Free tool · SSW Japan salary
SSW Japan salary calculator
This SSW Japan salary calculator turns a monthly salary offer into an estimate of take-home pay and savings per month, after health insurance, pension, employment insurance, income tax, resident tax and living costs, and converts it to your home currency. Check the rules on the SSW visa and the 19 job fields.
Your job offer
Before any deduction, without overtime. Use the figure on your job offer or employment contract.
Sets the health insurance rate (9.85%) and the minimum wage (¥1,280 an hour).
Paid at least 25% extra, and at least 50% extra past 60 hours.
Approximate rate as of 2026-10-31. Type today's rate for a better figure.
More settings
Kyokai Kenpo rate for Tokyo: 9.85%. Change it if your company has its own health insurance society.
Normal hours before overtime. A 40-hour week averages at most 173.3 h a month.
Take-home pay
Estimate¥171,936/month
≈ NPR 166,073 · 84% of gross
- Gross pay
- ¥204,800
- Health insurance
- − ¥9,850
- Child support levy
- − ¥230
- Pension (kosei nenkin)
- − ¥18,300
- Employment insurance
- − ¥1,024
- Income tax (withheld)
- − ¥3,460
- Resident taxUsually 0 in your first year
- − ¥0
- Take-home pay
- ¥171,936
- Living costs
- − ¥80,000
Left to save or send home
¥91,936 · NPR 88,801
About ¥1,103,232 (NPR 1,065,612) a year.
SSW starts with the JFT-Basic. See where you stand today:
Take the free practice testEstimates only, not financial, tax or legal advice. Real deductions depend on your employer, your contract, your city and your exact pay history. Your payslip and your employer's support staff have the final figures.
How the estimate works
From SSW gross salary to take-home pay
Every number comes from an official table, checked on the date below. These are the steps the calculator follows:
Gross pay
Base salary plus overtime. The hourly rate is base ÷ scheduled hours. Overtime earns at least 25% extra, and at least 50% extra past 60 hours a month (Labor Standards Act, Article 37).
Social insurance
Health insurance, nursing care (ages 40 to 64), the child support levy and the employees' pension are a percentage of your standard monthly pay grade. You and your employer pay half each. Health insurance rates differ by prefecture. The calculator uses the Kyokai Kenpo rates in force since March 2026.
Employment insurance
The worker pays 0.5% of total pay in most jobs, and 0.6% in farming, forestry, fishery and construction (April 2026 to March 2027).
Income tax
Withheld each month using the National Tax Agency's computer method for a single person with no dependants. It is settled again in the December year-end adjustment.
Resident tax
Charged by the city where you live on 1 January, based on last year's income: about 10% of taxable income plus a flat amount of about ¥5,000 a year. In your first year in Japan it is usually 0. From year 2 the calculator assumes last year's pay matched this month's.
Living costs and savings
Take-home pay minus the rent, utilities, food and other costs you enter. What is left is what you can save or send home.
Simplifications: no bonus, no commuting allowance and no dependants. Your pay grade is taken from this month's pay, but in reality it is set from April–June pay. Income tax rounding follows the NTA computer method, so a payslip using the printed tax table can differ by a few hundred yen.
The law on SSW pay
What an SSW employer must pay you
At least what a Japanese worker earns
Under Japan's SSW rules, your pay must be equal to or higher than what a Japanese worker doing the same job would earn. The employer has to explain your pay in a language you understand before you sign.
Never below the minimum wage
Every prefecture sets a minimum hourly wage, and it rises each autumn. Pick your prefecture above: the calculator warns you if an offer works out below it.
The same social insurance as Japanese staff
SSW workers join health insurance, the employees' pension and employment insurance like everyone else. These deductions are normal. They are not a fee.
Pension lump-sum withdrawal
If you leave Japan for good after paying into the pension for at least 6 months, you can usually claim part of it back as a lump-sum withdrawal payment. Claim it within 2 years of leaving. The Japan Pension Service handles it.
Before you sign
Three checks on any SSW salary offer
Compare it with the minimum wage
Put the offer and your prefecture into the calculator. An hourly rate below the minimum wage is a red flag.
Ask what is deducted for the dorm
Rent, utilities and meals deducted from pay make the biggest difference to savings. Ask for the amounts in writing.
Count the costs of getting there
Fees, flights and documents can take months of savings. Add them up with the cost calculator.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- JFT-Basic for the SSW visaHow JFT-Basic fits into the Specified Skilled Worker (i) visa, alongside the skills test.
- SSW visa fields in JapanEvery Specified Skilled Worker field, which skills test it needs, and which are open now.
- SSW visa cost calculatorAdd up what going to Japan on SSW should really cost.
- Free JFT-Basic practice test12 original questions across all four sections in 15 minutes, with an instant band estimate. No sign-up.
Step 1 · 15 minutes
First step to an SSW salary: the JFT-Basic
Take the free practice test in the real format and see how close you are to 200.
Free. No account needed. Your result stays on this device.