Possibly the most important aspect of your new life as a JET is your salary. Depending on your contracting organization you may receive a pay stub that is entirely in Japanese, or one in English, or none at all. Be sure to speak to your supervisor regarding the type of pay stub you will receive especially if you need it for your records.

The following is a breakdown of your JET salary.

From April 2012, under the new JET contracts, participants now earn their salaries on a gradient scale. For every year you re-contract your salary will increase. Therefore, your monthly income will be as follows:

1st Year JETs: 280,000 yen
2nd Year JETs: 300,000 yen
3rd Year JETs: 325,000 yen
4th and 5th Year JETs: 330,000 yen

Out of your monthly income there will also be three different deductions. For example:

National Health Insurance: 13,120 yen
Social Security/ Pension Insurance: 23,427 yen
Employment Insurance: 2,456 yen

That means the grand total of your deductions would be 39,000 yen. If you are in your 1st Year, then your take home pay would be around 241,000 yen.

Income taxes to the Japanese government depend largely on your nationality and your length of stay in Japan. If you are liable for taxes in Japan, do not worry, your paycheck will be adjusted accordingly.

JETs liable for taxes are: 1st and 2nd year Canadian and New Zealand ALTs, CIRs and SEAs of all nationalities, and all 3rd year ALTs.

Furthermore, at the end of your stay in Japan you will be refunded your pension insurance. For more information on pensions please see the pension refund explanation.

For those of you who do not get a monthly statement, you can ask your school office (Ken JETs) or BOE (Muni JETs) for one. In Japanese it is called a kyuryo uchiwake sho (給料内訳書).