What to expect for pay rise?

I know that this question is very broad and subjective, but I kindda curious of what to expect. I know that each company has its own format when it comes to giving pay rise. Just give me a rough ideas will do. I'm currently working as an IT engineer in a foreign company in Tokyo for about 9 months or so. My salary is that of equivalent to Japanese fresh graduate. So how much do I expect to receive if they give me a pay rise? Thank you.

Unless you are targetted for a leadership role - head of a team, etc. - you should not expect to recieve a raise at all. Raises are normally given for a change, or for very exceptional performance. At only 9 months in, it is possible that a raise may be given for recognition that you are a `keeper`, but if your current pay is inline with others, then it would likely be only a token.

I worked in IT for 40 years, and my raises were mostly due to taking on greater responsibility or changing firms. If you want raises, you need to earn them AND make them happen.

From my perspective (bucho in a Japanese company, but not IT), I would agree with the previous poster. Salary raise is linked to ascent in the internal scale, e.g. kacho-dairi to kacho etc. These promotions however are relatively "easy" to get, by just being around for sufficient years. This might be different in IT industry, but in my field of work at least until kacho level it is more or less automatic every few years. After that level it gets more difficult, as those positions are less frequent.
It will obviously also depend on the state of your company. E.g. is it growing or shrinking, how traditional is it, ...

With just 9 months in the job, I would at most expect a bonus payment. In some Japanese jobs however bonus is already part of your salary package. There can then be an additional bonus on that.

Again depending on your company, this additional bonus might not be linked to YOUR achievements but either general achievements of the entire company or at least your department. I have not seen individual bonuses for individual achievements. In my company, if you perform unexpectedly LOW, your contractual bonus will be cut, but if you perform normal, or better than normal, you just get your expected bonus. If you perform exceptional well, you might be quicker up the promotion scale though, and thus get a raise.

In my company also everyone in the same position (e.g. kacho-1, kacho-2...) gets exactly the same salary & bonus (with the exception mentioned above).

However as said, this experience is not from IT industry, so not sure how applicable it will be for your line of work.

Enjoy your life in Japan!

Locals would commonly ask that question to colleagues working a few years longer in the same company, or in other companies if your're considering job transfers.

you are working in a foreign company. I think they don't follow Japanese ordinary unwritten rules. no one can expect their responses.