Tokyo Salaries And Cars

[Frio]

Hello gentelemen,

I am new to this forum, my name is Francesco and I am a software engineer.

I currently live in Canada, but during the next few months my wife and might get a chance to move to Tokyo to get new jobs.

I am married and I am wondering how much money does it take to a couple to live comfortably in Tokyo and to own a car, possibly a GTR

Rent, food, travel, taxes, car taxes, insurace, any help is appreciated!!

Thanks!

Frio

[R32Ninja]

to live in Tokyo, Tokyo? AND own a car?! Its a little impractical, you'll find the train system very efficent. My best advice is to live a little outside of Tokyo possibly in Chiba or Kanagawa if you want to own a car in Japan. Then you can have the best of both worlds.

So as far as Rent goes, it just depends on what type of place you want to have. In Tokyo you could probably get a small apartment for about ８万 a month, plus about another 3 or 4万 for utilities (ie, phone, internet, heat, water, etc, etc..)

Food.. um.. could probably get by on 2 or 3万 a month for 1 person.

and now for the car, I just know about R32s since thats what I have, i'm sure prices are more expensive for the 33s and 34s.

Car should run you close to or over １００万, that's for finding one in good condition with no accidents, plus new shakken (shakken will cost you about 30 to 40万 every two years or so) , etc, all that good jazz. I got a good deal on insurance, but my friends end up paying about about 4-5万 a month, but their motors are only a little under 2000cc. It's fairly cheap to buy a car here, but owning and maintaining it gets expensive after a while.

[Frio]

Thanks for the reply!

I understand exactly what you mean that owning a car in Tokyo is very, very impractical, my point is that I am a big car enthustast and would like to have a car regardless of where I live.

I would obviously use public transport for my commutes to and from work, I would keep the car only for weekend driving, to go out of the city.

50.000 a month for insurance? That's a bit of a surprise, I got very different figures from other sources... good to know by the way...

Would you say that something like 400.000 per month should be enough to have a decent apartment, eat out a few times and maintain a car?

Thanks!

Frio

[DaiOni]

ooh, fair bit of bad advice in there... (no offence)

R33 GTR, for a worthwhile example, will start at the 1.5million mark - but I would suggest a budget of around 2million. An R34 GTR - *start* at 4million (though high km examples, still in fair condition, are closer to 3million). A high spec, later version, can easily go over the 6mill mark.

The old 32 GTRs can be bought for next to nothing - 500,000 for a rough one from about 89 or 90. An immaculate later version, with low kms, will almost certainly exceed R33 prices. I'd be budgeting 1mill for one of the earliest versions, in worthwhile condition - but be prepared to fork out a fair bit in running/repair costs. Either pay more, or buy an R33 or better.

Insurance depends on a variety of factors - but I would budget at 20,000 a month for a third party coverage.

Living expenses: I live in the kansai region - which is not quite as expensive as tokyo (but basically comparative). A have a very nice apartment (by japanese standards) and pay 100,000 per month. I'd say you could get something nice enough for that price range in a commutable distance from central tokyo. If you want something in, say the shinjuku area, be prepared to pay more for a lot less. A car park in an outer area is probably going to start at the 20,000 a month mark - but could quite easily be double that.

Running expenses - I paid 9500 yen for 65l of high octane fuel this week. Shaken for a GTR will probably be around the 100,000 mark - it's due every 2 years (you can buy a car with anywhere between 0-25months left). Car tax is probably going to be 40,000 every year (not positive on that - but that's what I paid out in the country). If you wanted to do a lot of long distance driving on the weekends - highway tolls may be your biggest expense.

Wages - as a couple, I think we have a *net* wage of 700,000 a month - and live very comfortably on that (eat out more often than not, have lots of toys, travel a lot, run a performance car, modify it, never save any money...). 400,000 in tokyo? do-able, but it'll take a bit of sacrifice if you want to have a car - and you won't save a cent (IMO), and you'll probably have to be less selective about the kind of apartment you want (unless you are used to living in a dirty shoebox). On the upside, it'll be easy for her to get some sort of teaching wage (unless she has some other skills - but that's the general way of things) - which should bump you up into the 'easy living' range.

Put it this way - there are a lot of people surviving in tokyo on corporate teaching wages (average around 250,000 gross) - so 400,000 can definitely be done, even for a couple.

anyway, that's my 2c

[Frio]

Hello DaiOni,

yours has been the single most helpful piece of advice I have got so far on the internet.

Fortunately I can afford buying an R34, if we move I will need a fair bit of help deciding on the right one, but then I am not really into modding... maybe just an exhaust

I am in talks with my potential employer about salaries, well to be honest they haven't made me an actual offer yet, but I am trying to anticipate times a little bit, just in case...

Anyway this company is potentially offering to hire both of us, so we wouldn't have the problem of finding a job for my wife, and I believe that with the two combined salaries we should be able to total about 800.000/month net, unless I am badly mistaken, but I am relatively sure.

By the way, any help on how income tax works? How much of the gross salary do you actually get after tax?

We don't travel very much even though we could afford it, but we do like toys and we like to eat out; from what you are saying I guess that this figure would give us some flexibility, maybe we could start travelling a bit more...

My 400.000 figure was to understand how much/if we would be able to save some money while living there.

Thanks again for the excellent advice!

Frio

[DaiOni]

Yeah - you'd have no problem living 'excessively' and saving *some* money with that income. If you can bring the capital to make the car purchase immediately - then you'll definitely be doing okay.

income tax: you can get a tax exemption, and pay canadian taxes. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not - it's certainly better off for me to pay japanese taxes. IIRC, of the half dozen canadians I've met and become friends with here, they've all paid japanese taxes (I could be wrong though - so check into it if you haven't already). All the americans I know pay american tax.

I'll give you my old (government) wage break-up, as my new one is a bit harder to understand (I don't pay into a pension, my wife's employer pays my health insurance, etc - it gets confusing):

gross wage: 320,000

net wage: 265,000

deductions were income tax, compulsory health insurance and pension. Pension deduction was 22,000yen p/month. Sorry, I can't remember what proportion was tax and what was insurance. The pension can be claimed back when you leave Japan (but only for a maximum of three years worth).

I hope that helps.

[DaiOni]

oh - and push hard for that job for your wife. Decent non-teaching jobs for non-japanese speaking people* are few and far between.

* assuming she doesn't speak japanese.

[R32Ninja]

Let me correct DaiOni on a few bits of bad advice ... (no offence)

You've got to be kidding to find a R32 GTR for 50万, if you do find one for that price, it's probably been in accidents, has no shakken, high miles, etc, etc.. after the repair and such, it should run around the 100 mark.

Also, 10万 for R32 shakken would be a dream come true. That price is like shakken for a Kei-car, I haven't done my shakken yet but, my friend just did his last week, and he paid 30万 for his car which is just barely under the 2000cc displacement mark. expect to pay more than that for sure.

anyways, Frio do you know where you will be living in Tokyo? Does your employer station you somewhere, or can you pick where ever?

[DaiOni]

"500,000 for a rough one from about 89 or 90" - I don't think there is any vagueness there. Check out the links section for car classifieds if you don't believe that.

dude, I've sold cars here (liason for a dealership), and I've owned 4. I've also shaken'ed (one 'k' btw) cars - kei and white plate, for myself, and arranged and priced it for friends (I've done a kei for 70,000, including repairs). Base price from a dealership is usually around the 10man price (actually for some, 11 now - as they added another tax for older cars).

[DaiOni]

that's base price for white plate

[DaiOni]

and, fwiw, my last shaken was my own FD - this april, and that was 11man base + 1man to replace a leaking diff seal.

if your friend paid 30man, then the overwhelming majority of that was for defective items/required repairs. That's what happens when you own a shit heap, or don't maintain your car properly.

[Frio]

Hello gentlemen,

lots of good advice, thanks!

I doubt the company will put me in a specific place.

They will help me find an apartment, but basically they will let me stay wherever I want, I will have to pay for the apartment obviously...

Frio

[Demon Dave]

Frio

told ya this was the best place to pick up info.

I'm glad I don't live anywhere near Tokyo....my insurance, BNR34 fully comp with the car valued at 5 million yen costs 13,000/mth...

shaken should be around the 100,000 yen mark for a car with no problems - that'll include the basic taxes, dealers fees, service etc but not any repairs...

[DCD]

I've been looking at places in Tokyo for the last 2 months. 80,000 won't get you much over 30m2...if you want to live somewhere nice, with decent space in a modern apartment you should be looking at no less than 150,000 a month....add 30,000 for car space + more for utilities. This is the reason I've decided to look outside the city itself. You can pay 100,000 a month and live in a decently sized apartment...stretch a bit more and you might find a small house in say Chiba (40 min train commute). Tsukuba is worth a look too. With the new Tsukuba Express you are in Tokyo in 40 min and prices out there are pretty good. If you want to live comfortably in Tokyo with a car you really need at least 1,000,000 Yen a month saliry. I mean you have to factor in modifying costs....oh yeah..and food too;)

DDave...so what insurance company do you use then? I pay slightly more for the GTR....but wouldn't mind shopping around for a better deal!

[Frio]

Hello Dave, and hello DCD!

DCD, again I am not sure if you mean gross or net salary.

I have asked this question several times and people sometimes answer saying what are the actual expenses (net), some other times they are talking about gross salaries.

Can you please be more precise? What do you mean by 1.000.000Yen?

Gross or net?

And what are those modifying costs you mention?

Cheers,

Frio

[DaiOni]

you already answered that question:

"I am not really into modding... maybe just an exhaust"

He's kidding about the 1mill. Well... I guess it's a question of semantics. What is "living comfortably"? I have no complaints, but that's all relative to life experience. For some, living on my wage might be uncomfortable...

I certainly don't have a bnr34! I guess that's a complaint.

[Rezz]

Insurance for my R32 GTS-t through Sony Sonpo was 7,000 yen/month... Demon Dave I'd say you got a pretty good deal for insurance!

[Demon Dave]

I go with Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo insurance...

Just checked the documents and it's actually closer to 14,000mth, which aint bad.

they also cover my Accord and motorcycles too.

Edited December 15, 2005 by Demon Dave

[nytrda]

hey guys i no this probs isnt the rite thread for this but im a tennis coach and i would love to come to japan to coach tennis and also live there and experience the whole thing. Does anyone know where i should contact over there or how to go bout it

[akeenan]

a tennis coach.. tennis is popular here and there are many courts around the place... i actually read an add in a magazine a few months back about a company looking for coaches .... but sorry i dont have any experience with tennis here ... i know to hire a court you contact the local council and its usually a week or so wait before you can get in .... could be a good english/ tennis lesson...

1 hour of tennis and an hour of english 9,000