!
That rent is my dream. In eastern Canada, specifically my province, even in really dangerous, high crime areas, you won't pay less than 1000 cad a month, not including utilities (electric, water, heat, parking space, which usually totals to another couple hundred) even studio apartments in not safe areas. I'm so damn jealous
In tijuana mx, in an ugly neighborhood you pay like 65 usd for a house. and in a nice neighborhood around 1000 usd
or even more
Damn $650 rent for a WHOLE APARTMENT with all utilities and wifi included.?? Meanwhile im here in seattle paying $1100 for a 1 room + utilities
Midwest its the same, and you dont even have an ocean nearby.
@@ateyo7554 guys be happy. Here in Bratislava - Eastern Europe you pay $600 for 1 room flat. For example university grad makes around $ 950 netto.
Big fan... plz do japanese country side vlog... i think it dont get much attention
You should react to “People who think they can speak English because they watch Netflix”. It’s a reversal and parody of the “People who think they can speak Japanese” video.
What about the initial cost of getting an apartment? (key charges, agency fee, deposit, etc.) I hear those can equal 5-7 months rent
That's around 100k pesos in the Philippines, receiving that salary I can raise my family well already and probably build a house XD
Well considering everything in philippines is cheap
Lmao hey fellow ASEAN 🤣
So true. 😂😂
So true and sad truth here in our country. No wonder why many of our countrymen go to other places, like Japan, who pay a good sum of money per month. A Japan bread factory worker can earn P7,500.00 per day (157.75$) while in our country a typical bread factory worker can earn P200.00/Day (4.19$).
We're losing so much good talents every year.
@@SageGuy1806 I agree.
I think the belief that Tokyo has one of the highest costs of living in the world is based on old data from old media that's persisted. I think at the peak of the Japan Miracle this was the case, but with how insane prices have gotten in the West since the 2008 housing bubble burst, I don't think this is true anymore. In Tokyo you can get a one bedroom apartment in a low crime area that's "30 minutes from everything" the city has to offer for an entry level wage and still have money left over to survive and even save. Can't really raise kids, but you can at least survive. That's not really the case anymore in NY, LA, London, Paris, Berlin, Sydney, Vancouver.
Rent and house mortgages in Sydney are crazy high
Japan is a low crime area...And I live in Osaka, in what seems to be a similarly sized apartment and pay 61,000 a month. Before gas, electricity and water, which can amount to another 7 tp 11,000 depending on the season. To me, his rent looks really cheap.
@@krhlaw1 Yeah, but the awesome metro system and overall non-existent crime rate in Tokyo area is a great equalizer. In a shithole countries (like US), that 5 minutes on Chuo line becomes extra 40 minutes by car, forces you to live in actual high-crime neighborhood and as a bonus it sentences your kids to an extremely underfunded and crime ridden school (which kills their chances at getting to decent uni and creating useful connections needed later in life).
I livei in New Zealand. Our rent is insane too. We just managed to buy a house but before that we were living in a tiny two-bedroom unit which was actually really cheap at $465 NZD a fortnight (about $300 USD I think).
Rent including all utilities and internet is super cheap compared to Canada! having something similar in Ontario, Canada, is about $1,100 (not including utilities and internet) outside of our major city of Toronto if you're lucky.
i've seen literal closets for rent for more then 650 in toronto. fuck that noise so happy i left.
That was really interesting, definitely might be helpful for my plan to go to Japan for a few weeks after I graduate.
I don't mind if you speak in a mix between English and Japanese, like you did in this video, or fully in one of those languages. Choose the one you think is the most comfortable one to speak in front of an camera ^-^
without cov-19... don't.. it just don't worth the risk...
campkira yea of course. Trips like these need to be planed out and it's better planning early. Thanks for your concerne tho dw not here to travle during a pandemic :)
Definitely good information on the standard of living in Japan! Quite interesting and insightful to see you break it down. Keep up the great content and enjoy your summer 🙌💯🇯🇵💰
Your English is what I would consider native. Without the accent, I wouldn’t know it’s not your first language.
Shun, I like having about 50/50 split between Japanese and English. It is good to hear the language spoken and interesting to see how your mannerisms change depending on which language you are speaking. I think you exude more confidence when you speak English. As for rent, in what part of Tokyo do you live and how long is your commute? By my calculation, your net pay is $11/hour, which seems like not very much for a college grad with English. Also, try to save $200 a month so you can buy a place. Thanks for sharing the details and your language!
Omg that rent is soo affordable! I always thought the cost of living was expensive in Japan, especially in Tokyo.
becuase his family sign as guarantee... since without them... it would cost more...
I pay for smaller apartament double in Tokyo. Since he was paying more than 14000 yen for transportation his apartment wasn’t that close to his company, so probably some smaller, residental area? Or even Saitama/Chiba?
@Jeremy Don't really agree? Square footage is sure more expensive than where? I was renting a 50sqm for 100k yen in Nishi Ogikubo (very pleasant area so close from Shibuya/shinjuku that I'm not even sure you could call it suburb, it is Tokyo). That price for that size is impossible in my home country in Western Europe, it would be more like 1600/1700eur to 2500 in more fancy areas. I'm curious to where you were comparing.
i worked as an Assistant Language Teacher for JET in 2005-2006, so this is out of date, but I made about 36,000,000円/year in that job (net) - roughly $36,000. My rent/utilities were subsidized, but even so, that was MORE than enough to live on. I didn't have to worry about money at all. Saved a good $10,000/year as well. Took trips (Tokyo, Kyoto, all over Hokkaido where I lived). I cooked a little, but to be honest ate out as much as possible for dinner lol. At least stopping at a conbini and grabbing something delicious.
Fast-forward to today and my salary is $103,000/year (gross - about $67,000 net). My expenses are higher in Canada (I definitely could NOT have the same lifestyle in Canada on $36,000 as I did in Japan omg), but I'm very comfortable. No delicious conbini tho. :( God, I miss the food in Japan. Never had a bad meal from hyakuenkan gyoza to ~fancy restaurants.
Where I live in Jersey, a 1 bedroom apartment alone is about $1,500-2,000 so your apartment is practically a steal compared to here.
Just curious, how much do you earn compared to him? because if you do earn a lot more than him then maybe your rent is justified?
@@valhallakombi7239 The median income in NJ is $85k. After state and federal income tax you would take home roughly $64k if you're unmarried. Now keep in mind in America health insurance, utilities/internet, transportation etc aren't subsidized/ included.
@@lauryrodriguez9443 the thing is too that even though many people in these rich metropolitan areas have good jobs and can afford the rent, many people are poor and have to live with roommates/family and work extra hours to afford it. So what shunchan makes (2k) is actually a fairly common wage where i live but the rent is also roughly 1500-2k for 1-2 bedroom appt. When i was making 3-4k/month it was even difficult for me to afford everything, with rent alone being a nightmare.
@@lives4datube oof. That seems like a similar issue here in the states especially in rural areas A lot of people get married early or have room mates into their 30s because they cant afford rent alone
end of the month me:
rent: $400
gas: $15
electricity: $15
water : $15
phone: $20
food amount of month: around 70-75$
gas for my car: $40 per week
total is= 700
and my salary is about $780 if I overwork its around $810-$820
and yeah that salary is a dream...
I dont know how many times I calculated this I just lost track at this point :D
Here in my country my salary in only 365$/month and I'm already a regular in a government agency.
My rent is 1350usd/mo
Same as me as a Malaysian here. 21 years old graduate I get a work at my own hometown equivalent to USD $300. after 10 years old my last salary is only like $750.
@@emastre16 my rent is only 20$/month with its own Comfort Room with free Wi-Fi and free electricity
My monthly salary is
Net P $320
Rent - $22 low standard small room
Food- $60 to $80 with dine out twice
Data- $12 with 2g daily
But, at the end of the month im still figuring out for having no savings.
One thing for sure... debts
I like the Japanese speaking videos as much as your other ones. Also think you mistyped your real savings, pretty sure it’s $470, not $47!
Your deductions are so low. With that income you would have to deduct twice your amount in Germany. So with an income of 2400€ you would have around 1600€ after all deductions.
Dafür haben wir aber eine Kranken-, pflege-, renten- und Arbeitslosenversicherung 👀
@@lester2162 haben die teilweise auch. Arbeitslosenversicherung war bei ihm 7$, Krankenversicherung wurde auch abgezogen. Glaub dss einzige was fehlte war Rentenversicherung.
Und wenn man alleine sieht was er an Tax zahlen muss und wir an Lohnsteuer, ist schon ein deutlicher Unterschied. Und wenn man dann die Infrastruktur von uns anschaut und deren, dann weiss man gleich welcher Staat besser mit Geld umgehen kann.
Right?? I'm in the US and would make WAY more if health insurance and taxes wasn't so high.
@@C.Chabot i dont know the tax in usa. But the health insurance is just optional or not? I thought in usa are many people without it.
I wouldnt have any problems with the german tax, if they used it smart. But the potician here waste so much money with stupid things, its such a shame.
@suprep Side note: He's not currently paying residential tax because it is based on previous year's income. Since he graduated from college in 2019 in the U.S., he doesn't have any 2018 Japanese income, therefore no residential tax. Start in June 2020, he should be paying residential tax based on previous year's income--which will be lower than the normal amount because it isn't based on a full year of income. Just as a reference, if you have 240,000 yen month of income, the residential tax will be about 15,000 yen/month. The rest are as stated in the video. I just ran these numbers as if this income was in the U.S. and the deduction is still higher than in the U.S. even after a fairly high income tax state like California, New York, or Oregon. Part of the problem is that their pension(which is like Social Security) tax is pretty high but the payout when you receive is rather low. 240,000 yen is about 1921 Euro. As his income rises, the rates will increase rather quickly.
I think this pay is a joke from my perspective and this is why I went back to my home country after graduation. There my initial salary was approx equivalent of 300000 yen at much lower cost of living. This is sad, I would have loved to stay in Japan and wouldn't even mind the overtime and stress... but then payment should be decent...
$651 is less than £500 and that's inclusive of your utilities and wifi? THAT'S SO CHEAP. You wouldn't even be able to rent a room in a share house with 4-5 other people in London for that amount NOT including utilities.. You're looking at atleast £600-£900 which is 83,177- 124,765 Yen. London is so unnecessarily expensive it's not even funny.
Thats very cheap, compared to here in Finland. Scandinavia in general is crazy expensive. High taxes , high cost of living.
Good informative video.
salaries tend to be higher in scandinavia as well. And you'd be surprised how much groceries cost in Japan.
What is the typical salary after tax in Finland? Say, for someone who just graduated with bachelor degree.
@@fadilhabibidanufane9593 im guessing 2000-2700 euro.
@@ikuzoburandeon No, that is so false. The average income is 2880€ for people who have just graduated from university. The amount after you deduct taxes is closer to 1800€, but I found varying sources siting different amounts. It depends a lot on what you studied and what kind of job you get.
@@VellaEW "No, that is so false" lol littery stating the same numbers. Because 1800-2880 is soooo different from 2000-2700. 🤦
The rent really makes a lot of difference. Technically what you are making is below minimum wage in the US, even before deductions but your cost of living seems cheaper than in the states. I'd kill for 69000円 rent in a city like Tokyo. In nyc the rent usually starts around 157987円 and it isn't really different elsewhere. If you go elsewhere, the pay usually adjusts downward so you're not actually saving money. Do you think your salary is typical?
Minimum wage is much lower in the US than this in most states still, about $7-$8 per hour in kansas at the moment and the cost of living is higher than he is paying on pretty much everything besides food.
He is making about 11.50$ an hour (post taxes, like 13.25$ pre). That is much higher than most states minimum wage. That being said, he is a university grad. and people making minimum wage are generally people out of high school or lesser education.
$651 for a 1 bedroom apartment in Tokyo 😭
I live in Koreatown, LA. My one bedroom apartment is $1800 and that's with a covid discount. (Usual price is about $2100) うらやましい！
It's a good amount for a new graduate to earn, you'd earn alot less in the UK flipping burgers like most university graduates, lol.
SHUNchan: 69,000 yen in rent...is it expensive?
Me: Cries in Maryland 210,784 yen mortgage.
1 hour north of san francisco at 60mph, rent for a 1 bedroom downstairs unit of a duplex built in the 1920s and never really remodeled: 242733 yen
Salary is probably higher though.
Ohaiogozaimasu, Shun...😉Sankyu Desu, for letting people know your living expenses in Tokyo compared to salary...In Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area in California, US $651 for an apartment of your size and cleanliness would be unheard of in 2021.(Maybe 30 years ago...)
Now it is probably $2000 at least, and only if a person is willing to look all over the entire metropolitan area for a solid month or so.
8:18 It's most definantly true, I asked some of my friends if they are willing to stay with their parents after they finish highschool or college, they all said that they would never, Personally I would do it if it's relativley near my job or anything which In my country is very likley.
im Indonesian, my salary is around 400$ and im 23 y.o, i want to visit japan someday, but i should save 50% of my salary every month xD in the next 2 years
U should! It is a beautiful country and since we are all in lockdown, we can save more to travel in the future.
What industry do you working in? Damn I can't even search for jobs rn
@@jechichan im currently a programmer on automotive industry
$400 a month? That's so mind-blowing to me. I suppose the one good thing about our crazy cost of living in the US is that it's comparatively easier for us to move to other countries (financially) since we are already accustomed to paying more than whatever it will cost to be somewhere else.
Compared to my education (i didnt study)and what i have to do - its a very low salary.
I life in switzerland. Work 42 hours/week. 25 days paid holiday/year. CHF 5‘900 salary (this is a relatively low salary here)
But everything is expensive...
I'm fine with both english and japanese, your japanese even sounds better than your english (obviously), and I'm totally ok with subtitles.
This video was really interesting since it's a nice perspective to watch how the expenses get calculated! I also really enjoyed the mix between Japanese and English, you should speak in the language you feel more comfortable with so you shouldn't worry about adding subtitles! :)
Keep up the great work! Love from Germany! :D
@SHUNchan Let me make an observation.
You are a Japanese making videos for people who are not Japanese. Your audience are ENGLISH speakers.
I do not see a reason a Japanese, or Japanese speaker would like to see this video in Japanese, because either they are already working in Japan or worked at some point. They do not need to watch this video.
The point remains, your channel is for English speakers.
If your channel would be a Japanese (language) channel with some English (language) to help people learn Japanese, that would be different. But this is not the concept of your channel.
PS Thanks for the video
For that amount of payment I wouldn't even get out of bed in the morning.
I noticed you didn't mention anything about a bonus.
Back when I worked in Japan in the early 90s, most companies seemed to pay out sesonal bonuses that amounted to around 5 months worth of salary. And this was regarded as an expected part of your yearly pay. Even when the company did poorly, we'd still receive close to the expected amount. Do they still have this bonus system?
Also, I'm pretty surprised at how low the salaries have stayed in Japan since I was there. Your pay actually seems lower than what I remember most fresh graduates were making 30 years ago. Granted, I was there before the bubble economy burst in Japan. But cost of living also seems to be similar or cheaper than 30 years ago. So I'm guessing there has been virtually no inflation for 30 years there?
Was that still in the bubble economy or after it the bubble already burst? Since I thought companies tried to save as much as the could back then.
So work a month to save 50$, after a year you would have increased your bank account by 600$.
Isn't that super horrible? you're not going to go anywhere.
what about english with japanese subtitle...? may i?
Hhaa
You don't really need subtitles for your English I can understand you perfectly fine
You're English is better than most Americans. You're rent is cheap( I live in a less expensive part of the US). Expecting employees to work overtime and not pay them is crazy. I also watch a lot of sub Anime so speak however is most comfortable=D
I dont mind you speaking Japanese or English, I am just happy that you're sharing your point of voiews with us :)
is that monthly or weekly?
I'd kill for an apartment that was $700 a month.
monthly 100%
His apartment was a 20-30m2, based on the quick clip. how big of a place you get over there for that money all inclusive?
I still think, that UK and Netherlands are more expensive when it comes to metropolitan areas.
I was shocked by the food prices though.
@@V4zz33
400-650 ft^2 apartment... roughly comparable to what I lived in in the US... His price would be borderline bad in midsized Midwestern cities, but incredibly good on the coasts (We're talking >$1500/month rents).
Then there's the $120 per month for health insurance. In the US, health insurance is typically $450 a month...
absolutely irrelevant what is your gross/net salary. What matters is how much money you can save after living expenses (and not living on a noodle cup from lawson) and how much free time you have after work. Its funny what graduates in Tokyo think about their "life" - one day a week off if they lucky and all "go out" is to the cheapest places and only with coworkers as they have no time to meet other people. Most graduates living in smaller cities or a countryside can enjoy Tokyo more that people "living" in Tokyo, not to mention the tiny can apartment they rent for most of their life listening to the neighbour toilet, travelling to work over 2 hours on a train... no wonder there is so many suicides in Japan
I was born/raised in Japan and graduated from my college in 1999 which was in the middle of the worst recession in Japanese post-war history. Based on this guy’s pay stub, it is clear that wage in Japan has been stagnant for at least 20 years. Back when I was fresh out of college my annual pay was US$24-30k range plus overtime and benefit. That’s average annual pay for college graduates (bachelor) and English skill was not requirement at that time. My rent was about $700/mo. in center of downtown Tokyo. So literary the same as this guy’s situation. Again, that’s more than 20 years ago. Japan is really going down the hill.
salaries have been stagnating everywhere for the last 20 years while everything gets more expensive...its not only about japan but also true for every western country...
I'm from LA. I always thought that Japanese people draw very high salaries. I was surprised to find out otherwise a few years back. I guess I'm used to seeing rich Japanese expats and tourists!
The people with money to travel or retire over seas aren't the usual 9-5 crowd.
You should watch the episode of the show "Seinfeld" where Japanese tourist visited and Kramer thought they were rich. On a more serious note, there was a documentary stating that the majority of international students that come over here are from rich families, the average person from most countries cannot afford to live here long-term.
@@333angeleyes Very true. I went to high school with a Korean kid whose brother was going to Purdue, his parents weren't what I would call "rich" but they bought the older brother a relatively expensive car (for the area) just to have to go to college (and a small house, which sounds excessive, but west/central Indiana has cheap housing costs). When the older brother graduated the younger brother got the car to drive to school (older brother had to go back for mandatory military service). I went to a private Catholic school, and he had one of the better cars in the parking lot. This was in the era of people wanting Suburban and Grand Cherokees though, so a domestic sports car wasn't really that cool. The Indian (small enough school that we only had 3 kids who weren't American) kid did end up rolling his 1 year old Jeep by clipping a lane divider trying to make a U-turn. His parents weren't even mad, they were like, "that's why we got you a big car, to keep you safe". The Japanese girl was relatively well off, her father was working his way up the corporate ladder in Fuji Heavy Industries and was living in the area as he helped set up an automotive plant. When he was done he left her behind with a friend to finish high school.
As a fresh MRI Tech graduate in Los Angeles I Net $3,000 USD per month
You should continue to use Japanese with English subtitles sometimes. It really helps otakus like me pick up more normal Japanese instead of just anime speak
Just a little bit advice, you should watch japanese terrace house
@@_helper_5789 I actually watch that with one of my friends, haha
I love all your videos, man. You are so real. Thanks for putting the time and effort into these things, Shun-san!!
Speak more in English, it'll help you improve your although good pronunciation!
2:31 - While it's very common in Japan for companies to have みなし残業 (minashi zangyo - fixed overtime) it's actually illegal to include it in your base salary. Any hours worked over 8 per day or 5 days per week must be paid separately. There should be a line-item on your pay slip which says みなし残業 or else just a regular listing for overtime hours and pay.
It's one of the more annoying things to deal with when looking for jobs in Japan, because one company might offer a 5M and another 6M per year, but both have 40 hours of みなし残業 and the job offering 6M might just be including that in their job posting, while the job offering 5M will actually come to 6.25M when you add in the fixed overtime. (source: live and work in Tokyo)
Yeah that’s what I thought too about the overtime
How is work culture in Japan in general? Do employees get worked to the bone and then not get paid for it? Even if they do get paid, is the working hours like 15+ so that you never have any time to do anything except work?
As a foreigner, how was your work at the beginning?
Kronos From my experience, I think most English teachers don’t work overtime or very little overtime and it’s usually paid.
If you are an office worker, then you’re more likely to work overtime with no pay. Each company is different of course. I would say most of my non-teaching friends do get overtime pay. Oh and don’t forget the nomikais. Basically drinking. You technically can say no but you’re not really supposed to. Yup, weird right? That itself would be like 2-3 times a week. My ex did that for a year and everytime he went to drink with his boss, he would come home at 9PM but at times, even the last train.
I appreciate your honesty as Japanese culture sometimes doesn't allow you to express true feelings!
I make 2,000 a week as an engineer in the USA
I recently moved from Upstate (New York) to Seattle. In NY I was the first occupant in a new apartment (about 750 Sq. Ft.) The cost including heat and AC was $490 a month. Now in the Seattle area and in an apartment the same size I pay $1,200 without the heat and AC.
Thank you for speaking Japanese and putting English subtitles below! For those of us studying Japanese, it is suuuuper helpful! Arigatou gozaimasu!
Wow that's how a japan person speak english a bit? (jealous) I thought you a native in english.
As someone trying to learn some Japanese, I find this format pretty fun to watch. I try to follow what you're saying in Japanese while reading the subs. Tbh I'm still _such_ a beginner that I can only understand a few random words from here and there. It's still fun to try though :D
Your outline for income and living expenses correlate pretty closely with uni students here in Finland. Switch all of your numbers in USD to EUR and you have a decent estimate for what it's like for a bachelor graduate to live here in the bigger cities, like Helsinki, Tampere, or Turku. Overall the general price level here is scaled up, despite the difference in value between currencies. There is one thing that specifically caught my eye, - namely your phone bill. An average joe's bill would hover around 25€ (30$). Side story: the last (and only) time I visited Tokyo with some friends it surprised me that the prepaid SIM cards in Tokyo were like 50% more expensive than in Finland :) So there's that. It was fun walking around Asakusa and Akiba, among a few places that we'd visited.
Hope you'd make more vids in this format with both languages mixed together. 楽しいです！
It's fair. The same thing for the hours and all the deductions where I'm from, it's about that that. (Of course not including the over time they would do)
$13 an hour. If I did the math right for a college graduate in Tokyo. Surprising.
I love listening to you speak in Japanese, please do more videos like this~~
I love how you mixed Japanese and English together lol. Anyway, here's my comparison while living in a major city of 2 countries - no mention of one means I've no good estimates:
Fresher Salary
- might be similar in Saudi Arabia (need confirmation)
- too damn high for Pakistan, even for an experienced engineer (Normally, Graduates get a starting salary of only 13,000円)
Rent
- about the same in Saudi Arabia , if you add the utilities
- it's pretty low in Pakistan (around 19.000円 per month for 2 bedroom and 1 guest room)
but all that comes without utilities
Food
- a bit more in Saudi Arabia if you eat out twice a day
- too lavish for life in Pakistan (11,000円 is enough for a month, 22,000円 if you eat out twice a day) _BUT I live with family so it's around 5000 Rs monthly (3000円 )_
Phone and WiFi
- In Pakistan, basic WiFi is 1,300円 monthly (which is pretty crappy) and phone usage is 320円 monthly (2 GB per month)
_Also, it's pretty common to live with your family, even a few years into marriage in Pak and Saudi._
I made ¥250,000 a month in Japan, but in 2001. The economy has been frozen in time.
I'm earning 650$ a month working 8 hours a day. Living in small town in Poland with parents. Our rent cost is about 100$. In big cities rent costs 400$ or more.
Whoa! Its always interesting to see what the cost of living is from around the world!
Meanwhile in malaysia,fresh grads got;
Diploma rm1800 (usd430)
Degree rm2200 (usd525)
And rental for a room was around
Rm300-600(usd 71-120)-it was for a freaking room!!☹️
Rm1500-2500(usd 360-500)- high rise apartment/ ds terrace....dont even dream to buy a car if you wanna buy house
I live in Minnesota and i'm about 2 years removed from graduating with my Mechanical Engineering degree. I make around $4900 gross per month before deductions and my rent is $900 dollars per month. I would say my income is a on the middle to lower end for my position due to the fact that i'm not working in a larger city. If I were to move I could expect my salary to increase by around $10K but my living expenses would also scale up to match that.
Thats why many from Poland came to Germany to work. They get around 1800$ and go back to there town.
@@xunter Yes, that's true. A lot of people moved to Germany and other countries when wages were even lower, like 300 Euro per month. Sometimes I'm thinking about getting a job in Germany, but I don't know German much...
This is interesting Shunchan, living in Tokyo with that kind of rent for the size of your apartment and to have utilities included. Foreigners working in Japan really get a raw deal because we dont see costs like those.
Yeah I watched a foreigners video where she talked about living costs there and she said it was pushing $3000, and that was for really cramped conditions. That's more expensive than our local prices where I live, but not by so much that it's un-doable (with proper planning). $651 is insanely low though.
the income is quite similar with how much can get for a fresh grad in Hong Kong. What was your first job ?
Without bills included I pay ¥110000 in Tokyo! I live quite close from the “center” but you made me think I should look for a better deal soon 😅
IKR! My bills included I pay ¥130,000 in Tokyo and I live 15 minutes away from station. I am wondering how and where did he get such a good deal 😅