Will a 200.000 JPY stipend per month be able to keep me alive and secure in Tokyo? I'm not a partier type nor a profligate. I know that the living cost there is between 120k-200k JPY, but I don't know which kinds of living style would be in that range. If I were to presume, may be I will be able to make at least 50k JPY of savings per month, but I'm also concerned with accidental expenditures, such as doctor visit and medicines. By the way, I used to live in Germany where a doctor visit doesn't charge you any money because the citizens there are required to have health insurance. How is it in Japan? Does having health insurance exempt you from paying the doctor?
200.000 JPY per month?
- Thread starter hiverloon
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- 12 Oct 2013
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If you have to pay for your own apartment, I would say you are getting quite close to survival level.
If you have to pay for your own apartment AND you hope to save 50,000 every month, I would say you would be living in near poverty-like conditions.
All residents are required to sign up for the national health insurance. National health insurance is not free - everyone pays into the system. If you are employed, your monthly insurance rate goes up, but your company will pay half of the cost of insurance. Basically, the national insurance covers 70% of your medical bill. You have to pay the remaining 30%. This is a very general rule. There are exceptions.
If you have to pay for your own apartment AND you hope to save 50,000 every month, I would say you would be living in near poverty-like conditions.
All residents are required to sign up for the national health insurance. National health insurance is not free - everyone pays into the system. If you are employed, your monthly insurance rate goes up, but your company will pay half of the cost of insurance. Basically, the national insurance covers 70% of your medical bill. You have to pay the remaining 30%. This is a very general rule. There are exceptions.
- Thread starter
- #3
Wow, it seems like 150.000 JPY per month is an extremely thrifty life. Is it that expensive in Tokyo? I read that the living expenses for a student in this city is in the range 120k-150k JPY - 150k is the upperbound. Is your estimate based on the life of an already employed person?
WonkoTheSane
先輩
- 12 May 2013
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Are those students in subsidized housing?
Keep in mind, as well, that natives of a particular place can always live more cheaply than non-natives.
Keep in mind, as well, that natives of a particular place can always live more cheaply than non-natives.
- 12 Oct 2013
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Hello Hiverloon,
Well, you haven't really said anything about what you will do in Tokyo, so I have to assume a lot of things. If all of that 200,000 is after-tax, after-insurance money, you should be able to survive in Tokyo. Say something like 50,000 - 70,000/month for a not so nice one-room apartment in a not-so-nice section of town. Transportation to-from work costs money - another 10,000 - 20,000 per month. Food will be another 50,000 per month. On top of this you have phone, electricity, internet, gas, water, food... Yes, its survivable.
As Wonko says, if the school is subsidizing a dormitory or there is meal service included with lodging, then 150,000 is probably quite comfortable for a student. Especially if the parents are paying for national insurance and national pension (social security).
If you are paying for everything, I think you would be living quite frugally at 200,000 a month. But its "doable".
Well, you haven't really said anything about what you will do in Tokyo, so I have to assume a lot of things. If all of that 200,000 is after-tax, after-insurance money, you should be able to survive in Tokyo. Say something like 50,000 - 70,000/month for a not so nice one-room apartment in a not-so-nice section of town. Transportation to-from work costs money - another 10,000 - 20,000 per month. Food will be another 50,000 per month. On top of this you have phone, electricity, internet, gas, water, food... Yes, its survivable.
As Wonko says, if the school is subsidizing a dormitory or there is meal service included with lodging, then 150,000 is probably quite comfortable for a student. Especially if the parents are paying for national insurance and national pension (social security).
If you are paying for everything, I think you would be living quite frugally at 200,000 a month. But its "doable".
- Thread starter
- #6
Well, I am considering to do my PhD in Tokyo and that 200.000 JPY per month is the expected scholarship. If I'm accepted I will choose to live in a student dorm with typical monthly fee of 40k-70k JPY.
I think they should be covered in the rent of the housing. As for transportation, if I'm able to find a dorm near my campus then a bike ride between the two places will do.
- 12 Oct 2013
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Ahh, I see. Excellent information that would have been extremely helpful at the beginning of the conversation. 
So basically you have 200k less approximately 50k for rent (assuming utilities included) and 50k for savings, in other words, you have 100,000 per month spending money. You may have a national health insurance expense, but other than this your only expense is food, yes? 100,000 should be fine.
It is still a somewhat frugal lifestyle (getting subjective here), after all, Tokyo is still one of the world's most expensive cities. But it is very doable.
So basically you have 200k less approximately 50k for rent (assuming utilities included) and 50k for savings, in other words, you have 100,000 per month spending money. You may have a national health insurance expense, but other than this your only expense is food, yes? 100,000 should be fine.
It is still a somewhat frugal lifestyle (getting subjective here), after all, Tokyo is still one of the world's most expensive cities. But it is very doable.
- 20 Aug 2003
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You know this? Really?!?!?!? Who ever said that? A mere 120K is essentially living in a cardboard box in most bigger cities here, and to say this is for Tokyo is just ludicrous. Please state your source for this outlandish claim, especially the lower figure.
You've been give wise advice so far about these things, and you definitely need to be concerned, even being paid 200k.
You'd need to find very, very cheap housing and certainly not anywhere near downtown. It would likely be a 6-tatami 1-room place, perhaps even with shared toilet/shower. See how tiny it is!
The first year you will probably pay only 2,500 yen/month, but please confirm this with your school or ward office. The year after that, they know how much you are making, even in scholarships, so the amount goes up approximately tenfold as a standard fee. (Don't listen to anyone who tells you, "Hey! Not everyone pays! I skipped out, and I know some Japanese do!" Those skinflints are running a big risk, and that is to have to make backpayments up to 2 years' worth if they are ever caught.
So, why are you asking questions about housing? (at least, it seems that you are)
Monthly expenses are things I have calculated and doled out to people for almost 20 years now. Food costs vary considerably because we don't know what you are satisfied eating, and whether you are a carnivore, vegetarian, or vegan, and whether you are able/willing to cook for yourself in a manner that actually saves money. You know your dorm costs (ask about utilities for water and electricity, which will vary with personal preferences and the season). If you get a scooter, ask about its insurance and fees for parking. Used bikes are cheap and handy, and if you live on campus, a grocery store shouldn't be that far away. Want a phone? You'll pay 10,000 for installing service on a cell phone, plus 5,000-8,000 yen/month thereafter. Installing a landline phone is far more expensive. Ask what options you have to get Internet in your dorm room; you might just want to go with an Internet cafe or use computers on campus instead (and your cell phone). You are smart to consider emergencies and such. The unexpected does come up. Have you factored in any sort of costs for dry cleaning, gifts, souvenirs, postage, hair care, and regular dental visits? My calculations for people have been based on 250,000 yen/month and paying roughly 70,000 in rent, and they allow people to save 50,000 yen/month but only if they are relatively frugal. You don't have to pinch pennies, but you need to know how to cut corners a little. Since you're expecting only 200k, you'll have to pinch a little more.
AmerikaJin5
Sempai
- 12 Nov 2014
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Are you referring to the MEXT scholarship? Or the JSPS doctoral scholarship?
The MEXT scholarship only pays 145k JPY for PhD students (that is what I will be receiving in April -- right now, I get 143k JPY as a research student).
I've heard a few figures tossed around for student living expenses in Tokyo, but they seem on the low side. I think the only way that stipend is doable in Tokyo is if you live in a university dorm, which are quite cheap (usually 10k-40k JPY). However, most international students are limited to one year in a dorm, then we must find private apartment instead. Many many times in Japan, utilities are not included in apartment rent (neither is maintenance fee).
How do I know? That's my situation
I'm curious to find out where you will receive 200k JPY from? Thanks!
- Thread starter
- #10
Under the "Living Expenses" section in this link:
T-cens | Tuition and Various Expenses
and here:
International Relations Office
I don't think so, there are student dorms offered/administered by UTokyo which don't seem to reach 90k JPY per month as you can infer from the second link above. As for the room dimensions in student dorms, this link Housing Office | Housing Information | Accommodations Offered by UTokyo appears to disprove your estimate.
What are they, students or full-time worker?
As I will be living in a student dorm, I will only need a cellphone, no landline is needed during my stay as a student.
Occasional entertainment and fashion. But again as stated in my first post, I'm not a type who can be easily be enticed by costly good-looking stuffs.
By the way I don't know how westerners define 'frugal'. These past two years I have been living in a city in Germany with the lower bound of monthly expenses of 600 euro but I manage to live on 550 euro/month and I would say I enjoy my life here.
It's the university recommendation scholarship. So, based on my application merit, the Graduate School of Engineering (so, very likely that this type of financial aid procedure only applies within this school) will recommend me as a potential scholarship holder to several scholarship providers, MEXT being one of them. I was told by the administrative people in the department I am applying about that 200000 JPY.
AmerikaJin5
Sempai
- 12 Nov 2014
- 174
- 99
A scholarship with that stipend is not MEXT, but good luck if you get it!
MEXT says they will pay slightly more if cost of living is greater in certain areas, but usually only to the order of 5k more (i.e., 150-155k JPY/mo --- instead of 145k). I've seen a few scholarships (other than MEXT) that advertise 200k JPY/mo, but these usually do not include tuition so you have to pay it yourself.
I am bringing my wife to join me in Tokyo at the end of this year, and since the MEXT stipend is only 145k JPY/mo, it will be very tight for us. She is planning to request special permission to work part-time on the dependent visa, as a freelance writer/consultant, but it will take some time to build-up her client-base and income. Good thing we've already been living the "poor college student" life for the last few years, and can cook cheap meals!
Have you been officially accepted/placed at Todai, or just applying?
AmerikaJin5
Sempai
- 12 Nov 2014
- 174
- 99
Nevermind, I forgot you were asking about becoming a professor in Japan in another thread, where you mentioned that Todai has the preferred lab for your doctoral research interests.
Guys, i'm sorry to intrude, but i have doubts about me being able to live in tokyo after what you said. If i get the mext undergraduate scholarship, i will receive about 120k/month. My parents will give me about 30-40k more per month. Is that doable for a 19 years old student?
- 12 Oct 2013
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Hello Costin,
I don't know if there is anything more to add to this thread. If you went through the whole, painful conversation above, you already know that the gist of the argument is: without knowing your situation we can't even offer a wild αss guess. The biggest pieces of the puzzle are housing, utilities, food, and perhaps health insurance.
If you have 160k disposable income, and all other expenses are taken care of, you should be OK. If you have to pay for an apartment out of that your budget will get pretty tight.
I don't know if there is anything more to add to this thread. If you went through the whole, painful conversation above, you already know that the gist of the argument is: without knowing your situation we can't even offer a wild αss guess. The biggest pieces of the puzzle are housing, utilities, food, and perhaps health insurance.
If you have 160k disposable income, and all other expenses are taken care of, you should be OK. If you have to pay for an apartment out of that your budget will get pretty tight.
