How to Negotiate Your Salary in Japan: Essential Guide for Tech Professionals

Salary negotiation is one of the most popular topics for job seekers working in tech in Japan. 

If you’re reading this, you’re probably thinking about how to increase your salary working in Japan. You might be planning ahead in the job search so you can get the best possible salary. Whether you’re in the early stages or at the final rounds of your search, learning about the importance of how to negotiate in Japan is an essential part of your success. 

In short, negotiating your salary is indeed possible. However, there are cultural contexts and unwritten rules that impact this process in Japan. This article will show recommended practices in Japan with practical tips on how to approach salary negotiations, including some useful examples in Japanese and English. The article will also answer some of the commonly asked questions like, “How much is ok to negotiate?” and “Can I lose a job from negotiating my salary?” or “Can I negotiate my salary in Japan?”

If you are unsure whether or not you should try negotiating, I encourage you to do so. In his opinionated FAQ, Eric answers, “Yes, you should negotiate your salary,” and I agree with this answer. In essense, salary negotiation is not a confrontation between you and the company but a discussion where both parties look for mutual benefits. If you are absolutely new to this, a great place to start is by simply asking questions about the job offer. Keep in mind that salary negotiation should always be viewed in context, including other important factors. So, what are they? 

What is a Job Offer in Japan?

A job offer is a document that contains details of your working conditions and is typically sent to you at the end of the interview process. This is an important turning point in a job search because the company has made a clear communication that they are interested in working with you. In Japanese, a job offer is called 内定通知書 naitei tsūchisho and this should not to be confused with a work contract, which is called 雇用契約書 koyō keiyaku-sho. Here is an example of a traditional job offer.

There are actually no regulations that explicitly state that a company is required to send an offer letter. However, they are required to clearly communicate information on working conditions, including,

• Salary and role

• Working hours

• Where you’ll work

• How long a contract lasts for

• How the contract can be terminated 

These details are usually outlined in the work contract that must be agreed upon before the starting date. 

So, if companies are not required to send offer letters, why do they do it? There is a strong cultural influence to this. In Japan, it’s a common practice for organizations to notify before making an official announcement. You might have noticed something similar if you were in Japan observing the government’s communication during the lockdown. This also applies at the individual level, where before people make an official move or announcement, they make unofficial comments that hint at their intentions. 

In the job search, companies send job offers because it’s a normalized process but also because it’s considered polite and thoughtful to do so based on this cultural context. 

Is Negotiating Salary as a Foreigner Acceptable in Japan?

Yes, negotiating your salary as a foreigner is acceptable in Japan. 

If you’re unsure about negotiating because you don’t want to do anything rude or impolite, this awareness is actually a sign that you are being sensitive to the culture. There are some studies that say, “Japan is facing a critical situation where collective wage negotiations have declined, and individual wage negotiations, which could compensate for this, have not taken root either” , but the tech industry still offers unique chances for job seekers. 

Talent mobility has been relatively high in Japan and this is still true in 2024. Negotiating job offers, including compensation, is becoming more common. While it’s acceptable to negotiate in tech, consider if it’s worth your time and energy to engage in a salary negotiation in your search. Below are some indicators that support your negotiation might be successful:

• Language Proficiency. If you have a choice, opt to negotiate in English. Does the company conduct interviews in English? If so, they may be more open to negotiating in English.

• Access to Salary Data. Use websites like Project Comp and Open Salary to check if there’s information about the company and role.

• Presence of an Engineering Ladder. There are tech companies that have engineering ladders that describe the qualities or skill levels of engineers based on their levels. 

How to Negotiate Your Salary in Japan (with Examples)

1. Understand what’s being offered

The first place to start is to get details on what’s being offered. Look for information on: 

• Base Salary

• Bonuses

• Job Title 

• Team and Grade

• Start Date

• Responsibilities

Responsibilities may be hard to know exactly because they may not be written anywhere in the job offer. In this case, refer to previous interviews and what interviewers may have shared with you. It’s a good idea to keep notes on each interview so you can refer back to them at this stage. as you can refer back at this stage. It’s not uncommon for smaller, fast-moving companies, to verbally mention an expected responsibility that was not mentioned before. 

It’s crucial that, as a future contributor to the organization, these expectations are brought to the table before signing the actual work contract. It also helps to shift the discussion from simply talking about money to the level of responsibility and impact.

In some cases, when a company learns you have some experience managing a team, or you’re particularly knowledgeable in a specific thing that they would really love to leverage, this is a good sign you may have a chance at negotiating your salary, for example. Check to see the role description written on the job that you’ve applied to check if what you’re being offered is the same or different. 

1. Decide on Your Negotiation Goals and Strategy

There are various goals you can set for your negotiation that aren't just about getting a higher salary immediately. 

Giving individual treatment in general is frowned upon in Japan as it creates a sense of favoritism and goes against the culture of harmony, or 和 wa, and this often makes negotiating feel more challenging. 

If your goal is to increase compensation but right now is not realistic, the next best option is to look for other milestones and moments when talking about your performance is acceptable. This could mean during a periodic meeting with your manager or a system performance review set by the company. If this is your goal, engaging in negotiation before signing the offer is a good idea. It’s the idea of giving notification before the real move, like I’ve mentioned above. 

If your goal is to increase compensation before signing the offer, make sure you’ve got a good reason to support this. Building rapport with a company starts the moment you have a touch point with any person in the organization and how you deal with the negotiation will have a direct impact on your relationship.

To strategize, it’s good to know when the best timing to negotiate is. In Japan, there are meetings that take place between the job seeker and the company after the successful candidate receives an offer. This is called a オファー面談 offer mendan where the expected purpose is to clarify anything about what’s being offered. It’s a standard practice for job seekers to request for this meeting and for the company to organize one, if requested. Exceptions do apply when the company is a small startup when the recruitment process is still not formalized. 

A job seeker could attempt to negotiate the offer verbally, during this meeting and/or negotiate via email. 

Overall, my recommended strategy to opt for is to ask for this meeting after you receive a written offer letter. Participate in it, and ask questions during the meeting. Then, send a negotiation email based on what you’ve confirmed during the meeting.

1. Collect Data and Information

The next step is to see if what’s being offered reflects the job market. You can access tools mentioned above like Project Comp and Open Salary to research the salary for the role you’re being offered. There’s also this article comparing listed salaries from different resources. If you’re looking at your first job offer in Japan, checking for local standards is crucial. 

Also, refer to the job description to check alignment in expectations on responsibility, grade, and compensation. Apart from online data, gather feedback from the interviewers about what specific knowledge and skills they’ve valued. 

In Japan, it’s customary to ask for about 5 - 10%  more than the annual salary depending on your experience. If you are in a highly specialized position, you may be able to request for more but this would be considered more ambitious. If you have any other job offers from other companies, you will want to leverage these to support your counter offer. 

Still, higher increases are possible under the right circumstances.  Our founder Eric has shared that he successfully negotiated raises of 50-60% three times (all at Japanese companies in Tokyo).  This won’t work at older and more traditional companies, but it may be a possibility at Silicon Valley-style startups and foreign tech companies.

To do this, you’ll need to have clear reasons for why you deserve a more significant raise.  So the more evidence you can provide to help explain this, the better.

And to maximize your raise in this situation, our founder Eric recommends not telling the potential employer your current salary.  It may be awkward to refuse to answer a direct question, but sharing this information greatly limits your negotiating power. Getting multiple offers also helps immensely as you can get companies to compete with each other.  

This article outlines the basic thinking behind this more aggressive approach, if you’re interested in learning more.

1. Negotiating Step-by-Step (with Examples)

Once you’ve understood the offer, decided on your goals and strategy, and collected enough supporting information, it’s time to engage in the actual negotiation. This process can be broken down into 2 parts: verbal negotiation during the offer meeting and a follow-up negotiation email.

Example of Verbal Negotiation:

Here is an example of what you can say during a meeting to discuss your job offer:

Opening:

“Thank you for making time to speak about the offer today. I’m very excited to receive this offer from you. I want to make sure I’ve understood everything before accepting. I have a few questions mainly regarding my responsibilities and compensation.”

「本日はお忙しい中お時間ありがとうございます。この度御社よりオファーをいただきとても嬉しく思っています。現在前向きに検討しております。ご提示いただいたオファーについて確認させていただきたい点がありますがよろしいでしょうか。」

Valued experiences and knowledge:

“I’ve received positive feedback from Tanaka-san during the second interview about my experience with [detail]. Is there any additional feedback about my performance that led to this offer? “

「今回のオファーにあたり評価していただいたスキルや経験について教えていただけますでしょうか？」

Main responsibilities:

“I understand the main role for this position is [details]. Have I understood this correctly? Are there any other responsibilities that you’re considering at this point?” 

「本ポジションの主な役割は[detail]と理解しておりますがこの理解で正しいでしょうか。また現時点でその他検討されている業務や責任などもしあれば教えていただけますか？」

Closing:

“Thank you again for your time today. It’s been a great experience talking to you and everyone so far. I will consider the offer including what you’ve shared with me today and get back to you as soon as I can with any questions. “

「本日はお時間をいただきありがとうございました。本日お伺いした内容を含めオファーを前向きに検討させていただきます。」

Example of Follow-up Email:

Once the meeting is over and you’ve received answers, send the negotiation email within 24 hours. The negotiation phase is all about time. Especially if your goal is to opt for an immediate bump up in your salary. This timing is crucial. 

“Mr./Ms. xxx,

Thank you again for your time today and providing more context regarding the offer. I’m writing to ask about the offered compensation. 

During the discussion, there was a mention about the role entailing an emphasis on [details] to help the team achieve [goal]. Given my experience with [a relevant skill or knowledge] which was well received by the interviewers during the interview process, I am confident my expertise can serve the team. 

In addition, there was a keen interest in my experience mentoring and managing a small team. I’m grateful these additional experiences I’m also interested in developing are in line with your expected trajectory of my role. 

Provided the above reasons, if there is any possibility of increasing the base salary from 9 million yen to 9.5 million yen to reflect this, I would be very grateful and ready to accept the offer immediately.

Thank you again for your consideration and support so far and I look forward to your response. Please let me know if there is any additional information I can provide.

Best,

[Your Name]

Japanese

「本日はお時間をいただき誠にありがとうございます。オファーについて詳しいご説明をいただき感謝しております。この度はご提示いただいた給与についてご相談させていただきたくご連絡しました。

面談のなかで現在チームの [Team’s Goal]といった目標を達成するため[relevant skills or knowledge] が特に求められていることを理解しました。また選考過程で面接官の皆様から私の[skill or knowledge]の経験・スキルについてポジティブな評価をいただいたこと、私の強みを活かし、[Team’s Goal]という目標の達成に貢献できると自信を持つことができました！

加えて、チームリードの経験やエンジニアのメンターとしての経験もあり、それら総合的な経験を活かし、貴社の事業の成長に貢献することができると確信しております。

上記の理由から年収を900万から950万にご再考いただけないでしょうか。

内定をいただいた後にお願いをしてしまい恐縮ですが、ぜひご検討いただければ幸いです。

引き続き何卒よろしくお願い致します。

[Name]

1. Closing the Negotiation 

The negotiation ends when you send them a thank you message regardless of the result of the negotiation. 

Accepting after negotiation:

“Thank you for your response regarding the job offer. After careful consideration, I’m excited to accept the offer. Now that I understand better my expected role and performance, I’m motivated to join the team.”

Accepting without changes:

“Thank you again for your response regarding my compensation. I understand your reasoning and would like to thank you for your effort. I am happy to accept the offer at this point. Now that I have a better picture of my expected responsibilities especially in the next months, I hope to revisit the topic again in the future when my performance and contribution to the team can be assessed more in detail. I’m very excited to join and start soon.” 

Salary Negotiation in Japan: FAQ

Can I lose a job offer for negotiating salary?

No, negotiating salary is a recognized step in the job searching process. There are rare and extreme cases, like a pandemic or breach in a candidate's work history, when an offer may be retracted.

Do I have to share my current salary? 

If a company asks for your current compensation, it’s generally accepted that you will tell them what it is. In Japan, some companies base their offer on what the candidate was making currently. As part of onboarding many companies will ask new hires to submit their 源泉徴収票 gensen chōshūhyō which shows the person’s income. If you are really interested in working with a company, refusing to share a piece of info that will get disclosed anyway later, may be seen as uncollaborative. 

And while most people in Japan will share their compensation when asked, it’s not 100% required.  It is true that refusing to answer can rub some companies the wrong way.  But this is less true at international tech companies that are used to working with foreigners.  Our founder Eric increased his salary rapidly when working as an engineer, and feels it was largely thanks to refusing to tell employers his previous salary.

It can be tricky to do without offending the interviewer, but Eric found that, at globally-minded companies, if you’re polite and keep reiterating your desire to work at the company, you can get away with not answering this question.

What cultural etiquette should you keep in mind?

Japan is a high context culture which respects group harmony. In general it’s good to be polite and include phrases in written and verbal communication that demonstrate gratitude and understanding of their situation.

What are some other things you can negotiate?

In Japan, there’s not as many aspects to the job offer that an individual can negotiate for because Japan favors equal treatment. 

However, in some cases, you may be able to negotiate how often to work from home. If you are someone who lives far from the office, you may consider asking for a transportation allowance. Sometimes candidates will also request to have a phrase included in their responsibilities that make it clear what their role is.

Is it common for companies to do a reference check / background check? 

It’s not a common practice in Japan but some companies do conduct reference checks. They may ask candidates to provide contact information during the process, usually towards the end.

In particular, at Japan Dev we’ve seen a trend toward more reference checks in the past few years.  It may still not be very common among traditional Japanese companies, but some of the major “modern” tech companies in Japan will check references.

We’ve written in more detail about reference checks and background checks in the past, so take a look if you want to learn more.

Conclusion 

Salary negotiation can be intimidating especially if you are unfamiliar with the culture and business etiquettes in Japan. As legacy workforce trends like lifetime employment in a single company becomes less common, Japan has slowly experienced new customs on how to navigate the job search, including negotiating one’s compensation. Tech is one industry where talent mobility has been higher than other industries, and companies have implemented more modern approaches like engineering ladders and using English at work to attract talent from around the world. Given this context, salary negotiations are a welcome step for all job seekers. 

As we’ve looked at in this article, it’s crucial to understand the entirety of the offer first before deciding on your goals. Based on your goals, there are adequate preparations that will support your interest that will help the company understand where you are coming from. With ample preparation the discussion with the company can take place verbally and written to combine your research with the company’s feedback to create a compelling reason for negotiating.