Monthly salary 310000 JPY - Enough to live?

I'm going to posted in Tokyo in October 1, 2013. My monthly salary before tax will be 310,000 JPY. Breakfast and lunch will be provided by my company free of cost. I will live there with my wife. Is it enough to survive? Waiting for your reply.
Thank You.

Depends on what you're living in.

But it sounds very solid!

How much is the rent?
Did you decide your house yet?

It sounds a bit low for Tokyo living. If it is you only, should be OK to survive at all. But for two, you may need wisdom to cut the living cost.

Is there any bonus plan besides?

You may not live in central Tokyo with 310,000 before tax, first of all. You will commute to work from a suburban town. You need to check if the compay compensate the commuting cost (bus and train).

You have to pay income tax, social insurance, etc. It is about 60,000 yen deduction, I assume.

You have to pay for rent (80,000 or more, or less), ulitily (20,000 for water, electlicity, gas), foods (50,000 or can be less), cell telephones (10,000 or more), internet connection (15,000) and more for everday supply, clothing, weekend activity, traveling, haircut, etc... Plus you may have to buy a TV set, bicycle (maybe), furniture, futon, washer and dryer, a dinning set...Let alone beer and wine! Any financial support by the company for moving?

Good luck!

That is undoubtedly totally fine. Its very good pay. You can more than survive.
Average jobs for young Japanese people hover around the 200,000 mark. English teachers in Japan also rarely earn anywhere close to 300,000.

@Jay Kay:

You are worrying the OP for nothing XD
Unless you want to live the life of a celebrity, in which world would 300000y be "a bit low" for a couple?
My husband and I live on less than 200000y/month, and yet we're in central tokyo (Shinjuku), and are able to go to the restaurant/do activities twice a week on my days off.

I think you are overevaluating the cost of life:20000y for utilities? And 15000y for internet??? We pay respectively less than 10000y and 5000y for those things.
Regading food, OP comes with his wife, so i assume she will cook. Cooking at home (as opposed to relying on premade food to microwave/eating out) certainly won't cost 50000y. I stay under 30000/month (mix of japanese and european dishes) for food.

However i agree with you regarding transportation fees, it can be costly. But most jobs cover them.

(Jay Kay, no offence, i just thought you were a bit overdramatic)

HI Ravi,

If you are coming for Tokyo,for saving this is not a good monthly salary.
because if you see of month expenses.
30000(pension)+15000(yours health insurance)+xx(your wife's health insurance not sure)+80000(House rent+gas+electricity+etc).which in total is around 125000 min + 300000(min month expense).
So you cant save much.

But if you are planning to come to visit Tokyo and enjoy its would be sufficient.

I agree with Jay Kay and RaviG. For 2 persons in Tokyo this is not a great salary. It depends of course what you are doing for a living to judge whether it's appropriate pay for the particular job level and the industry you're in.

Don't expext to live in a fancy place in a central location, travel around much, do costly activities or save a lot of money. But if you stick to a budget and get your commuting cost paid for, you will certainly be able to survive. Japan or Tokyo don't have to be overly expensive if you do as the locals do. Btw, not sure if you can speak and read Japanese - that will definetly help you to do things cheaper.

Similar questions come up hear frequently (though the circumstances and amount vary).

Often answers come in two forms - some posters think that someone earning above the above salary like this will be on the poverty line. I can only think that these people are living an unrealistic expat party lifestyle and don't know much about how normal Japanese and foreigners live in Tokyo.

Other people are more realistic about what you can afford. Certainly you won't be rich, but you can support a couple in a very comfortable manner on that salary. Depending on your choices you could afford to save money, travel a bit or have some extra luxury. But you will need to cut your coat to match your cloth.

The other thing that might be important is "is the level of compensation you've been offered fair and good for your job level/skills/responsibilities". Also do consider relocation costs - transport and shipping stuff here can be expensive, as can furnishing an apartment and set up fees. Also think about location - you can move further out of the centre and do trade offs for cheaper/larger/nicer housing with increased commute time. Your employer ought to pay transport costs up to a point. All these things - locations, monthly budgets, and housing costs have been discussed a lot on here, so it's worth a search.

How much Yen will your wife be bringing back from work ?

Just for your reference, 22 year old new college guraduate annual = 2,000,000 in average, 35 year old college guraduate =6,000,000.

Your income, 3,700,000 is equavalent to 25-26 year old college guraduate salary.

I think you can survive with your slalary in Tokyo though.

following is a approximate cost in yen
in yen/person
day yen/month

breakfast 500 15000
lunch 700 21000
dinner 900 27000
milk 1lit 200 3000
egg 24 500 500
apple 5kg 3000 3000
water 8000 8000
transport 5000 5000
utilities 19000 19000
phone 50000 50000
internet 4000 4000
cinema-2 4000 4000
rent 250000

General costs can vary wildly compared to where you live. Your biggest expense apart from possibly transport is accommodation. Some people will say 80,000 - but this will be a smallish place that is probably not close to trains and might be a little older. Think about something in the range of 25-40 square meters.

I currently pay 140,000 Yen a month for a 90 square meter place which is too big for my needs, but I also live a 5 minute bike ride from the local train station. This is what makes the difference.

For meals - it can cost different amounts depending on your tastes. It's easily possible to cook a nice meal for 1,000 yen and have left overs for 2 people. Food is not that expensive - but fruit can be if it's not in season!!

Utilities should not cost more than 20,000. Mine are around 10-15,000 depending on how much I'm at home and use the air-con. Trust me - it's not an option in summer.

So can you survive, eat reasonably and have a roof over your head for 310,000 before tax? Yes.

Can you live it up? Probably not. I find Japan is not that expensive once you buy everything you need. But it's expensive to set everything up. Most of the time, apartments come with nothing!! You need to even buy the light fittings!! So note that you'll need a couple $1,000 USD to get set up. Staying in a Gaijin House for the first few months while you save might be another option....