Re:Can Japan reboot its startup culture?
by patio11 on Wednesday August 21, 2013 @10:47PM
(#6254819)
it's a bit expensive to live there
This is heavily location-dependent and also dependent on lifestyle factors. Raising a family in Tokyo as rich expatriates (the lifestyle that e.g. Citibank managers adopt when "in country") would require an income pretty deep into the six figures (in dollars). However, 22 year old employees of Japanese megacorps take home salaries which are less than typical San Francisco rents and make them work.
The ramen profitable number [+] for me in Gifu prior to getting married was about $1,500 a month if I were cooking Japanese food and about $2,000 a month when I was eating my usual diet, which included lots of meals out (not too expensive here) and Western food (quite expensive). An example of the difference: I find it literally impossible to do a taco party for friends for under $60, where if we were having a typical Japanese dinner that could cost $10 to $20.
[+] Edit: This is really important: while $1,500 is indeed ramen profitable, if you attempt to use that level of income in support of getting or renewing an engineering status of residence, it is highly likely you will be ramen deported. The examining clerks have wide discretion in how they define "enough" income but "at least as much as a Japanese person" or "3 million yen" are much more common than "ramen profitable" in sustained applications.
This is heavily location-dependent and also dependent on lifestyle factors. Raising a family in Tokyo as rich expatriates (the lifestyle that e.g. Citibank managers adopt when "in country") would require an income pretty deep into the six figures (in dollars). However, 22 year old employees of Japanese megacorps take home salaries which are less than typical San Francisco rents and make them work.
The ramen profitable number [+] for me in Gifu prior to getting married was about $1,500 a month if I were cooking Japanese food and about $2,000 a month when I was eating my usual diet, which included lots of meals out (not too expensive here) and Western food (quite expensive). An example of the difference: I find it literally impossible to do a taco party for friends for under $60, where if we were having a typical Japanese dinner that could cost $10 to $20.
[+] Edit: This is really important: while $1,500 is indeed ramen profitable, if you attempt to use that level of income in support of getting or renewing an engineering status of residence, it is highly likely you will be ramen deported. The examining clerks have wide discretion in how they define "enough" income but "at least as much as a Japanese person" or "3 million yen" are much more common than "ramen profitable" in sustained applications.