34 comments

1. This seems like a no-brainer; the Kagoshima offer is way better than the Tokyo offer. Not only will you make more money, but your rent is subsidized, and I would bet that Kagoshima is significantly cheaper from a CoL perspective.

   Unless you feel like you *must* live in Tokyo, take the Kagoshima offer.

2. Kagoshima

   Opportunities to live / work / visit in Tokyo are more common. In Kagoshima you will have the opportunity to see the other side of Japan. Do some road trips! Go camping!

   I hope you speak Japanese, as nobody there will speak English.

   See if there is a Toastmasters club in Kagoshima.

3. I don’t live in Japan yet, but from having travelled it extensively, I can say I enjoyed Kagoshima more. The weather is better, and the people are very kind. The only issue I would say is more earthquakes, but that’s about it.

   Tokyo is a lovely city, but it can get claustrophobic.

4. I was thinking at some point to move to Japan, but man that amount of overtime….

5. Kagoshima is a beautiful place.
   Definitely take that one. For lifestyle and experience. You can always move to Tokyo later if you want to.

6. Do not take the Tokyo one, they’re smoking dick. How many years of experience do you have? 5 mil is BARE minimum for anyone with more than 2-3 YOE. For context, I did a non-technical job at a tech company and was paid over 5 mil/yr.

7. I have been to Kagoshima and really loved it! It is really small however so if you want to live in a big city it might not be the best option. You could travel by Shinkansen to Fukuoka and other places in Kyushu, and you would also be closer to Okinawa, however your travel options would be much greater in Tokyo obviously.

8. Definitely Kagoshima. It’s a paradise compared to Tokyo and it’s a much better job and deal. Almost a no brainer in my opinion and Kyushu has better quality of life. I live in Miyazaki and work remote for a Salesforce consultancy

9. I’d take Kagoshima. Not only is the remuneration better, I’ve lived there and love every bit of it. There’s so many spots to visit around Kagoshima and Kyushu Island itself. The locals are friendly and food doesn’t disappoint. It’s a great opportunity to get your foot into the door and you can always relocate to a bigger city later on.

10. Salary still isn’t great tbh but better than the roppongi one for sure, , if they’re paying for your housing at least you can save more too. now Kagoshima I’ve never been to but youll have the advantage of more japanese immersion to up those skills at least from what I imagine.(Less English support to fall back on) . See if you can take a leave of absence from the German job in case you don’t like it and at least you can return them after a year perhaps. Try it for a year maybe and it’ll open the local job market for you since you’re in country already so more job opportunities thereafter perhaps.

    What’s the tech stack? Is it some monolith legacy system or something interesting?

11. Hi! I live in Kagoshima!

    Cost of living is cheap here so with that salary and benefits you will actually be able to make some savings. It’s a little boring but a quaint place to live. Since you speak Japanese, you’ll be able to make friends easily though. People are really nice and open here

12. Kagoshima sounds way better

13. Ignoring the pay, if I could live in Kagoshima rather than Tokyo (where I currently live), I’d choose Kagoshima every time. Only reason I’m in Tokyo is for the money.

14. >Both jobs are in full Japanese

    Have fun with that

15. I wanna know how you managed this to begin with holy crap I’ve applied to so many jobs can’t even land an interview I’ve been a software engineer/architect for 15 years. I’ve applied to probably 500+ jobs not one interview.

16. Based on the salary itself, Kagoshima is way better than Tokyo. Plus they give you more benefit, and bonuses, and most important is the housing allowance.

    People tends to go to Tokyo because of its prestige. But, if you want to have more life balance, Kagoshima is a good place. Fresher air, beautiful scenery, and since its in Kyushu, you can go to other prefecture like Oita, Miyazaki, Fukuoka, and many more.

    Cost of Living also in play here. Tokyo is having really high, especially in apartment cost. If you want cheaper one, you may find it far from your work place. Then everyday you have to commute. Compare to hybrid situation, way way much better to go to Kagoshima.

    But, you also have to compare between the companies’s reputation as well. Which one can give you better stepping stone, better future, and better references. That’s the one you might consider. Hope you can have smooth relocation to Japan.

17. Kagoshima for sure , much better piece of mind and lifestyle balance …later on after gaining some extra experience you can find higher paying Tokyo one if you actually will want to join the rat race here …or even better find a higher paying remote and enjoy healthy mind

18. Definitely Kagoshima. It’s not as exciting as Tokyo, but after having lived near Tokyo for 15 years of which I worked in Roppongi for 10 – Kagoshima.

    Your salary will go a lot further down there, Kyushu is an amazing place to explore and if you have the urge to go to Tokyo – there’s cheap air travel.

    (ETA how I love that everyone here who lives in Tokyo tells you to not move here.)

19. Tokyo offer is ass
    You’ll be comfy but not rich in Kagoshima

20. That is a terrible salary for Tokyo. That Kagoshima offer is much better

21. I’ve spent some time in Kagoshima and it’s a beautiful place, way different than Tokyo, much smaller and more of a jungle. It’s a great relaxing place with good food but it’s extremely laid back compared to Tokyo. Be sure your ok with a much slower lifestyle

22. Definitely take the Kagoshima offer!

    Regarding the bonus, I can’t guarantee anything so take this with a grain of salt, but usually its about 1-2 months of your salary per bonus (2-4 months total).

    Just with the salary + bonus, it should be over 5 million yen which is the range of your expectations (assuming its 4 months salary bonus).

    The Tokyo offer is a joke so I would definitely reject it (sounds like a black company)

    EDIT: My bad, I didn’t realize your Kagoshima salary was with the full comp.
    You can probably calculate on your own with the above bonus expectations.

23. Take the Kagoshima offer! You’ll live reasonably well and it’ll be easier to learn Japanese there. A couple of years later, you can evaluate whether you want to move to the Tokyo area. With time working in Japan, recruiters and hiring managers will look at you seriously.

24. Kagoshima is a lovely place and the compensation package is better. Don’t even think about the Tokyo one. Once you are here, it will be much easier to find jobs so you can move to Tokyo after a few years if that’s your ultimate goal. And it’s better to start with a higher salary. Staying there for 1-2 years will probably allow you to negotiate a much better salary when you decide to change job again. Something in the range of 7-10M in Tokyo would be doable. Living in Kagoshima is totally worth the experience too. There are so many good places in Kyushu to visit with Kagoshima as your base. And the city itself is decent size, it won’t be boring living there either. Good luck!

25. all I can say is working in Roppongi with that salary is not gonna be nice. A lot of high earners there and your low salary is going to feel even lower by the environment you’re in.

26. Take the Kagoshima offer, even though it’s a boring place to live.

27. Kagoshima is way better, the compensation package is close to 5M: Salary 320k x 14 = 4.48M + Housing 35k x 12 = 420K for a total of 4.9M

    Also Kagoshima is cheaper cost of living, so you should be having a decent living standard.

    What you should ask beforehand is how many salaries they pay as bonus, or have paid the past 3 yrs. I put 1 salary as a reference in the calculations above, but you want to be sure before deciding.

28. 320000yen per month + all those benefits and bonus twice a year is equal to 5M yen per year with no benefits and bonus. Plus it’s Kagoshima, you have way more spending power than in Tokyo. Call me crazy but I think you’d have a better quality of life than someone living on 6M yen in Tokyo with no benefits or bonus.

29. How old are you and are you single? That is important!

30. Kagoshima for sure!

    Besides the salary offer and lower cost of living, dont overlook the housing support. It makes a BIG difference! Have to rent on your own vs the company arranging your apartment is huge: it is normal to have to pay close to 5 times your rent in initial costs. And since is your first time moving to japan, the stress to find an apartment in Tokyo is no joke

31. I’d take the Kagoshima job. Then, after a couple of years, find another job in Tokyo or wherever you want to be with better comp. However getting your foot in the door is of utmost importance so go to K with the idea that you will find greener pastures later. If you don’t already know Japanese, then study while working. If you are even on N2 level you will be surprised how many doors will open for you.

32. Not a Japan resident but from the offer Kagoshima is a good deal

33. At a current TC of 48,000 eur/year, then taking a pay cut for both JOs, personally I’d stay in Germany full remote.
    Maybe work my ass out and reach 60,000 eur/year and just go for a digital nomad visa, negotiate working from Japan.

34. To be honest the salary is still too low, in my experience you can definitely ask for 5mil+ in Tokyo, maybe outside of Tokyo 4mil base is fair.