Hello! I have looked at your other article called “Salaries for international developers working in Japan” Is software programming good enough to live successfully in Tokyo? Any advice on some good foreign companies that I could possibly work for in the future?
Well, the range for a developer is quite wide, so it depends on your expertise and experience.
Living ‘in’ Tokyo is pretty expensive though. You will have to make a compromise between commute times and a spacious room. Living little bit out of Tokyo, you can have a spacious room, but will have to endure longer commute times. Or you can live in central Tokyo close to your office, but do with a smaller room. It’s up to you.
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I know this is an extremely late response but thanks for the great response!
For what it’s worth, I think Tokyo’s (or Japan’s in general) reputation for being an expensive place to live in is overblown. The last apartment I lived in in Japan was one stop away from Shinjuku (if you took an express train) but still only cost 75,000 yen a month to rent, and it had a separated kitchen and bedroom - it wasn’t just a studio apartment. Bills were reasonable and food affordable since I cooked for myself most days and adapted to the cheaper local foods. I was working part-time at a pretty bad hourly rate and had to also pay tuition to my Japanese language school on top of the more mundane bills but I was still able to have a good time there. If you can accept a modest apartment and not eating (and drinking) out every night and you’re not the sole breadwinner of a large family, you can live fine on even a bad salary for a dev.
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