Ranking: Top Highest Paying Jobs in Japan for Foreigners | Guidable - Your Guide to a Sustainable, Wellbeing-centred Life in Japan
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Ranking: Top Highest Paying Jobs in Japan for Foreigners

By Tony Tao Aug 21, 2020

Do you know what the highest paying jobs in Japan are? Are you looking for a job offer? Better grab some research first! 

Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun, is a beautiful, fascinating, and rewarding place to live and work with such a highly advanced technology culture. Besides, Japan also offers endless opportunities for exciting experiences, sightseeing, lots of public holidays, fantastic nightlife, plus grand medical insurance schemes.

Social welfare and financial prosperity are reflected in high salaries in both the private and public sectors. This includes IT professionals who can earn up to more than 500,000 Japanese yen a month. And the National Tax Agency report shows that a person working in Japan typically makes about $4,320,000 ($40,353) a year.

Top 8 Highest Paying Jobs in Japan for Foreigners

Have we caught your attention? If so, let’s get right into the top list of the highest paying jobs in Japan for English speakers! Don’t forget, there are various factors that affect our net revenue. However, let’s just focus on typical annual income by industry for an overview of the current wage situation in Japan. 

8. Service Staff

  • Monthly salary: ¥250,000 ($2,335) – ¥280,000 ($2,615)
  • % Foreigners in the Industry: 5.12%
  • Requirements: Japanese Conversational (N3-N2), Visa Sponsorship Available (eg: Hotel Staff)

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You will need to have sufficient Japanese language skills and valid visa status to get a job as a high-paying service staff. There are various services available to service staff in industries such as hotels, restaurants, cafes, etc. Owners of such enterprises tend to hire foreign employees because of their dual-language skills. Among hospitality and tourism jobs in Japan, hotel front desk staff earn ¥2.97 million, while travel agents and tour guides make ¥3.18 million annually.

Don’t forget about the bars! This is indeed one of Japan’s highest-paying jobs if you know how often Japanese are going to the bars. There are plenty of options for work in bars, such as waiters, managers, accountants, DJs.  If you’re a singer or a good dancer, you can make a good profit by working in Japanese bars. 

7. English Teacher

  • Monthly salary: ¥230,000 ($2,148) – ¥290,000 ($2,640)
  • % Foreigners in the Industry: Well, we don’t have the exact figure here but you know it is a lot right?
  • Requirements: Native-level speaker of English, Bachelor’s degree, ESL certificate, and experience is a plus

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Teaching English in Japan is a widespread job, and the vacancies for this job are also available in large quantities in Japan. Within the English teaching job space, assistant language teachers at public (and sometimes private) schools earn about ¥230,000 a month, while salaries for instructors at privately-owned English conversation schools are around ¥275,000. Business English teachers often make a higher rate of pay per lesson, sometimes up to as much as ¥3,500 an hour.

Want to apply for a job? Click the link below to download a handy Japanese resume template. You can choose between Microsoft Word and a PDF version.

Rirekisho template, Japanese resume download

6. Recruitment Consultant

  • Monthly salary: ¥300,000 ($2,802)
  • % Foreigners in the Industry: 5.12%

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Human resource services pay an average of 3.68 million yen annually. Many global recruitment groups in Japan are looking for bilinguals.

5. Engineer

  • Monthly salary: ¥380,000 ($3,549)
  • % Foreigners in the industry: 4.17%

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Of course, it’s a well-paid job all over the world. Japan is well-known for its technology and machinery. Thus, manufacturing industries employ the highest rate of foreign workers. That’s why if you have an engineering background, you can get an excellent salary in Japan.

4. Marketing & Sales

  • Monthly salary: ¥290,000 ($2,640)– ¥ 528,000 ($4,932)
  • % Foreigners in the Industry: 2.63%
  • Requirements: Business Level Japanese, at least 3 years of experience, Visa Sponsorship available

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At number four, we’ve got sales of the staff as a profitable job in Japan. More and more foreigners are gaining positions in the marketing and sales departments of Japanese companies. Sales staff in Japan are in high demand. Sales staff, sales managers, sales agents, sales representatives are here. Japanese people like to take these services from foreigners. 

And what’s more, marketing jobs in Japan can make an average of an impressive 4.90 million yen.

3. Business Analyst

  • Monthly salary: 450,000 ($4,203)
  • % Foreigners in the industry: 2.63%
  • Requirements: Fluent in English & Japanese, 3-5 years experience

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Business analysts are responsible for enhancing the competitiveness and performance of a company and are trying to seek new ways to control costs, increase productivity, or boost sales. This is a particularly high-paying job, as this position is responsible for ensuring better performance and contesting with rival companies.

2. Investment Banking

  • Monthly salary: 300,000 ($2,802) – 600,000 ($5,604)
  • % Foreigners in the Industry: 0.62%
  • Requirements: Fluent in English & Japanese, 3-5 years experience

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Similar to many other countries, people working in the finance and banking field typically have a top paid salary. 

1.  IT Professional

  • Monthly salary: ¥311,000 ($2,905) – ¥628,000 ($5,866)
  • % Foreigners in the industry: 2.63%

it professional in japan

IT professionals are undoubtedly considered to be those who, depending on the type, receive the highest salary in Japan. IT consultant is the highest-earning job in this sector, offering an average of 6.04 million yen annually. Web service engineers make around 4.25 million yen, while web designers can make about 3.57 million yen.

Ready to Apply for One of the Highest Paying Jobs in Japan?

If you are ready to apply for your next job, download our Japanese resume template and check out the article to find out how to fill it in:

Rirekisho: How to Write a Japanese Resume. Template Included!

Are you wondering what the average and minimum wages are? Check out this article:

Minimum Wage in Japan, Find Out Before You Start a Part-Time Job in Japan

Looking to find the perfect job in Japan? Look for further than Guidable Jobs!

Guidable Jobs Find Perfect jobs in Japan