What's the difference between 額面 and 手取り?
額面 (gakumen) / 年収 (nenshu) is your gross salary — the headline figure in an offer. 手取り (tedori) is take-home pay: what's left after social insurance and taxes are withheld. Japanese offers quote gross, so 手取り is always lower.
How much of my salary do I actually take home?
As a rough rule, take-home is about 75–85% of gross for typical salaries. The percentage falls as income rises (progressive tax) and drops further in year two once 住民税 (resident tax) begins. Roughly: ~¥4M gross ≈ 79% take-home, ~¥8M ≈ 76%.
What deductions come out of my pay?
Six main ones: 健康保険 (health, ~5% employee), 厚生年金 (pension, 9.15%), 雇用保険 (employment, 0.5%), 介護保険 (long-term care, ~0.81%, ages 40–64 only), 所得税 (income tax, progressive 5–45% + 2.1% surtax), and 住民税 (resident tax, ~10% + ¥5,000, from year two).
Why is there no 住民税 in my first year?
住民税 is billed on the PRIOR calendar year's income, from June of the following year. In your first year in Japan you have no prior-year Japan income to assess, so you pay ¥0 — and your take-home visibly drops the next year when it kicks in. Budget from year-two take-home, not year one.
How much is resident tax (住民税)?
Roughly 10% of your taxable income (市町村民税 6% + 道府県民税 4%) plus a flat ~¥5,000/year (均等割 ¥4,000 + 森林環境税 ¥1,000). It's withheld from your 12 monthly salaries (not bonuses), starting June of year two.
What is 厚生年金 and how much do I pay?
The employees' pension. The total rate is 18.3% (fixed since 2017), and you pay half — 9.15% — computed on a banded 標準報酬月額 capped at ¥650,000/month. It buys an old-age pension plus disability and survivor coverage, and includes the 国民年金 base.
How much is health insurance (協会けんぽ)?
The rate is set per prefecture and you pay half. For FY2026, Tokyo's total is 9.85% (≈4.925% employee); Osaka 10.13%, Hokkaido 10.28%, national average 9.90%. It covers ~70% of medical costs plus 高額療養費 (out-of-pocket cap) and other benefits.
What is 介護保険 and who pays it?
Long-term care insurance. Employees aged 40–64 pay an extra ~0.81% (1.62% total, FY2026) on top of health insurance. Under 40 and 65+ don't pay it via payroll this way.
What is the new 子ども・子育て支援金?
A childcare-support levy of ~0.23% total (≈0.115% employee share) collected alongside health insurance from April 2026. It's small but new, so it appears on FY2026 payslips.
Do bonuses get taxed?
Yes. Bonuses (賞与 / ボーナス) carry social insurance (via 標準賞与額) and income tax, so a '2-month bonus' nets noticeably less than 2× your monthly take-home. One bright spot: 住民税 is not withheld from bonuses (it's spread over the 12 monthly salaries).
Does 年収 include the bonus?
Usually yes. Japanese offers often express 年収 as 'monthly × 12 + N months bonus,' so a ¥6,000,000 offer might be ¥375,000 × 16, not ¥500,000 × 12. Don't divide 年収 by 12 to estimate monthly cash flow — a chunk arrives only at bonus time.
How is income tax (所得税) calculated?
It's progressive: 5% up to ¥1.95M taxable, then 10/20/23/33/40/45% in higher brackets, plus a 2.1% 復興特別所得税 surtax. It's applied to taxable income = 給与所得 minus social insurance, the basic deduction, and any dependent deductions. It's withheld monthly and trued up at 年末調整.
What is 年末調整?
The year-end adjustment your employer runs in December to reconcile the income tax withheld across the year against what you actually owe. Most single-employer employees are fully settled by it and never file a return. Deviations (side income, medical, etc.) may need a 確定申告 — check the Japan Tax Checker.
I'm a freelancer — does this calculator apply?
No. This models an employee on company 社会保険. Freelancers/sole proprietors pay 国民健康保険 (NHI) and 国民年金 themselves and file a 確定申告 — a different computation. See the freelancer guidance at Japan Tax Checker instead.
Does my prefecture change the result?
Slightly. Only the 協会けんぽ health-insurance rate varies by prefecture (FY2026 range roughly 9.85%–10.28% total). Pension, employment insurance, and taxes are national. Pick your prefecture (or the national-average 'Other') in the calculator.
Is the calculator's figure exact?
No — it's a close estimate. It applies rates to salary directly rather than the banded 標準報酬月額 (though it does apply the ¥650,000 pension cap), and it uses standard deductions only (no life-insurance, iDeCo, medical, or mortgage deductions). FY2026 rates. Confirm your exact figure with your employer's HR.