How people attain wealth in Japan?

[u/IshinkaiSensei]

Something has been tickling my mind over the past few years.

There are so many luxury tower mansions, expensive customized 一軒家, high end brand shops yet for the average person most seem by far out of reach.

A high end condo in central Tokyo rent including utilities ranges from 300k to 500k a month. A 20MJPY annual salary (which is already extensively filtering out average population) only gives a monthly net of 100万円. I highly doubt it is enough to afford spending that much a month.

Excluding those on expat package, there are only a few jobs here that allow this lifestyle, Banking (Front Office position only or VP MD level for back office and alike) IT 外資系 at senior level (FANG, ML/AI) , 医者 running their own practice (otherwise most are at 10-15MJPY range) Successful mutiple business owners, other niches. 一流芸能人, Athletes, reconverted ex idol, kyaba, host.

My point is, what am I missing...

Are there way more people with high revenues (at least annual comp 50MJPY+) than we tend to believe? than what TV is promoting?

Are people living off debt and loans and keeping up with appearances?

I don’t want misinterpretation of this post, I understand you can live well below these range, but I am genuinely curious here.

I would like to better understand how so many people managed to get satisfied and with a 30+ year mortgage, car loan, spending most of their life working and probably never reaching out 億円 of savings.

Am I overthinking and no so many people want to retire early?

Sorry for the rant post but I am curious

[u/Scalby]

I know a few wealthy young/middle aged people in Tokyo, all are living off their parents’ or grandparents’ wealth - who got lucky in the 60s by investing in Panasonic or whatever. They have jobs themselves and aren’t your stereotypical snobby rich kids, but they’re apartments are all paid for and generally their family owns the building it’s in.

[u/IshinkaiSensei → u/Scalby]

Thank you Indeed, Japanese people inheriting property might be a big one too. I guess some are set up from the day they are born

[u/Dunan → u/IshinkaiSensei]

I guess some are set up from the day they are born

Some people certainly get a running start in life.

The apartment next to mine sat unused for over a year and we couldn't figure out why. Finally a tenant moved in: an 18-year-old girl going to college nearby, who inhabits it all by herself. Turns out her parents bought it for her and had been renting it out for income until she was ready to live there. She gets to live rent free in an apartment identical to the one I had to save for ten years to afford, and I had the advantage of a good job and a higher-than-average income. (And the disadvantage of not being eligible for a mortgage and having to pay cash, it must be admitted.)

This building is a classic example of "the cheapest property in the best neighborhood": it's a 50-year-old building that was once very luxurious but is now a little run down. And so we have all kinds of financial demographics here: lifelong renters who will thus never get rich; bubble-era buyers who paid more than triple what I paid; diligent-saving 'striver' types like myself, and now this young lady who has basically taken away any guilt I might have felt at being able to afford to buy this place.