$Who Earns What

How much does a machine repairer make in Japan?

Other Machinery Maintenance/Repair Workers, NEC

Answer: The average machine repairer in Japan makes $39,866 (¥5.98M) 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
$39,866 (¥5.98M)

Monthly pay $2,601 × 12 + bonus $8,650. Average age 42.5; about 51,000 people work in this job. About the same as the Japan-wide average ($33,720).

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

Machine repairer pay in Japan (2025, averages by company size and sex) — Data: MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025
Company sizeEveryoneMenWomenAge
Any size$39,866$40,581$29,38242.5
Big company$44,926$45,768$33,60740.4
Mid-size$36,599$37,077$27,18844.9
Small company$31,650$32,473$21,42344.2

Why does pay differ?

In Japan, pay can differ with experience, skills and licenses, the kind of repair work, and the employer’s size, type, and location. Specialist jobs such as aircraft maintenance, plus night or rotating shifts and overtime, can also affect pay.

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$39,866
Big company$44,926
Mid-size$36,599
Small company$31,650
Men$40,581
Women$29,382

What does a machine repairer do?

What's a typical day like?

Daily work depends on the specialty; an aircraft mechanic checks the engine, outer body, wheels, and cockpit instruments before a flight. They fix or replace faulty parts, report the checks to the captain, and later inspect or change worn parts and instruments.

How to get this job

In Japan, people may study mechanics at a technical high school or college, or aircraft maintenance at a specialist school, then learn on the job. Level 3 of the national machine-maintenance test needs no experience; aircraft work requires a license and practical experience.

Did you know?

Japan’s pay-survey category “Other Machinery Repair” includes aircraft-engine and train repairers, plus bicycle, watch, and camera repairers.

What about the US?

Nearly the same job
Machine repairer (average)
$39,866
US
Repair worker (typical)
$49,230

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