# moving to Japan



## rajacrj

Hello All,

Nice to be here. I have a offer to be in Kobe, Japan. I will get about 3,60,000 Yen per month. I will live with my wife, and this will be all the money we will get. I will have to buy my own health insurance. The employer is offering me two bedroom accommodation for USD 750 per month. Could someone advice, if this is a good deal?


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## synthia

You have an extra comma there, so at first I thought you meant over three million a month, but on second look, you are going to be paid 360,000 yen per month.

It's difficult to evaluate cost of living because so the way you spend money is different when you are living in another country.

Is your wife planning to work. In Japan, the visa for a trailing spouse servse as a work visa.


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## ayc729

rajacrj said:


> Hello All,
> 
> Nice to be here. I have a offer to be in Kobe, Japan. I will get about 3,60,000 Yen per month. I will live with my wife, and this will be all the money we will get. I will have to buy my own health insurance. The employer is offering me two bedroom accommodation for USD 750 per month. Could someone advice, if this is a good deal?



If the correct amount you've been offered is Yen360,000 per month, then no, it's not a "good deal". One person will have to be very careful in order to live on that amount and you have two. Over and above that you will have utilities, public transportation, settling in costs, health insurance and a whole array of yet uncalculated expenses. My advice would be to forget it - or renegotiate substantially higher. I've lived there and I know what it takes.


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## rajacrj

Thank you for the reply, yes the amount is 360,000 yen per month. Could you (anyone) advice me on the health insurance cost, for two people, husband and wife?

Ayan


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## larabell

rajacrj said:


> Could you (anyone) advice me on the health insurance cost, for two people, husband and wife?


That's hard to find out, as it varies by municipality and is based on your previous year's residential income taxes. One thing I can predict is that your first year's premium is likely to be very low, as you would have no "previous year's" income.

In my area, the city's web page says that the current year's premium is 0.21% of the residential tax for the household. That number changes, too, depending on how much was spent on health care for the previous year. I found another table that says your residential tax rate should be around 8%. So, doing the math, I'm guessing you should be paying less than $100 (US) per month. For more details, try Google. There is a lot of information already out there. But the actual insurance rates will depend on where you live and will also very by year so there are no tables readily available.


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## velder

I don't think that's enough for two people. I find health costs are high, such as doctors consult fees and medicines too (apart from basic pharmeceuticals). The standard of living is good here so cost of living is not cheap. For us, health insurance is paid for but before here a few years ago I had to buy health insurance and I found it to be very expensive for expats. Hope this helps. I live in Osaka and love it, which is about a 50mins train ride to Kobe.


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