PsyGuy wrote:
> @jeremiah2016
>
> ¥300K is the upper end of EE and the bottom end of IT. Hiroshima has lower
> costs than say Tokyo or Kyoto, but you wont be rolling in coin. ¥100K your
> first year is doable, and just barely. Some basic costs a 1K will go for
> about ¥60K depending on how close it is to the CBD. ¥20K for utilities, and
> another ¥10K for mobile (assuming you want a smart phone and data plan).
> Another ¥5K for metro. Figure on eating out, for breakfast you stop off at
> a bakery at the station and get something plus a drink box from home your
> looking at ¥300, figure middle of the work day you get a combini meal thats
> about ¥500, cheap sushi at ¥100/plate is ¥500-¥1000 yen. Thats about
> ¥1500/day or about ¥50K a month to include weekends. Sundries and dry goods
> bring the total to about ¥150K. Your first year your NHI is very cheap
> (since its based on previous years which will be zero your first year, you
> will pay the minimum). Thats your first year when you pay prorated taxes,
> you could save 100K if you didnt do anything other than work, and mostly
> low/no cost activities locally. After your first year your tax rate will
> average about 20% which based on the previous expense estimates brings you
> to just under ¥100K, if all you did was work, eat and sleep you could come
> pretty close to ¥100K, but youd be doing nothing else.
>
> Understand that many ETs live fine on ¥250K/month or less and in Tokyo. You
> can either enjoy JP life and culture or be a homebody and save a little.

Wow. Thanks for giving such a detailed breakdown. It would be useful to bear what you've shared in mind and possibly use it as a gauge for my expenses then. :)

pgrass wrote:
> jeremiah2016 wrote:
> > pgrass wrote:
> > > I work at a 2nd tier school not in Tokyo or Yokohama and get paid 500,000
> > > yen per month plus 150,000 yen per month housing allowance. This is based
> > > on 10 years teaching experience. Also I do not have deductions for health
> > > insurance as that is covered completely.
> >
> > Wow, that's quite a sum! By any chance, do salary differs for teachers teaching
> in
> > different sections; elementary, middle and high school? Or do they just look at
> > experience and qualifications? I've almost 9 years of experience and a Masters.
> Could
> > it be that I'm being shortchanged then? Just wondering...
>
> The salary is the same whatever you teach. A masters would give you a pay increase of
> around 35,000 yen per month at my school. My quoted salary does not include the
> masters pay bump. It isn't the best package in the country, but it is up there.
>
> There are some very high paying schools in Japan that are off the radar of most
> people on this forum. One reason is that people stay at them for a long time so few
> positions come up, so less teachers hear about those schools. ASIJ and Yokohama are
> not the only schools that pay top dollar.


Thanks for sharing all these info. these schools that you've mentioned, are they international schools too or private schools reserved for a particular group of students only? IS are usually listed in on the CIS or IBO websites yeah? Sorry if I sound ignorant but I've been on the IS scene for 3 years only.

PsyGuy wrote:
> @jeremiah2016
>
> The upper end of EE and the bottom end of IE is about ¥300K/month and
> local commute/metro. Aside from that you would potentially get a sharing of
> insurance/pension and possibly one way airfare up to some limit. As far as
> housing you MAY be offered some form of subsidized housing (which is really
> just a discount of the market rate for a specific accommodation, assuming
> you take it).
>
> Housing subsidies have fallen, but housing costs have also risen (less new
> construction). It depends what your housing needs are, there are a lot of
> JP expats living in ¥45K-¥65K 1K flats/apartments.
>
> @expatscot
>
> Bad idea, theres a passport check, and youd have to take a put-put bus
> across the border, theres also nothing really on the other side. Youd be
> constantly traveling into SG proper all the time.


Thanks for the heads up.I figured I would just get my foot into Japan first and then gain the necessary experience and skills....probably better than comparing my salary with those in the top or 2nd tiered schools.

pgrass wrote:
> I work at a 2nd tier school not in Tokyo or Yokohama and get paid 500,000
> yen per month plus 150,000 yen per month housing allowance. This is based
> on 10 years teaching experience. Also I do not have deductions for health
> insurance as that is covered completely.

Wow, that's quite a sum! By any chance, do salary differs for teachers teaching in different sections; elementary, middle and high school? Or do they just look at experience and qualifications? I've almost 9 years of experience and a Masters. Could it be that I'm being shortchanged then? Just wondering...

Blazer wrote:
> jeremiah2016 wrote:
> > Slight off topic headline...but I was wondering if anyone knows how's the cost
> of
> > living like in Hiroshima, specifically Fukuyama?
> > Is 300kyen a doable salary, if I'm not too extravagant?
> > Thanks folks.
>
> For me Hiroshima is one of the best cities to live in in Japan. There is a lot of
> young culture there and it is not the dark and depressing place that many people
> imagine it must be.
> Once you are set up there i would imagine that 300k would be sufficient to live OK.
> You won't save too much but you will be able to live just fine. Do you have a
> specific package on the table? If so is there anything included?

Thanks Blazer!
Pretty much that, along with some subsidy for housing that's dependent on the rental amount and a fraction of the month transport costs.
I'm hoping to be able to save at least 100k each month, possibly through attempting to live frugally but not ruling out travelling though.:p

What would the average salary for an IT in a lower tier IS in Japan look like?
I've gathered from a couple of postings that housing subsidies have fallen and they don't exactly cover the entire monthly rental?

Slight off topic headline...but I was wondering if anyone knows how's the cost of living like in Hiroshima, specifically Fukuyama?
Is 300kyen a doable salary, if I'm not too extravagant?
Thanks folks.