$Who Earns What

How much does a farmer make in Japan?

Agricultural, Forestry, and Fishery Workers

Answer: The average farmer in Japan makes $24,050 (¥3.61M) 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
$24,050 (¥3.61M)

Monthly pay $1,785 × 12 + bonus $2,634. Average age 49.1; about 43,000 people work in this job. Below the Japan-wide average ($33,720).

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

Farmer pay in Japan (2025, averages by company size and sex) — Data: MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025
Company sizeEveryoneMenWomenAge
Any size$24,050$25,286$19,37149.1
Big company$27,429$29,797$19,68648.4
Mid-size$22,793$24,073$19,39548
Small company$24,357$25,369$19,29249.9

Why does pay differ?

In Japan, employee pay may vary with experience, licenses or safety training, employer type and size, location, and hours or shifts. Special skills and seasonal work matter too; independent fishers’ income can change with catch size and fish value.

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$24,050
Big company$27,429
Mid-size$22,793
Small company$24,357
Men$25,286
Women$19,371

What does a farmer do?

What's a typical day like?

Farmers tend plants or animals, then harvest or pack crops; forest crews plant, clear weeds, or cut trees. Coastal fishers may sail before dawn, haul nets, sort the catch, then unload and clean the boat and gear.

How to get this job

After school, many in Japan start on farms, in forests, or on fishing crews; specialist schools are optional. They learn on the job; safety courses or forestry tests help, while captains or independent fishers need boat or radio licenses.

Did you know?

Japan’s new forestry skills test includes a hands-on chainsaw task, so candidates are tested on real cutting work, not just written answers.

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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