Understanding Your Japanese Payslip: Every Line Explained

Payslip structure 給与明細の構成

Every month, your employer issues a payslip called 給与明細 (kyūyo meisai). It may arrive as a printed slip, a PDF in your company portal, or an entry in a cloud payroll system like SmartHR or freee人事労務. Regardless of format, the structure is almost always the same across Japanese companies.

A standard Japanese payslip is divided into three main sections:

The most important number on your payslip is the 差引支給額 (sashihiki shikyūgaku) — your net take-home pay. This is what actually hits your bank account. Everything else on the payslip explains how your employer got from your gross earnings to that final number.

Some payslips also include a 勤怠 (attendance) section showing working days, overtime hours, and paid leave taken. This section varies by company and is mostly informational — the numbers that affect your bank balance are in 支給 and 控除.

Earnings 支給

The earnings section lists every type of pay your employer gives you. Your 総支給額 (sō shikyūgaku) — gross pay — is the total of all items in this section. Here are the most common line items you'll see:

Not every payslip will have all of these items. Smaller companies may only show 基本給 and 通勤手当. Larger companies — especially traditional Japanese firms — often have a longer list of 手当 (allowances) that can include things like shift differentials (深夜手当), holiday work pay (休日手当), or regional cost-of-living adjustments (地域手当).

One important distinction: 残業手当 (overtime pay) is strictly regulated by the Labor Standards Act (労働基準法). Your employer must pay at least 125% of your normal hourly rate for standard overtime, 135% for work on scheduled holidays, and 150% for overtime exceeding 60 hours per month in large companies. If your payslip shows a flat 固定残業代 (fixed overtime pay), this covers a set number of hours — anything beyond that must still be paid at the legal rate.

賞与 (bonus) is typically paid twice a year — in June (夏のボーナス) and December (冬のボーナス). Bonuses usually appear on a separate payslip from your regular monthly salary. They're subject to the same social insurance and tax deductions, though the calculation method differs slightly.

Deductions 控除

The deductions section is where most foreigners get confused — and understandably so. This is where social insurance premiums and taxes are subtracted from your gross pay. Here's a breakdown of every major deduction you'll encounter:

Let's walk through each deduction in detail:

健康保険 (Health Insurance) — This covers your medical costs under Japan's universal healthcare system. With this insurance, you only pay 30% of medical bills at the hospital (10% for children and elderly). The total premium is about 10% of your standard monthly remuneration (標準報酬月額), split evenly between you and your employer. The exact rate varies slightly by prefecture and by your company's health insurance association (健康保険組合).

厚生年金 (Employee Pension) — This is the single largest deduction on most payslips. The total rate is 18.3% of your standard monthly remuneration, split 50/50 — so you pay about 9.15%. This feeds into Japan's public pension system. If you leave Japan permanently, you may be eligible for a partial refund called 脱退一時金 (lump-sum withdrawal payment), which covers up to 5 years of contributions.

雇用保険 (Employment Insurance) — This funds your unemployment benefits (失業保険) if you lose your job. The employee rate is about 0.6% of your total pay. It's a small deduction, but it's important — it entitles you to unemployment benefits and subsidized job training if you're laid off or your contract ends.

介護保険 (Long-term Care Insurance) — You only pay this once you turn 40. It funds elderly care services in Japan. The rate is roughly 0.8% on your side (another 0.8% paid by your employer). If you're under 40, you won't see this line on your payslip at all.

所得税 (Income Tax) — Japan uses a progressive income tax system with rates ranging from 5% to 45%, plus a 2.1% surtax for reconstruction (復興特別所得税). Your employer estimates your monthly tax using withholding tax tables (源泉徴収税額表) published by the National Tax Agency. The monthly amount is an estimate — the actual amount is reconciled at year-end through 年末調整 (year-end adjustment) or 確定申告 (tax return filing).

住民税 (Resident Tax) — This is a local tax paid to your city/ward, calculated at approximately 10% of the previous year's taxable income (about 6% prefectural + 4% municipal). It's deducted in 12 monthly installments from June to May. Because it's based on the previous year, your first year in Japan typically has no resident tax deduction, and if you get a significant raise, the resident tax won't reflect it until the following June.

Net pay 差引支給額

The bottom line on your payslip — and the number that actually matters for your bank account — is the 差引支給額 (sashihiki shikyūgaku), your net take-home pay. The calculation is straightforward:

For most full-time employees in Japan, total deductions typically consume 20% to 30% of gross pay. This means if your gross salary is ¥400,000/month, you can expect to take home somewhere between ¥280,000 and ¥320,000 depending on your age, dependents, and municipality.

The deduction ratio tends to be on the lower end (~20%) in your first year in Japan because resident tax hasn't kicked in yet. In subsequent years, once resident tax is added, expect the ratio to climb toward 25-30%. Higher earners may see even more due to progressive income tax rates.

Some payslips also show a 振込額 (furikomi-gaku) — the actual bank transfer amount — which may differ from 差引支給額 if your company deducts additional items like dormitory fees, union dues, or company savings plan contributions.

Sample payslip walkthrough 給与明細の例

Let's walk through a realistic payslip for a fictional employee: Alex, an IT engineer in Tokyo earning ¥350,000/month base salary with a ¥15,000 commuter allowance. Alex is 32 years old (no 介護保険), in their second year in Japan (住民税 has kicked in), with no dependents.

In this example, Alex's total deductions are ¥75,135, which is about 20.6% of gross pay. This is typical for a single employee in their late 20s to 30s without dependents. The two biggest items are 厚生年金 (pension) at ¥32,025 and 健康保険 (health insurance) at ¥17,500 — these social insurance premiums alone make up about 13.6% of gross pay.

Note that 通勤手当 (¥15,000) is included in the gross total on the payslip, but it's excluded from the taxable income calculation for income tax purposes. However, it is included in the calculation base for social insurance premiums (健康保険 and 厚生年金).

Frequently asked questions よくある質問