How much does a food factory worker make in Japan?
a year · about $14 an hour
The average food factory worker in Japan makes $26,449 (¥3.97M) a year, monthly pay × 12 plus bonus, below a typical worker in Japan ($33,720) (average, 2025, Japan's Basic Survey on Wage Structure).
What do they do?
Workers wash and disinfect their hands, then prepare ingredients and cook or process food. They fill and pack products, check labels and foreign objects, and clean tools or machines before the next run.
Did you know? Since 2021, nearly all food businesses in Japan have had to follow HACCP-based hygiene controls.
Is that a lot?
Compared with jobs you knowWhat if you were…
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How it changes with age
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How it changes with company size
How do you become one?
In Japan, many factory-line jobs require no special schooling or license; people often join a food factory after school. Food, agriculture, or fisheries classes can help, and new workers learn the job on the factory floor.
Why does pay differ?
In Japan, pay can vary with experience, employer size and region, full- or part-time hours, shift times, and the product or production task. Most line jobs do not need a special license, but machine or food-safety skills can lead to more skilled duties.
Jobs like this
Kids' questions
Data table and sources
| Company size | Everyone | Men | Women | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Any size | $26,449 | $30,581 | $20,747 | 43.5 |
| Big company | $30,159 | $35,811 | $22,259 | 43.9 |
| Mid-size | $25,932 | $29,421 | $20,961 | 43.1 |
| Small company | $23,473 | $26,913 | $18,991 | 43.9 |
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/8
- shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/Occupation/Detail/7
- www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/list/chinginkouzou_b.html
- www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/kenkou_iryou/shokuhin/haccp/index.html
- www.bellfoods.co.jp/recruit/mid-career
Data: MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025 · 1 USD = 150 JPY