Japanese Earnings
High Standard of living:
By world standards, the Japanese enjoy a high standard of living. Nearly 90% of the population consider themselves part of the middle class. Most people express satisfaction with their lives, and take great pride in being Japanese and in their country's status as an economic power on a part with the United States and the European Union.
High Wages:
Wages vary by industry and type of employment.
Those earning the highest wages are permanent workers in firms having more than thirty employees and in finance, real estate, public service, petroleum, publishing, and emerging high-technology industries. The lowest wages are those in textiles, apparel, furniture, and leather products industries. -nine employees at 56.6. The gap between wages paid to secondary school and college graduates was slight but widened as the employees grew older; wages peaked at the age of fifty-five, when the former received only 60 to 80% of the wages of the latter.
In the late 1980s, with wages in manufacturing firms having 500 or more workers indexed at 100, enterprises with 100 to 499 employees were indexed at 79, those with thirty to ninety-nine employees at 64, and those with five to twenty -nine employees at 56.6. The gap between wages paid to secondary school and college graduates was slight but widened as the employees grew older; wages peaked at the age of fifty-five, when the former received only 60 to 80% of the wages of the latter.
Regular Bonuses:
Workers receive two fairly large bonuses as well as their regular salary, one mid-year and the other at the year end. In 1988 workers in large companies received bonuses equivalent to their pay for 1.9 months, while workers in the smallest firms gained bonuses equal to 1.2 months' of pay. In addition to bonuses, Japanese workers received a number of fringe benefits, such as living allowances, incentive payments, remuneration for special job conditions, allowances for good attendance, and cost-of-living allowances.
Monthly Earnings by Occupation |
(in US doller - 100yen=$1) 2003 Ratio (Tokyo=100) |
| Prefecture Rank | Average |
Manufacture |
Wholesale Retail Catering |
Financial Insurance |
Services
|
Ratio Total |
|
| Total | 3,897 |
4,108 |
2,992 |
5,282 |
3,959 |
81.0 |
|
| Previous Year | 3,873 |
4,015 |
2,916 |
5,298 |
3,973 |
79.0 |
|
| 1. Tokyo | 4,811 |
5,527 |
4,643 |
6,637 |
4,034 |
100.00 |
|
| 2. Kanagawa | 4,310 |
4,927 |
2,570 |
5,412 |
4,384 |
89.6 |
|
| 3. Osaka | 4,239 |
4,460 |
3,752 |
5,010 |
4,072 |
88.1 |
|
| 4. Aichi | 4,207 |
4,675 |
2,994 |
4,167 |
4,216 |
87.4 |
|
| 5. Fukuoka | 3,837 |
3,607 |
3,592 |
4,982 |
3,757 |
79.7 |
|
| 6. Shiga | 3,824 |
4,206 |
1,893 |
3,740 |
3,897 |
79.5 |
|
| 7. Hyogo | 3,819 |
4,043 |
2,605 |
3,889 |
4,079 |
79.4 |
|
| 8. Gunma | 3,796 |
3,957 |
2,553 |
4,924 |
3,895 |
78.9 |
|
| 9. Shizuoka | 3,747 |
4,170 |
2,270 |
5,141 |
3,688 |
77.9 |
|
| 10. Nara | 3,735 |
3,758 |
2,002 |
5,324 |
4,479 |
77.6 |
|
| 11. Hiroshima | 3,723 |
3,900 |
2,434 |
5,162 |
3,947 |
77.5 |
|
| 12. Tochigi | 3,665 |
4,318 |
2,2281 |
3,536 |
3,790 |
76.2 |
|
| 13. Chiba | 3,656 |
4,034 |
2,348 |
4,776 |
3,922 |
76.0 |
|
| 14. Okayama | 3,639 |
3,871 |
2,228 |
5,587 |
3,709 |
75.6 |
|
| 15. Ibaraki | 3,636 |
3,813 |
1,613 |
5,141 |
4,045 |
75.6 |
|
| 16. Toyama | 3,610 |
3,635 |
2,807 |
3,236 |
3,918 |
75.0 |
|
| 17.Yamaguchi | 3,601 |
3,892 |
1,977 |
4,944 |
3,831 |
74.8 |
|
| 18.Yamanashi | 3,579 |
3,970 |
2,616 |
5,070 |
3,348 |
94.4 |
|
| 19. Ishikawa | 3,573 |
3,706 |
2,633 |
4,377 |
3,746 |
74.3 |
|
| 20. Wakayama | 3,569 |
3,389 |
2,075 |
3,867 |
4,112 |
74.2 |
|
| 21. Nagano | 3,560 |
3,807 |
1,976 |
4,561 |
3,788 |
74.0 |
|
| 22. Mie | 3,547 |
4,232 |
1,912 |
3,983 |
3,394 |
73.7 |
|
| 23. Fukui | 3,521 |
3,583 |
2,786 |
4,558 |
3,497 |
73.2 |
|
| 24. Kyoto | 3,514 |
3,836 |
2,204 |
4,672 |
4,110 |
73.0 |
|
| 25. Niigata | 3,450 |
3,298 |
2,316 |
4,723 |
3,888 |
71.7 |
|
| 26. Miyagi | 3,449 |
2,988 |
2,645 |
5,315 |
3,974 |
71.7 |
|
| 27. Kagawa | 3,406 |
3,221 |
2,454 |
5,031 |
3,540 |
70.8 |
|
| 28. Gifu | 3,406 |
3,567 |
1,921 |
4,187 |
3,646 |
70.8 |
|
| 29. Oita | 3,400 |
3,164 |
1,763 |
4,615 |
3,977 |
70.6 |
|
| 30. Shimane | 3,371 |
3,027 |
2,144 |
4,548 |
3,767 |
70.1 |
|
| 31. Saitama | 3,560 |
3,755 |
2,280 |
4,089 |
3,588 |
69.8 |
|
| 32. Ehime | 3,345 |
3,172 |
2,441 |
4,090 |
3,700 |
69.5 |
|
| 33. Kumamoto | 3,334 |
3,359 |
2,014 |
5,426 |
3,642 |
69.3 |
|
| 34. Tokushima | 3,305 |
3,407 |
1,929 |
4,703 |
3,586 |
68.7 |
|
| 35. Fukushima | 3,288 |
3,262 |
2,046 |
4,101 |
3,688 |
68.3 |
|
| 36. Nagasaki | 3,273 |
3,254 |
2,262 |
4,841 |
3,662 |
68.0 |
|
| 37. Iwate | 3,262 |
2,904 |
2,211 |
3,930 |
3,765 |
67.8 |
|
| 38. Saga | 3,222 |
3,155 |
2,299 |
3,951 |
3,566 |
67.0 |
|
| 39. Okinawa | 3,184 |
2,677 |
2,147 |
3,565 |
3,713 |
66.2 |
|
| 40. Kochi | 3,170 |
3,135 |
2,182 |
5,316 |
3,392 |
65.9 |
|
| 41. Miyazaki | 3,158 |
2,283 |
2,051 |
4,294 |
3,681 |
65.6 |
|
| 42. Hokkaido | 3,154 |
2,694 |
1,807 |
5,345 |
3,515 |
65.5 |
|
| 43. Yamagata | 3,119 |
2,960 |
1,514 |
3,848 |
3,656 |
64.8 |
|
| 44. Aomori | 3,109 |
2,240 |
2,013 |
5,253 |
3,788 |
64.6 |
|
| 45. Akita | 3,092 |
2,455 |
2,078 |
3,696 |
3,790 |
64.3 |
|
| 46. Tottori | 3,057 |
2,697 |
1,830 |
3,628 |
3,437 |
63.5 |
|
| 47.Kagoshima | 3,054 |
2,888 |
2,037 |
4,473 |
3,368 |
52.3 |
|
