1. Live in Japan? Yeah? Nah?
I saw a YouTube video recently that prompted me to begin writing this post. No, don’t really want to promote their (privileged) ass. So anyway, living in Japan in 2025 – do it or avoid it? tl;dr it’s financial suicide.
Everyone’s circumstance, motivation & life plan is different, and to be honest I don’t have a strong blanket opinion; there’s no 1 size fits all. But like with anything in life, it’s best to investigate beforehand. Just what should you expect? From my perspective, Japan’s immigration system favours countries with majority causacian populations. So, think: Australia, the U.S., the U.K., Germany, etc. You can get in on certain visas (provided you have a Bachelor’s degree), but at the most, they are 3 years in length. Coincidentally, if foreigners on visas return to their country within 3 years, then (part of the) money they’ve put into the Japanese Pension Fund can be re-imbursed (among other things; depends on reciprocal tax agreements between countries) – in other words, they’re not really looking for foreigners to build up their population, even as the national birth rate plunges into a death spiral.
Anyway, the big initial hurdles a freshie will face are (a) accommodation costs, and (b) taxes. Both are huge topics by themselves, but I’m only going to go over the major bits. Re: accommodation, freshies will normally have 3 choices: (a) move in with a friend/lover/host family, (b) company-sponsored apartment/housing, or (c) gaijin-friendly REA (Real Estate Agencies). If your company is offering their worker ‘danchi’ (団地), be sure to get access to floor plans, information about possible maintanence fees, compulsory fees, bond, etc. Often times, they’ll offer the apartment but not help with costs (utilities, rent, etc.) – at that point, you’ll need to weigh options. If it’s their ‘danchi’ or the highway, this is one of the larger red flags, and I’ve no sympathy for those who choose to take it raw.
2. Prepare to settle for leftovers
Right. So. That nice apartment, in that nice area? Forget about it. As a gaijin, you will be lucky to find something suitable, let alone comfortable. There are some jvloggers who’ve made a career on YouTube promoting Japan through a false lens (those who know will know), but make no mistake: even if your Japanese is impeccable, your REA will handball you to someone else (usually a subordinate) if you get in their ass about this. It’s out of their hands – Japanese landowners would rather hear the death rattle of their only child than have a gaijin befoul their sacred yamato spaces. IDGI either, but you have to turn the other cheek and restrict your viewing to stuff you could expect to be approved for.
3. Won’t someone please think of the children commute?
So! Found a suitable place? Hold up! Please give very, *very* careful consideration to your commute. Your first few years, you probably won’t move (it’s expensive af, to start with). So, commute. Ask your employer if they reimburse your commute. Many will, but only for the cheapest-known route. If you decided to go some lah-dee-dah route, that’s kind of on you; however, if their interpretation of what constitutes “reasonable” is fucked, don’t be afraid to challenge them on it, and propose your preferred route. You’re not looking to extract maximum $$$, but you’ll (usually) only have this one shot at negotiating commute reimbursement, so do your research and go in prepared. If they’re stubborn about it & won’t budge, this could be a red flag you were previously unaware of (better to know about it, then to live in ignorance).
4. NHK Man wants to molest you
So yes, I strongly recommend choosing a place where your commute is short/reasonable. NHK Fees. Japan has something similar to the BBC, where you have to pay for something you probably won’t even watch. For this reason, when you first move into a place, refrain from instantly buying a television. Perhaps they’ll visit prior to you obtaining a phone – if so, use that to your advantage. If the NHK person comes knocking, let them in; be polite, but also let them know that you don’t have a TV, or even a phone. Now, they probably know what’s going on, but all they can do is come back at a later date. See, it’s become increasingly difficult to avoid paying for NHK, as they’ve widened the law to include devices that are capable of receiving the NHK signal. So, a modern phone w/ touchscreen will count. But! If you get a ‘dumb’ phone (one that doesn’t run apps, or have a large touch screen), you are likely to avoid the wrath of the NHK guy. But other than that, be prepared to (eventually) pay the NHK fee, which is ~4000 yen bi-monthly.
5. NHI fees and Income Tax
Aight. So. More about taxes, before going back to accommodation stuff. Japan has a socialized health system (like Australia and Canada). While not perfect, it’s actually pretty based, especially when compared to the corrupt American healthcare system. There’s the “everyone” tier (kokumin kenko hoken) that everyone has to pay into, to receive a basline-level of health care. Then you have full-time employee insurance (shakai hoken), then there’s various other types of healthcare (private, long-term, preventative, etc.). As for gaijins paying their NHI, well …
Let me slightly elaborate. Freshies often try to avoid paying NHI (National Health Insurance), because payments are based on the previous years’ income. Many freshies are in Japan short-term, therefore (they reason) if they can abscond back to their country after a year of Japan, they’ve saved themselves a lot of money. Not true; NHI is compulsory, and whoever chooses not to pay it is acting unlawfully. Ah, the plans of mice and men. Anywho, for the 1st year, freshies can expect to pay between 2,000 – 4,000 yen (10 installments a year) for NHI, but it depends on municipality (and there are 1,700+ municipalities in Japan).
As for other taxes? Well, you’ve got:
– Income tax (所得税, Shotokuzei): If you’ve resided/worked for a full year, then you’ll start paying this tax. This is where freshie English teachers start getting kicked in the pants. As of 2025, the average salary for an English teacher varies, but will usually be on the borderline of two tax brackets:
1,950,001-3,300,000: 10%
3,300,001-6,950,000: 20%
You are not signing up for a luxurious life when you become an English teacher, let that be known. Note that, as of August 2025, 3.3 milly yen is the equivalent of $22,386.18 USD.
So, remembering that income tax is a progressive tax:
0 – 1,950,000 = 5% (So, this portion of your income is taxed at 5%; 1,950,000 x 0.05 = 97,500). Then,
1,950,001 – 3,300,000 = 10% (so, 3,300,000 – 1,950,000 = 1,350,000; 1,350,000 x 0.1 = 135,000). Finally:
97,500 + 135,000 = 232,500 yen. That’s this example’s income tax bill.
They could choose to pay this off in one hit, or monthly, when they get the bill at the start of their 2nd year.
6. More tax details, yay!
– Resident tax (住民税, Juminzei): This was the one that shellshocked me, back in the day (the first time, not the 2nd). Do you enjoy the privilege of living in a society? You do? Great, but it’ll cost ya. “Wait, I already paid income tax; wtf is going on?!” Yeeeeeah. If you’re Australian (like me), think of this as something akin to council rates. So yep, not only is your income taxed, but you’ll also get annually taxed by the city you live in. As mentioned, there are 1,700+ municipalities, all with different tax rates for residents; typically though, you’re looking at 10% of your annual wage. “WTF?!?” Yep … yep. 2-piece combo – income & resident tax. It doesn’t seem real, but it is, and it’s mightily fucked. If you earned 3.3 milly last year, you’d expect a juminzei bill of 330,000 yen; typically, it’ll come in 4 installments of 82,500 yen for you to pay off (June, August, October, January)
– NHI (National Health Insurance): For the 1st year, since there’s no previous year’s income to work off of, you’ll typically pay 10 installments of 2,000 – 4,000 yen. Now, if you’re in your 2nd year, and the previous year’s income was 3.3 milly gross, then your new NHI annual fee is calculated as being 330,000 yen (total). Do note that NHI is *jointly* paid by yourself and your employer (5% each). So, in year 2 of residing in Japan, you’ll pay your NHI portion, 165,000 yen, over ten installments of 16,500 yen. Make doubly sure that your employer is doing the right thing by you (and the law), and is paying their portion of your NHI (you should see everything on your weekly/monthly pay slips). If they only give verbal confirmation, but nothing in writing, it’s a massive red flag and you could be in potential strife. No, seriously.
These 3 are the main taxes you’ll pay; you might need to pay the NHK fee, but it’s situational. Freshies are also unlikely to pay into the National Pension Scheme, vehicle tax, property tax, nor long-term care insurance premiums. So, let’s do a quick scenario rundown: You’re a freshie eikaiwa teacher, you’ve moved to Japan, your visa is secure, and your gross annual pay is 3.3 milly. Regarding taxes in the first year – you can expect to pay:
- NHI (10x 2,000 – 4,000; 20,000 – 40,000 yen)
- Income tax (0 yen)
- Resident tax (0 yen)
- Total: 20,000 – 40,000 yen
Then, from the start of Year 2 on:
- NHI (10x 16,500; 165,000 yen)
- Income tax (232,500 yen)
- Resident tax (4x 82,500; 330,000 yen)
- Total: 165,000 + 232,500 + 330,000 = 727,500 yen
~22% of total income (so, between a 1/5 to 1/4 of gross) is taken in tax. Welcome to Fuck Town Japan 🙂
7. No time to rest – it’s now time for apartment pain!
Back to apartments. You got one? Great! Get ready to experience a frightening part of living in Japan – one month’s rent to move in?! GTFO! Moar like 5x 1st month’s rent! Yep, yep, I know; it’s extremely fucked. Let’s go over what you could typically be expected to pay:
- Key money (reikin, 礼金): 1-2 month’s rent
- Security desposit (shikikin, 敷金): 1-2 month’s rent
- Agent fee (chuukai tesuuryou, 仲介手数料): 1 month’s rent
- 1st month’s rent: pay it upfront, mutha fugga!
- Utilities set-up: 10,000 – 30,000 yen (typically)
My advice is to avoid all apartments that require reikin; this is usually something married gaijin deal with, because their Japanese spouse demands to live in the ritziest part of Setagaya. In those cases, you’re not dealing with gaijin-friendly agents. And, if they figure out one of you is disgusting gaijin filth, you’ll get knock backs (even if you’re in a position to afford the up-front costs). Thankfully, reikin is becoming less common, as even normie Japanese people increasingly avoid such apartments.
As for security deposit/bond… it depends. I’d (personally) go for apartments that have a cleaning fee (for when you move out), instead. Less stress, they get their money, no wrangling to get back money, and they can deal with the cleaning company if it’s not to their satisfaction (even though you’re leaving the place spotless, right? …right?). Also, always visit apartments prior to saying “yes” – you don’t want to roll up to your “new” place & find it smells like a curry sauna (shout out to my Indian friends). So, for an entire year, renting an apartment (let’s say it’s a 1DK, or ‘1 room, w/ dining, w/ kitchen’) – how much you paying? We’ll assume you wiggled out of reikin, and got something that’s 70,000/month. Here’s a breakdown:
- 1x 70,000 yen (bond)
- 1x 70,000 yen (agent fee)
- 12x 70,000 yen (rent)
- 1x 10,000 – 30,000 yen (util. set up)
- 12x 20,000 yen (util – electricity, gas, water)
- 1x ~21,765 yen (NHK; assuming you paid in one go, for the discount)
- Total = 1,461,765 yen (Year 1)
Holy shid, right?! Let’s break things down further:
Year 1
3,300,000 yen (annual gross)
– taxes (20,000 – 40,000 yen)
– apartment (1,461,765 yen)
= 1,808,235 yen (~12,281.85 USD)
Year 2+
3,300,000 yen (annual gross)
– taxes (727,500 yen)
– apartment (1,301,765 yen)
= 1,270,735 yen (~8,628.19 USD)
8. I’m financially ruined! I chose this life? This is not daijoubu! Say it isn’t hontou!
So … uh, yeah. Year 1, you “live like a king”, right? You’re riding high! You have ~1,808,235 yen, and from that amount you have to work out your food budget, commute, etc. Then Year 2 kicks in, and you will have 2/3 of that Year 1 money, for every year going forward.
You’ll be expected to “thrive” off that, in the land of the Rising Sun. I don’t think anyone thrives off that amount of money. I think what happens is that you completely fuck your entire life – that’s what I think happens, personally speaking. Now, I think if you’re in your early 20s? Japan is a perfect opportunity for you! Work your lil heart out in your home country, build up a spending pile, then go to Japan on a Working Holiday visa. Work some goof-off job, where the hours are short & just use savings from your pile. Then, travel when/where you can. Apartment? Nah brah – stay in a hostel or social housing situation. You’re young – stretch your money! Then, when you’re about to hit the 1 year mark, go back home. Congratulations! You’ve had what is basically a one-year holiday in Japan; you worked, you travelled, you lived… you won!
9. B-but my dreams! I want to be the very best! Like no-one ever was!
No? You’re an incurable weeb? You only want to live in Japan and hit on J-babes until you die? Just want to cosplay and eat at cake cafes forever? You *gulp* want to learn the language and become Nihongo Jouzu? Need to insert pokeman cards & retro games in your bunghole erry day? Desire to become a high-functioning alcoholic with a widow’s peak & winning smile? Look, if you want to live/work in Japan, I can’t stop you. But do note the above info, and the fact that the average annual gross of a McDonald’s worker (in America) is $25000 – 30000 USD (or 3,681,130 – 4,417,395 yen). Correct: a Macca’s burger flipper earns more than an English teacher in Japan. So, in my opinion, if you choose Japan over your own home country, you’d have to be a fucking imbecile and want to sabotage your career. Or you’re living in a developing country with zero options.
10. Well, when you put it like that … damn. WTF, Japan?!
Pre-bubble, English teaching was viable. The bubble burst in 1989 – that was 36 fucking years ago. Ever since, Japanese wages have stagnated, never nearing those glorious Showa days. Please take my advice to heart: Japan is a lovely country. Rich history, beautiful place, aethetically goated – but it’s not the place to get rich, or build a career (generally speaking). It can destroy you financially in the long-term to live there. So, never say you weren’t warned. If you love Japanese culture? The language? Games? Anime? Manga? Pokemans? Great! You can do it all where you live now, and can always visit. Let’s keep it one hunned! Hope you enjoyed the read!