Questions to those working in Japan

[raiden]

I´m in the process of applying for a job there, and three questions that are bothering me atm:
- how much taxes, insurance etc. do I have to pay? In Germany, that amounts to over 1/3 of the overall salary. So when I have an official wage of €1800 in Germany, I´m left with about €1100. How much do I keep in Japan if the official salary is €1500?
- how much do monthly train tickets cost? I´m talking about a 50 minute trip by train in the vicinity of Osaka, how much would a monthly ticket amount to?
- for office work, is it common to work on saturdays?

[GaijinPunch]

This will get klind of long. Sorry:

- how much taxes, insurance etc. do I have to pay? In Germany, that amounts to over 1/3 of the overall salary. So when I have an official wage of €1800 in Germany, I´m left with about €1100. How much do I keep in Japan if the official salary is €1500?

Obviously depends on what you make. It's a progressive tax system (moreso than the US) but the number of middle middleclass citizens is huge... somewhere around 80% (but don't quote me). That means most people are in the same tax bracket (which is about 28-32%). Your first year, will be much cheaper than your second though. Certain taxes, like your ward tax (tokubetsu kuminzei) and national health insurance (kokumin houken) are both based on AND taken out of your previous years salary. Your previous years salary will be zero, so your payment will be zero. HOWEVER, it's not free -- just delayed. Your deductions for these taxes in 2007 are actually for benefits in 2006. Doing the math, you can clearly see that you will owe taxes when you leave Japan. It's a very confusing concept to wrap your head around... kind of like the spacetime contium. Just remember that when you leave Jpana, you need to tell the ward office and they'll calculate what you will owe.

There are other things to consider, but they are well beyond the basics. Ask again if you think you might be laid off (for redundancy compensation) or leave Japan at some point (for getting your social security back)..

- how much do monthly train tickets cost? I´m talking about a 50 minute trip by train in the vicinity of Osaka, how much would a monthly ticket amount to?

It will most likely be 7,000 to 10,000 yen per month, but your company should pick this up. If they don't, you should seriously consider another company under the premise that they're cutting a big corner. It's the standard in Japan for your company to float the bill for the train ticket (which is calleda 'teiki', fyi).

- for office work, is it common to work on saturdays?

Unfortunately, no. Really depends on the industry and your company though. Care to share what your job is? I've definitely done my fair share of weekend work, but I luckily worked for western companies, so was either compensated for it, or was given a day off midweek.

Also worth noting is if the pay structure will be hourly, monthly, or a set salary. If you'll be a contract or full-time worker. There are upsides and downsides to both you might want to be aware of.