Three different numbers get called "salary" in Japan, and they are not close to each other. Knowing which one you are looking at matters more than any comparison you make with it.
This page explains the rules. For the numbers — what companies actually pay — see the benchmark page.
Listed companies disclose an average annual salary in their annual securities report. It is gross, and it includes bonus and overtime, averaged across employees — directors are excluded, and so usually are contract and dispatched staff, which pushes the average up at companies that use them heavily.
Because it is an average, it moves when the workforce changes shape. A company whose young staff leave will report higher average pay without anyone getting a rise. Corpus has tested how often that happens.
Japanese job ads normally quote monthly pay, and the annual figure is left implicit — monthly pay times twelve, plus however many months of bonus the employer pays. Confirm the bonus separately; it is not guaranteed by law.
Watch for a fixed overtime allowance folded into the monthly figure. It must be disclosed along with the hours it covers, but it is easy to miss and it materially changes the hourly rate.
Employees pay health insurance (roughly 10% of standard remuneration, split evenly with the employer, varying by prefecture and scheme), employees' pension (18.3%, split evenly, unchanged since 2017), long-term care insurance from age 40, and a small employment insurance share. Income tax is withheld monthly and reconciled by the employer at year end.
Inhabitant tax is the one that surprises people. It is levied at roughly 10% on the previous calendar year's income and collected from June of the following year. A first year in Japan therefore carries almost none of it, and the second year feels like a pay cut even with no change in salary.
Take-home for a typical salaried employee lands around 75–85% of gross, lower at higher incomes. Contribution rates change; treat these as orders of magnitude, not as a calculator.
What is left of a Japanese salary after social insurance and tax. Enter the bonus separately as part of the annual figure — social insurance treats bonuses differently from monthly pay.
Amounts are in units of 10,000 yen (man), the unit Japanese salaries are quoted in. 500 means ¥5,000,000.
How this is calculated: employees' pension is 18.3% and employment insurance 0.5% of gross; long-term care insurance 1.62% from age 40; child-care support levy 0.23% (from April 2026); all except employment insurance are split evenly with the employer. The health insurance rate varies by prefecture and scheme, so it is an input (the default 9.9% matches the FY2026 median of the 47 prefectural rates, 9.88%). Income tax applies the employment income deduction (floor ¥650,000), the basic deduction (tiered from ¥580,000 to ¥950,000 for 2026, by total income) and ¥380,000 per dependant, then the statutory table plus the 2.1% reconstruction surtax. Inhabitant tax is 10% plus a flat ¥5,000. All of these changed between 2025 and 2026 — how much they moved take-home pay is measured across 3,780 listed companies here. These are estimates. Standard remuneration is set by a grade table rather than the raw monthly figure, so the real deduction differs by a few thousand yen, and various further credits are not modelled. Check your payslip and withholding statement.
Inhabitant tax is charged on the previous year's income and collected from June of the following year — which is why a first year in Japan carries almost none of it, and the second year feels like a pay cut. Tick the box above to see the difference.
Childcare leave benefit ・ Unemployment benefit ・ What the 2026 changes did ・ all calculators. The salary you enter is carried across.
Bonuses ・ Retirement lump sums ・ Graduate hiring ・ Paid leave ・ Overtime ・ Parental leave ・ Women in management ・ Reading salary figures ・ Contracts and dismissal ・ Annual securities reports ・ all guides.
Sources: Health Insurance Act / Employees' Pension Insurance Act / Income Tax Act (Act No. 33 of 1965) / Local Tax Act. Summarised by Corpus; not provided or endorsed by any government agency. The figures behind the linked benchmark pages come from Japanese government statistics and company disclosure — see all benchmarks.