Me and my family are living very comfortably with less than that, honestly. And I don't expect any noticeable increase in earnings at this point in our lives. I don't personally know and never have in these past few decades anyone earning more than 10 million yen. Maybe if we go back to the 80s.
The only one earning more than 10M who I know of is a senpai of mine who quit and got a remote Silicon Valley job. It’s a lucrative deal as you can live affordably in Tokyo. (Still, I suspect they’d pay remote workers somewhat worse...) As for myself, I wouldn’t move for 15M. The present-day U.S. sounds a great place to earn money as a SE, but it doesn’t sound like a good place to live.
If you have a good resume and can justify good software engineering skills in demand, it is not that difficult to get to 10 millions JPY or more, even outside the big foreign companies (Google, Nvidia, etc.). Indeed in Tokyo starts paying 9-10 millions JPY for people w/ 2-3 years experience after college.
I know people working in large Japanese companies with 15 years+ experience can make 15-20 millions JPY once they become principal and co.
It is true that Japan, like Europe, pays much more people willing to go management/product management/sales, compared to the US where you can stay on a technical path and make very good money, at least up to a certain age.
But please do not think that 6-7 millions JPY is good salary in Tokyo: it is not. The average salary in Japan is a bit below 6 millions JPY.
Source: I have lived in Japan for 7 years total, have been managing multiple software engineer teams and done the hiring in multiple roles.
