How much does a tunnel digger make in Japan?
Answer: The average tunnel digger in Japan makes $29,287 (¥4.39M) a year (monthly pay × 12 plus bonus, 2025, Japan's Basic Survey on Wage Structure).
Monthly pay $2,082 × 12 + bonus $4,303. Average age 52.5; about 6,000 people work in this job. About the same as the Japan-wide average ($33,720).
Tunnel digger pay in Japan (2025, averages by company size and sex)
| Company size | Everyone | Men | Women | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Any size | $29,287 | $29,422 | $21,659 | 52.5 |
| Big company | $45,401 | $45,401 | — | 36.6 |
| Mid-size | $34,834 | $35,019 | $26,797 | 45.3 |
| Small company | $28,264 | $28,400 | $20,673 | 53.8 |
Why does pay differ?
In Japan, pay can rise with experience and recognized tunnel or machine-operation qualifications. It also varies by employer size and type, region, specialist tasks such as blasting, and night shifts or overtime.
What if you were…
In Japan, age and company size matter mostPick 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
What does a tunnel digger do?
What's a typical day like?
After a work briefing, the crew drills or blasts rock and hauls the loose rubble out in trucks. They stabilize the new tunnel face with sprayed concrete and rock bolts, then repeat the digging cycle.
How to get this job
In Japan, people often enter after junior or senior high school, learn on site after safety training, and must be adults for underground work. No special school credential is needed; workers add machine-operation or tunnel-supervisor qualifications as they gain experience.
Did you know?
At Japan’s Gorigamine Tunnel, a special rig carried six rock drills—twice the usual three—and used a computer to aim them.
What about the US?
Nearly the same jobJapan's figure is the average and the US figure is the median. Prices and exchange rates matter too, so it's a rough comparison.
Similar jobs
Management and professions jobsEarn more in the same field
Management and professions jobs that pay a bit moreSources and data
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
- shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/Occupation/Detail/32
- www.mlit.go.jp/tec/content/001891290.pdf
- www.jrtt.go.jp/construction/technology/tunnel.html
- www.mlit.go.jp/totikensangyo/const/content/001378339.pdf
- www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/list/chinginkouzou_sankou_a.html
- jsite.mhlw.go.jp/hyogo-roudoukyoku/hourei_seido_tetsuzuki/roudoukijun_keiyaku/ne
Data: MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025 · 1 USD = 150 JPY