$Who Earns What

How much does a tutor make in Japan?

Private Tutors

Answer: The average tutor in Japan makes $29,469 (¥4.42M) a year (monthly pay × 12 plus bonus, 2025, Japan's Basic Survey on Wage Structure).

Average yearly pay of people doing this job in Japan
$29,469 (¥4.42M)

Monthly pay $2,148 × 12 + bonus $3,693. Average age 38.3; about 34,000 people work in this job. About the same as the Japan-wide average ($33,720).

Tutor pay in Japan (2025, averages by company size and sex)

Tutor pay in Japan (2025, averages by company size and sex) — Data: MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025
Company sizeEveryoneMenWomenAge
Any size$29,469$31,067$26,15338.3
Big company$31,649$33,294$28,74136.8
Mid-size$29,758$31,337$25,89239.9
Small company$26,434$28,179$22,56138.7

Why does pay differ?

In Japan, experience, proven results, specialist subjects or exam-prep skills, and sometimes a requested certificate can raise a tutor’s rate; companies also set different rates by tutor level and region. Total pay also depends on lesson hours and format, and whether the tutor works through an agency or directly with a family.

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$29,469
Big company$31,649
Mid-size$29,758
Small company$26,434
Men$31,067
Women$26,153

What does a tutor do?

What's a typical day like?

A tutor visits a student’s home, checks their goal, then explains a tricky topic and practices problems one-on-one. After class, the tutor may write parents a brief report on what was learned and what comes next.

How to get this job

In Japan, many start at college age: apply to a tutoring agency, pass its screening, and complete any orientation or training. No national teaching license or exam is generally required, though professional roles may ask for experience or a company test.

Did you know?

One Japanese tutor turned a student’s favorite idol group into an English exercise; the student later passed their target school.

What about the US?

Nearly the same job
Tutor (average)
$29,469
US
Tutor (typical)
$43,350

Japan's figure is the average and the US figure is the median. Prices and exchange rates matter too, so it's a rough comparison.

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Sources 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

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