IT Engineer Salary in Japan: Real Payslip, Taxes and Deductions
A Nepali software engineer in Tokyo breaks down IT engineer salaries in Japan from junior to senior level, explains how much tax, pension and social insurance is deducted, and shows his real payslip after 5 months at a Tokyo IT company.
Spoken in Nepali. Watch on YouTube
Key takeaways
- Salaries for IT engineers in Japan broken down by experience level: junior, mid-level and senior.
- Why pay differs between traditional Japanese IT companies (SIers) and global IT companies.
- How much income tax, pension and social insurance (shakai hoken) is deducted, using a ¥400,000 monthly salary as the example.
- Manoj's actual payslip after 5 months at a Tokyo IT company, with the company name blurred. The payslip PDF and bank deposit screenshots are published at salaryslip-beta.vercel.app.
- The certifications Japanese IT companies value right now: Oracle Java Bronze, JLPT N1 and TOEIC.
- Advice for Japanese language school and senmon (vocational) college students moving into IT, and how to aim for top companies such as Google Japan and Microsoft Japan.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction & the real salary hook
- 00:31IT engineer salaries by experience: junior, mid-level and senior
- 01:28Traditional Japanese vs global IT companies: pay differences
- 03:02The tax monster: how much is deducted from ¥400,000?
- 03:18My actual salary reveal: payslip, benefits and taxes
- 04:00Is an IT career in Japan worth it? My view
- 04:26My 5-month experience in a Tokyo IT company
- 05:32How to get hired by top tech companies in Japan
- 06:43My next goals (Google, Microsoft) & internal projects I built
- 08:07Advice for senmon & language students: certifications that matter
- 10:14Career progression & personal growth in IT
- 10:44Q&A: working visas & interview prep
- 11:27Outro & final thoughts
- 12:03Bonus: inside my Tokyo IT company workspace
What this video covers
00:31 Salaries by experience
Manoj walks through what IT engineers in Japan typically earn at the junior, mid-level and senior stages, so you can see how pay grows with experience.
01:28 Japanese companies vs global companies
He compares pay at traditional Japanese IT companies, the system integrators (SIers) that build systems for clients, with global IT companies working in Japan, and explains why the gap can be large.
03:02 The tax monster
Using a ¥400,000 monthly salary as the example, he shows how much disappears to income tax, pension and social insurance before the money reaches your bank account.
03:18 His real payslip
Manoj reveals his own payslip after 5 months at a Tokyo IT company, including benefits and deductions. The company name and personal details are blurred. The payslip PDF and bank deposit screenshots are on his proof site.
04:00 Is an IT career in Japan worth it?
His personal view on whether an IT career in Japan is worth it, followed by what his first 5 months at a Tokyo IT company were actually like.
05:32 Getting hired by top tech companies
How to aim for the top tech companies in Japan, his own next goals (Google and Microsoft), and the internal projects he has built at work.
08:07 Advice for language school and senmon students
For students at Japanese language schools and senmon (vocational) colleges who want to move into IT: the certifications companies value right now, namely Oracle Java Bronze, JLPT N1 and TOEIC.
10:14 Career growth, visas and Q&A
Career progression and personal growth in IT, then questions about working visas and interview preparation. Manoj invites students to send him their questions.
12:03 Bonus: inside his Tokyo workspace
A short tour of the workspace at his Tokyo IT company.
Questions answered in this video
How much does an IT engineer earn in Japan?
In this video Manoj Poudel, a software engineer in Tokyo, breaks down typical IT engineer salaries in Japan by level (junior, mid-level and senior) from 0:31, and shows his own real payslip after 5 months at a Tokyo IT company from 3:18. The payslip PDF is published at salaryslip-beta.vercel.app.
How much tax and insurance is deducted from a salary in Japan?
From 3:02 the video walks through how a ¥400,000 monthly salary is reduced by income tax, pension and social insurance (shakai hoken), the deductions that surprise most people starting work in Japan.
Do global IT companies in Japan pay more than Japanese companies?
The video explains the large salary gap between traditional Japanese IT companies (SIers) and global IT companies operating in Japan, from 1:28.
Which certifications help foreigners get an IT job in Japan?
Manoj lists the certifications Japanese IT companies value right now: Oracle Java Bronze, JLPT N1 and TOEIC, with advice for language school and senmon college students from 8:07.
Is an IT career in Japan worth it?
Manoj gives his personal view from 4:00, based on his first 5 months as a software engineer at a Tokyo IT company, and then describes what that experience was like from 4:26.
What usually gets deducted from a salary in Japan
For a full-time employee in Japan, the monthly payslip typically shows income tax (shotokuzei), social insurance (shakai hoken), which covers health insurance, the employees' pension (kosei nenkin) and employment insurance, and from the second year of work resident tax (juminzei), because resident tax is based on the previous year's income. Together these often take somewhere around a fifth to a quarter of a mid-range salary, but the exact amount depends on your salary, age, city and family situation. This is general information, not taken from the video and not tax advice.
