Who Earns What

How much does an associate professor make in Japan?

University Associate Professors (incl. technical colleges)
$58,429 (¥8.76M)

a year · about $30 an hour

The average associate professor in Japan makes $58,429 (¥8.76M) a year, monthly pay × 12 plus bonus, about 1.7× a typical worker in Japan (average, 2025, Japan's Basic Survey on Wage Structure).

What do they do?

They teach a class, then meet students to discuss research or a thesis. Later, they may do experiments, write a paper, attend a committee meeting, or prepare a conference talk.

Did you know? In Japan, university teachers often teach fewer class hours than schoolteachers, because they also spend time on research.

Is that a lot?

Compared with jobs you know
This job$58,429
Typical worker$33,720
Elementary teacher$49,011
Doctor$100,817
Cashier$25,651

What if you were…

In Japan, age and company size matter most

Pick a company size, sex or age to see that group's average here.

How it changes with age

Tap an age to update the number above (Any company size, men and women combined)

How it changes with company size

Any size$58,429
Big company$61,695
Mid-size$53,359
Small company$45,565
Men$59,527
Women$55,638

How do you become one?

In Japan, study a subject at university and graduate school, usually earning a master’s or doctorate while building research and teaching experience. Many work as postdocs or fixed-term faculty, then apply through an open recruitment and pass a document review and interview; no national license is required.

Why does pay differ?

In Japan, pay depends on experience, degrees and research expertise, plus each university or technical college’s pay rules, size and location. Full-time or part-time status, hours, allowances and duties can also matter; no single national license sets the pay.

Jobs like this

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Who earns more?
Data table and sources
Associate professor pay in Japan (2025, averages by company size and sex) — Data: MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025
Company sizeEveryoneMenWomenAge
Any size$58,429$59,527$55,63849.3
Big company$61,695$62,340$59,64548.9
Mid-size$53,359$54,383$51,45549.8
Small company$45,565$43,775$47,45954.3

Source: MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025 (regular workers, by occupation) (e-Stat). Yearly pay = monthly contractual cash earnings × 12 + annual bonus. Averages for regular workers at firms with 10+ employees. Public employees (teachers, police, firefighters) and company executives are not in this survey. e-stat.go.jp

Pages used for the text

Data: MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025 · 1 USD = 150 JPY