Japanese Salary Data
A TV special about yearly earnings for certain occupations in Japan aired on Sunday night, and a Japanese blogger recorded some of the figures mentioned. Here is a partial translation of the list (currency converted at 100 yen to the US dollar):
| New TV “talent” | $9,000 |
| Stuntman | $20,000 |
| Bicycle taxi driver | $25,000 |
| Shinto priest (27-years-old) | $35,200 |
| Ice cream salesperson | $40,000 |
| Noh actor (25 year veteran) | $45,000-50,000 |
| Truck driver | $45,000 |
| Pharmacist | $45,000 |
| Limousine Driver | $50,000 |
| Portrait artist | $50,000 |
| Nurse | $50,000 |
| Carpenter specializing in temple construction | $60,000 |
| Dentist (1 year after beginning a practice) | $60,000 |
| Beautician/Hairdresser | $65,000 |
| Hostess | $70,000 |
| Creator of food samples | $70,000 |
| Fisherman | $70,000 |
| Calligrapher (7 year veteran) | $90,000 |
| Food coordinator | $100,000 |
| Takoyaki shop owner | $100,000 |
| Handyman | $120,000 |
| Farmer | $120,000 |
| Handwriting analysis expert | $200,000 |
| Gynecologist | $240,000 |
| Politician | $300,000 |
| Ramen store owner | $300,000 |
| Sumo wrestler (Yokozuna Wakanohana) | $324,000 |
| Famous beautician/hairdresser | $450,000 |
| Manga creator | $500,000 |
| Lawyer | $500,000 |
| Prime Minister | $514,000 |
| Dentist specializing in advanced techniques | $700,000-$800,000 |
I was only able to catch a few minutes of the program, but from what I saw it was obvious that the figures were not averages for each occupation, nor could many of them be considered representative of typical earnings. The TV show just sent a crew to interview one person from each occupation, using that single person’s earnings as an example of how much his/her occupation earns in a year. Some, such as the ramen store owner who actually owns 3 popular stores in downtown Tokyo, probably gave viewers a very skewed image of how much one can expect to earn in such a profession.
Those looking for more accurate salary information might want to check out Claytonian’s latest blog post, which he translates some average salaries he came across in a new book.
| Related Posts: |
|
Osaka English teachers stage sit-in TV Tokyo becomes the latest network to admit it has faked TV programs Japan Airlines CEO cuts his own salary – now makes less than pilots |
Full RSS Feed
What do those dentists do, reconstruct your teeth out of diamonds? And to think pharmacists and nurses earn less than hostesses!
Sounds very very fishy like you say.
I also wonder exactly which dentists/etc. they interviewed. I agree with both James and the original blogger he translated the info from that those certainly aren’t the average salaries.
Nurses earn Jack here …… i think that figure is high too, my ex was on 3500000 yen per year and she was a nurse.
Not surprised at ALL that hostesses earn more …. i think that figure is low too.
Yeah, I don’t look down Hostess, but it’s kind of shame that Pharmacist, Nurse, Dentist or Carpenter is paid less that Hostess in Japan.
Hardly surprising though. In fact I’m not sure if it’s a shame at all actually.
Awesome. Ice-cream men get more pay than shinto priests.
That’s when my mama said
“What did she say?”
She said, “My boy, I think someday
You’ll find a way
To make your natural tendencies pay
You’ll be a dentist
You have a talent for causin’ things pain
Son, be a dentist
People will pay you to be inhumane
Your temperament’s wrong for the priesthood
And teaching would suit you still less
Son, be a dentist
You’ll be a success
I made a followup post to the one James already linked to, for those interested: http://surrealu.blogspot.com/2008/05/average-salaries-in-japan-part-ii.html
Yeah, you shattered all our dreams with that =(
Although personally I think a professors salary depends on the institution they work at.
Many of these jobs involve tips or gifts from patrons, advertising, and expenses fiddling if you’re a politician, so the raw salary is pretty much meaningless. Does $9,000 for a new “talent” represent the salary their management company pays them? Or is it independents getting a couple of bookings a week? Comedians working for someone like Yoshimoto may get food and accomodation in the package, and their sempai is expected to buy them meals and the like.
About the dentists, I can believe it for implants or a Roppongi fully private high-class tooth puller. I could almost believe it for average dentists; wifie’s is incompetent, he perforated her gum and left a rough edge on the cement that hurt her tongue the last two times, yet she still keeps going and paying well-above average prices, and the father-in-law’s is an incompetent thief, quoting 500,000 yen per tooth for a ceramic bridge to replace a front bottom tooth and cap the two either side, when 80,000 to 100,000 yen is closer to the going rate.
These really seem suspicious to me too. As do the figures Claytonian noted down. 7.4 mill for a school teacher? That’s more than most uni profs would make. A top (full) professor at a state university pulls in 10 to 11 million. Assistant ones rather less. Translators should pull in more than JETs as well. But don’t get subsidised housing etc (one I knew was paying 10,000 a month for a place bigger than mine). And as for manga creators – at the bottom you earn bugger all. At the top you’re Rumiko Takahashi and can afford to buy small countries and pay more in tax per year than most of us would dream of earning. Farmer on 120,000,000? Yeah, that’s normal all right…..
What would be the tax wedge multiplicator to the salaries to reach total employer costs / year?
Hmmm… are those really yearly earnings for each profession? I’ve converted it to PESO(PH) and they’re shockingly too small for a yearly earning in Japan, its even TOO SMALL for a “monthly” earning, what more if its yearly. Even smaller than what you can earn in Manila. I don’t think its correct.
Check again, and remember that for some peculiar reason James converted them to US$. That’s not yen.
Seem to me the salary of the careers mention are way too low.
The chart might be true but most Japanese people don’t make that much money on average in those professions. Most of the population is old and retired or working part time jobs.
I saw the show, in nearly its entirety.
Wasn’t trying to say that these were average, or normal, just examples (and in fact had disclaimers after each example stating as such).
Some people told their yearly salaries (which may or may not include bonuses) some their monthly salaries (which usually don’t include any bonuses).
Some of the extreme examples were the mangaka who is apparently well known, has his work published in several weeklies and has a couple of regular series that are also published internationally.
The Lawyer was a partner in a large firm – he had 160 assistant lawyers working under him. Not the “average” lawyer.