It's pretty terrible. Here are some personal data points in rough USD equivalency:
- Lead developer for social mobile game company in 2010 - $3,500/mo
- Brief stint at another game company in 2012 for a few months - $4,200/mo
- (Remote work for non-JP companies)
- Lead infrastructure and technical leader for mobile game company in 2016 - $6,000/mo - although I was arguably able to push that high (that is considered relatively high here) due to both the technical and Japanese speaking experience I built up over the years.
The rule of thumb is typically: (age * 100) + 500~1000 "you must be a creative thinking foreigner" bonus
Non-game industries are slightly better paying, however, here is the catch: The entire IT industry has organically standardized on 10am-7pm work hours. Depending on your company and how much you are willing to not play the overtime game, there are expectations of up to an extra 45 hours per month of unpaid OT, so if you don't hold your ground you could be coming home on the last train.
The actual experiences were great. Loved the people I worked with, learned a lot. However, if you are coming from somewhere that pays US-level salaries, prepare to be surprised at your offer.
- Lead developer for social mobile game company in 2010 - $3,500/mo
- Brief stint at another game company in 2012 for a few months - $4,200/mo
- (Remote work for non-JP companies)
- Lead infrastructure and technical leader for mobile game company in 2016 - $6,000/mo - although I was arguably able to push that high (that is considered relatively high here) due to both the technical and Japanese speaking experience I built up over the years.
The rule of thumb is typically: (age * 100) + 500~1000 "you must be a creative thinking foreigner" bonus
Non-game industries are slightly better paying, however, here is the catch: The entire IT industry has organically standardized on 10am-7pm work hours. Depending on your company and how much you are willing to not play the overtime game, there are expectations of up to an extra 45 hours per month of unpaid OT, so if you don't hold your ground you could be coming home on the last train.
The actual experiences were great. Loved the people I worked with, learned a lot. However, if you are coming from somewhere that pays US-level salaries, prepare to be surprised at your offer.