IT jobs Non-Tokyo vs Tokyo

Hi,

I have been living in Sapporo for 3 years and working as a software engineer in local company (about 100 employees).

I like living in Sapporo and I think it is a really comfortable and relaxing place to live. I also like working at the company. However, due to it being a Hokkaido based company, the salary is rather low (about 3 000 000 a year after tax). It is possible to live on a salary like that here but really comfortable it is not. Of course if all my colleagues are doing it, I should be able to manage as well.

The problem is that I keep getting job invites for Tokyo and other cities with salaries that are way higher than my current one. Ranging from 6 until 8 million a year easy for basically the same job I am doing right now. I have 10 years experience so I am more than qualified to do any It job and I already work in a 100% Japanese environment and can hold my own.

Seeing those amazing differences makes me wonder if I should leave this place and go to Tokyo. A salary that is twice as high or even higher, it makes people think. When I discuss this with other people I always get the same response: yeah but the rent and general cost of living is higher in Tokyo. Now I am curious to hear from other people who experienced both, living in a non Tokyo city and moving to it after, just how true that is.

Is it really true that the difference is that high that you have to take those high salaries with a grain of salt? Are those salaries real but you have to basically work,eat and sleep at the company to get that salary? Or is it a bit like I expect that no matter how big the difference in living cost, with a salary like 6-8 million a year you don't have to care about those things at all.

Thanks.

Don't look at just the money part of it- salary or cost of living
Think about your long term goals, in Tokyo it would be a bigger market and you will have more opportunities for moving jobs and growing faster

Yeah that is true. It is also something I think about. There really is not much room for growth here in Sapporo. Slim pickings here when it comes to challenging jobs.

Are those salaries real but you have to basically work,eat and sleep at the company to get that salary?

A lot of companies have very long working hours, but many don't. I don't think there's necessarily a correlation between salary and hours, although I have the impression that in general working hours in Tokyo might be longer than in other parts of Japan. I would certainly try to discreetly find out about working conditions before you accept a job, but it's probably worth setting up a few interviews to check out the scene in Tokyo.

There are also many Tokyo-based developer-focused Meetup groups conducted in English, and those might be a good place to ask fellow participants about their experiences, or even find a job without going through a recruiter.