Salary
 

How much would a doorman/porter at a Tokyo hotel such as Mandarin Oriental or Park Hyatt earn per month/ per year? I know tipping isn't big in Japan

Don't know the answer to your question, but allow me to emphasize one key point: Tipping is not only "not big" in Japan, it is non-existent, with very minor exceptions that no tourist is likely to encounter. Please, please don't offer these people anything regardless of their salary level.

+1

The short answer is "not a lot." I did a bit of googling in Japanese, and the net take-home pay for most hotel jobs seems to be around 220,000 yen a month, or about $2,200 US. It isn't as bad as it might sound. Most of these folks are either working on a short-term basis (young guns fresh out of school with few liabilities) or have lifetime employment with full benefits, and many are getting a serious break on rent, either by living with family or by getting free/subsidized housing from their employer. So most of this income ends up being disposable.

Wouldn't want to try and survive in any of Japans big cities on such a wage.....does your calculation include "bonus" etc.?

I know that people say not to tip in Japan, but I was brought up right. I insist on tipping.
If they won't take cash, try tipping the staff with food. Buy a nigiri or a ham sandwich from Seven Eleven. and hand it to the doorman as you're coming back to the hotel. If he seems reluctant to accept, just put it into his pocket with a smile. It may be a good idea to mix things up a little - bring him a mini-tub of Haagen Dazs or a porn mag every so often. Very easy to find in any neighborhood convenience store.
It ain't right not to tip. It ain't right, I tell you.

I agree QSHOEGuy,

As for disposable income, some of these porters and doormen are not so young, we talked to them and some were in their mid30s although they looked much, much younger. What amazed us was that 3 of he ones we talked to didn't live in Tokyo, they lived out near Narita.

Isn't part of being "brought up right" actually respecting the cultural sensitivities of your environs?? :confused:

Throwing money at someone because YOU think it is right doesn't actually make it so. :rolleyes:

If I think it is right to throw money at someone, then it is right, "cultural sensitivities" whatever. I don't know how you would reach any other conclusion.

I thought the porn mag mention was a cuter and cleverer device than a :rolleyes: icon.

Please try harder next time, jibsan!

Pretty common. Rents get very cheap out in the suburbs. An apartment that would cost $2,000 a month in Roppongi might be $1,000 if twenty minutes outside the Yamanote and $500 if an hour outside. For many families, the only way to get affordable space is to get a house or apartment out in the sticks.

The other thing is that Japanese employers almost always pay for a commuter pass on top of the employee's salary, no matter how far away home happens to be. While people might not want a long commute at their own expense, it isn't a big deal when it is effectively "free" to the employee. It certainly helps to fuel the publishing and mobile phone industries here.

whoopsie...:o

Yer forgiven. You have been initiated in the Japan FT forum, yokoso!

Thank you sir! May I have another? :p ;) :D

And sometimes they can live pretty far away. I had one colleague who commuted from Okinawa to Tokyo on a regular basis (not everyday, but several times a week, depending on how "compactly" he could arrange his work schedule). Though he was (correctly) not fully reimbursed for his travel expenses (after all it was his voluntary choice to live there), he nevertheless did receive some monies.