Salaries
Realistic pay ranges by occupation
Office & professional
Software Engineer Salary
What software engineers actually earn in Japan, how pay differs between Japanese and international companies, and what affects your offer.
IT Support Salary
What IT support and helpdesk roles pay in Japan, why bilingual support is a hiring hotspot, and how support work ladders into higher-paid tech careers.
Interpreter Salary
In-house interpreters earn ¥3.5–6M a year; freelance income depends on the pair and the specialisation. Which language combinations pay, the gijinkoku visa route, and what AI has and has not changed.
English Teacher Pay
Dispatch ALT pays ¥180–250k a month, eikaiwa chains ¥230–270k, and JET starts at ¥4.02 million a year rising to ¥4.26M — plus where the money flattens and what to do about it.
Nurse Salary
Nurses in Japan typically earn ¥300–450k a month once shift allowances are counted. What moves the number, and why the Japanese national licence — not the job market — is the real barrier for foreign nurses.
Skilled & field work
Factory Worker Salary
What factory work pays in Japan, why the direct-hire/dispatch split matters more than the industry, shift premiums, and the regions where manufacturing money goes furthest.
Construction Worker Salary
Entry pay of ¥220–300k a month, ¥300–400k+ once you hold a trade, how day rates (nikkyū) and the overtime cap work, and why the labour shortage keeps pushing wages up.
Driver Salary
What truck, delivery and taxi drivers earn in Japan, the license conversion process, and how the "2024 problem" opened this field to foreign workers.
Farm Work Pay
Honest agriculture numbers: pay tracks the prefecture minimum wage, which in farming prefectures is the lowest in Japan. Plus the law almost nobody translates — agriculture is exempt from the Labour Standards Act rules on working hours and overtime.
Caregiver Salary
Entry pay of ¥180–230k a month before night-shift and qualification allowances, what the SSW care field asks for (N4 minimum, N3 valued), and which routes turn into a long career.
Childcare Worker Pay
Honest pay for childcare work — the licensed hoikushi salary and the assistant route without the license, why this field is not SSW, the Japanese level actually required, and where the demand is.
Service & part-time
Part-Time Wages
What arubaito actually pays: the official prefecture floor (Tokyo ¥1,226, lowest ¥1,023), the staggered dates the FY2025 raise took effect, the +25% night premium, and the 28-hour weekly cap that counts all jobs together.
Hotel Worker Salary
What hotel staff earn in Japan, how the tourism boom changed hiring, the SSW accommodation field, and which roles multilingual workers should target.
Restaurant Worker Salary
What kitchen and floor staff earn: ¥200–260k a month to start and ¥300–400k+ on the store-manager track, chains versus independents, and how the SSW food-service field fits in.