Rent

[aryn1013]

How much do jet's usually pay in rent? I've heard that you don't usually have to pay key money, but do you have to pay first and last month's rent when you move in? Do you have to get insurance? And what is the usual monthly rate? How much money do you have left over after taxes and rent? (in yen)

[Namisuke]

How much do jet's usually pay in rent?

Usually anywhere between nothing and about 90,000 yen/month.

I've heard that you don't usually have to pay key money...

That is misinformation. Key money is pretty standard practice which many ALTs have to pay.

Do you have to get insurance?

Insurance might have to be paid. It isn't too expensive though (not like in Canada).

How much money do you have left over after taxes and rent? (in yen)

I think your take-home money will be around 230,000 yen/month or maybe less. I am not sure about that as the pay scale just changed. Maybe someone can give more correct numbers as the JET site is pretty vague. If your rent is covered by your BOE, then you don't have to worry, but if you pay on the higher end of things, you could possibly have about 140,000 left. I paid 97,000/month for my apartment in Tokyo, and I pay about 47,000 for my apartment in a smaller city now. I paid 37,000 in my previous town. My rent is not subsidized.

[Patryn]

Hi Aryn,
Not entirely sure why you're posting in the Current JET forum when this question this question probably belongs in the Aspiring JET forum, unless you want to compare your rent with other people's...
As with everything on JET, it's ESID. If you have a question, the correct answer is probably ESID.

As for this question, I would ask you to read the manual! yes! there is a manual! The General Information Handbook (GIH): http://www.jetprogramme.org/e/current/pubs/gih.html

You'll find what you're looking for in section "4.2 Housing" on Page 135 of the 2011 GIH.

As for remuneration, that's kind of up in the air atm because of next year's wage change. The general formulas you will need are:
3,280,000/12 = monthly pay.
monthly pay - any taxes you have to pay (depending on nationality/role) - approx 50k (for health/pension/employment insurances) = take home pay.
Take home pay - rent = what's left over.

As for insurance, it depends which insurance you're talking about. Home and contents insurance? This is up to you. Car insurance is also up to you (recommended and sometimes BOE requires this if you drive). There are mandatory insurances as well such as the Health, Pension, Unemployment, JET insurances which usually come out of your pay automatically before you get it (refer to above formulas).



And again, that GIH info is what is provided to JETs before they depart. If the information is not specific enough, that is because it is dependent on YOUR placement and will be different for everyone (ie. any response you get will not be useful to you as it will most likely be different from you). You find out more when you get your placement and your predecessor contacts you.

[joshuyama]

Hey there. I'm a first year ALT in semi-rural Kyushu. I got placed in a new apartment (new to me, not new in terms of the year it was built.) So, I had to pay everything up front. My rent each month is 33,500 yen which is not too bad at all. But when I moved in at the beginning of August, I had to pay key money, a deposit, and the first month's rent. The total was 99,500 yen! Plus, my contracting org. only gave me a fridge and a washing machine. I had to buy everything else. Needless to say, I ended up spending nearly 300,000 yen in my first month! (This total includes car insurance.)

My recommendation to any new ALT/CIR would be to bring AS MUCH money as you can. Yes, the salary is nice, but you will need something at the very beginning to get you going.

Hope this helps.

[fiori]

Last (jet) year I paid 10,000 a month, but this year I pay 20,000, which is probably due to the BOE hiring about 6 additional Jets. Perhaps it will increase again next August, but I hope not. I also have to pay gas and electric, which comes to around 6000 total each month, though I dont think I pay for water unless it is combined with another bill. Of course every BOE has its own system, so you could be either be paying a large chunk of your paycheck or nothing at all.

On that note, I wonder if the new salary scale will affect current JETs in terms of their subsidized rents, i.e maybe they may say, well we are paying you more than the new ALTS and therefore to make it even we will adjust your rent contribution to equal your take home to the new salary. Of course its just speculation but you never know.....

[phoenixphreak]

ESID

My situation is: My wife and I pay 5910￥ (or about $65~) a month. That covers a 3 room teacher's apartment that is old, but does us well enough for our stay in Japan. We had to pay no key money, first and last, or anything else like that. We don't have special insurance to my knowledge, but I don't really worry about it where I am.

[aryn1013]

I keep hearing mention of something called EISD. what is that? I realize to those who have applied or are in the jet program this sounds rather naive, which is accurate considering i'm completely new at all this and am just in the process of digging up as much information as I can. Even If it seems obvious to you i'd appreciate it if someone would explain it to me. Thank you!

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

On that note, I wonder if the new salary scale will affect current JETs in terms of their subsidized rents, i.e maybe they may say, well we are paying you more than the new ALTS and therefore to make it even we will adject your rent contribution to equal your take home to the new salary. Of course its just speculation but you never know.....

I kind of doubt it, hey.

I keep hearing mention of something called EISD. what is that? I realize to those who have applied or are in the jet program this sounds rather naive, which is accurate considering i'm completely new at all this and am just in the process of digging up as much information as I can. Even If it seems obvious to you i'd appreciate it if someone would explain it to me. Thank you!

Every Situation Is Different.

[hanamiko]

I live in the inaka (rural area) and pay 46000 per month for a new 2 bedroom apartment. Because they got rid of the old crumbling JET house I had to pay two months key money and two months rent in advance when I arrived (184,000 Yen).... which was really difficult at the time. But these days I am stoked to have a nice/new/warm apartment.

[Gizmotech]

Ahh Key Money.

Okay, one bit of information which might help.

If you get SHS you are a prefectual employee (usually). A lot of prefectures use their prefectual apartments for their JETs, and these JETs tend to have the ultra low rent you hear about. They also are not required to pay key money/deposits, as the building is owned by the government, and not some bent over 200 year old lady looking for a money grab... err sorry socially acceptable bribe.

I pay 6000 in "rent" to the prefecture at work, and another 5000-7000 to the building as a maintenance fee. I tend to average under 15000 a month in rent. There was no key money involved at my location. My friends in the same city, who work for the city BoE rather than the prefecture pay about 50000 a month on their places, but they are significantly larger than mine.

As for building insurance like back home, I suppose you should get it, but noone here has mentioned it to me. There is definitely no need for contents insurance. If you're doing JET right, you might own, one crate, some luggage, and 20000yen worth of stuff from the local 100yen store or Hard Off

[Jax]

Okay, one bit of information which might help.

If you get SHS you are a prefectual employee (usually). A lot of prefectures use their prefectual apartments for their JETs, and these JETs tend to have the ultra low rent you hear about. They also are not required to pay key money/deposits, as the building is owned by the government, and not some bent over 200 year old lady looking for a money grab... err sorry socially acceptable bribe.

Nope, still ESID. Depends on the prefecture.

Hyogo ranges from really low rent, to pretty expensive... some pay between 40,000-60,000 in rent. No one in the Hyogo BoE had key money, though, that I know of!

[Lianwen]

My BOE takes care of my rent for me, and I pay them.

If they didn`t pay for part of my rent, it would be 50000yen a month. But since they pay half, it`s 24000yen a month.

This is for an apartment that was built ten years ago, that`s a hole in the wall. I can hear my neighbors, and the building owner can hear everything I do, since he lives right below me (he never gave me any issues before if I dropped something, or had my TV on, but now he comes up and knocks on my door and often tells me I make too much noise). My whole apartment is the size of a college dorm room.

But the other JET in the area, with the same BOE as me, pays the same as I do, but has a full house for himself.

ESID.

As for gas/water/electric/kerosene/landlineinternet, I pay 3800yen/5300yen/4400yen/4000yen/5200yen <--changes depending on usage, and water is only every other month, and I don`t have to worry about kerosene in the summer.

[Namisuke]

Ahh Key Money.


If you get SHS you are a prefectual employee (usually). A lot of prefectures use their prefectual apartments for their JETs, and these JETs tend to have the ultra low rent you hear about. They also are not required to pay key money/deposits, as the building is owned by the government, and not some bent over 200 year old lady looking for a money grab... err sorry socially acceptable bribe.

My boyfriend and I are SHS ALTs and we had the opposite situation - same as other SHS teachers in my prefecture. There aren't too many people that I know who get subsidies for their apartments, but if they do, usually they work for ES of JHS.

[Melrudin]

As everyone`s said, ESID, but just my two cents here. I live in a rural town and my rent is 55,000 a month. I also had to pay a full four months rent when I first came here as a downpayment/key money. Happily, they were nice and let me pay it off in two parts. But the 55,000 a month is really good I think considering how wonderful my apartment is. It`s a stand-alone building, is rather new and big and is just all around a great apartment. ^^

In a bigger city an hour south of me (with a different BOE), I believe a lot of them don`t have to pay anything or only have to pay around 5000 a month. I`d still rather have my place, though, just `cause of how nice it is.

ESID, but if you do have a more expensive rent, they`ll often be willing to help you out when you first get here before you get your first paycheck.

[aryn1013]

what does ESID stand for?