The Diet of Japan in Tokyo Photo: Chris 73 / Wikimedia Commons
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Japan lawmakers' average income in 2018 hits 16-year high

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This is why they do not have a clue what life is like for the average citizen or resident of Japan.

I was just about to say the same thing.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

fxgaiToday  12:59 pm JST

For this sort of cash, you’d think Japan would attract a better standard of politician.

Right, it pretty much looks as if the average Diet member's resume should read something like:

1. Born into political family with prestigious name.

2. Got accepted by and graduated from prestigious schools due to family connections.

3. Hung around in Diet member parent's office as an overpaid intern, or hung around in a company that has a vested interest in Diet member parent as an overpaid intern until it was time for Diet member parent to finally retire aged 206 or whatever.

4. Got elected to the Diet seat previously held by parent and grandparent by inheriting their support network and voter base made up of gullible old folk who think a prestigious family name is some guarantee of integrity and competence.

I'd get it if it was ex-lawyers, diplomats, engineers or the like earning this kind of money but Shinzo Abe, for example? All he's ever achieved was getting born with the right surname.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

For this sort of cash, you’d think Japan would attract a better standard of politician.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I'm not so bothered what they earn by selling shares or stuff like that, but none of them are worth ¥1,300,000 a month plus bonuses and assorted perks. I suppose the idea is that the remuneration has to be competitive to attract Japan's best and brightest away from the private sector, but Diet members are hardly representative of the best and brightest. Most of them would have struggled to make ¥13, 000 a month if they'd ever had to do much for themselves before getting elected.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

The median net worth of a US senator was $3.2 million, versus $900,000 for members of the House of Representatives. A LDP dietman at $245,000?

I read that also about US Senators and Reps, Senators make 12 to 15 times what LDP Diet Men do, or way over 20 times what the average American worker makes.

LDP Diet members make more than 10 times what an average Japanese Worker makes, so Japan does a little better than America in this regard. In both the US and Japan I would imagine they vote themselves pay raises and benefits, and in those cases it's always higher than the average Salary man. Leaders are usually crooks no matter where you may live.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

DisillusionedToday  07:54 am JST

"alwaysspeakingwisdom - "Japanese lawmakers' income averaged 26.57 million yen ($245,000) in 2018"

That is it? Chump change compare to America.

The median net worth of a US senator was $3.2 million, versus $900,000 for members of the House of Representatives. A LDP dietman at $245,000?

This is why they do not have a clue what life is like for the average citizen or resident of US. Out of touch"

AGAIN! Nobody gives a crap about the US!.

Indeed, there are plenty of comment threads on other sites on articles about US politicians' income, but I think the idea here to discredit criticism of Japan by insinuating the critics are hypocrites. Of course it totally fails to address or refute the original criticism so I take it as a tacit acknowledgement that the criticism is valid.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

alwaysspeakingwisdom - "Japanese lawmakers' income averaged 26.57 million yen ($245,000) in 2018"

That is it? Chump change compare to America.

The median net worth of a US senator was $3.2 million, versus $900,000 for members of the House of Representatives. A LDP dietman at $245,000?

This is why they do not have a clue what life is like for the average citizen or resident of US. Out of touch

AGAIN! Nobody gives a crap about the US!. This article is about the Japanese bureaucrats getting richer at the expense of commoners. Stop trying to downplay Japan's flaws by attempting to bash the US. It's very petty and racist!

9 ( +9 / -0 )

"And why exactly we cannot vote? I'm a permanent resident and member of this community, and I pay the same or more taxes than any of my neighbours."

And obviously you don't have a clue.

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

AND That's why they need more tax revenue!!!!!!!!!

4 ( +4 / -0 )

In 2011, the basic monthly salary for a Diet member was ¥1,300,000 and his/her yearly bonus amounted to ¥5,500,000. Each lawmaker is allowed ¥1 million a month for tsushin kotsu taizai-hi (communications, transportation and lodging expenses). Lawmakers are not required to submit receipts showing how they spent this money, so that’s an extra ¥12 million a year, tax-free. That’ a total of over ¥33,000,000 a year.

Also, if the politician belongs to a parliamentary group that is working on a specific issue, he/she can receive an extra ¥650,000 a month in legislative administrative expenses (rippo jimuhi) while the group is operating.

According to the national tax agency, the average salaryman working for a private company in Japan earned ¥295,000 a month in 2010, and received yearly bonuses of ¥580,000.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

"Japanese lawmakers' income averaged 26.57 million yen ($245,000) in 2018"

That is it? Chump change compare to America.

The median net worth of a US senator was $3.2 million, versus $900,000 for members of the House of Representatives. A LDP dietman at $245,000?

There is a difference between income and net worth. The figures for Japan are for yearly income while you are talking about net worth of US politicians. They are completely different beasts.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Japanese lawmakers' income averaged 26.57 million yen in 2018.

No wonder they're not worried whether or not their pension will be sufficient to see them through retirement.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

And why exactly we cannot vote? I'm a permanent resident and member of this community, and I pay the same or more taxes than any of my neighbours. 

Then become a citizen.

Complaints about not being able to vote are empty - Japan provides an avenue to the right to vote. If someone chooses not to take those steps, they have no right to complain about the lack of right to vote, as it’s their own choice to remain unable to do so

That all said, it would be nice if permanent residents could vote in municipal elections. There isn’t really any bias in allegiance in such a situation, as a foreign national is only going to have civic allegiance to whatever city they’re living in, not another. But that’s a nice thought, and very few places in the world offer that privilege to foreign citizens.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Peeping_TomToday  04:57 am JST

"Someone who pays taxes but can't vote?"

I'm British; can I vote for the President of America? Can I be elected into becoming one?

Which bits did you not understand?

And why exactly we cannot vote? I'm a permanent resident and member of this community, and I pay the same or more taxes than any of my neighbours.

You can't vote because you're not Japanese!

That's just xenophobic.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

"Someone who pays taxes but can't vote?"

You can't vote because you're not Japanese!

I'm British; can I vote for the President of America? Can I be elected into becoming one?

Which bits did you not understand?

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

But hey, we absolutely MUST raise the consumption tax because there is no money in government! These guys sit around and tell us so!

6 ( +6 / -0 )

My Taxes go to pay for these Clowns, and I have absolutely no representation.... so I will just get my Satisfaction by referring to them as "Clowns" in a non-democratic / racist Society.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

In my opinion, lawmakers should be paid depending on their achievements and after the fact. They need to be held accountable, but yeah, who am i.

Someone who pays taxes but can't vote?

Most of these people are overpaid. But most likely they will never see a pay cut.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

A politician's annual income and their net worth are 2 vastly different things.

Take vice PM Aso as 1 example out of 100s. His govt salary is peanuts compared to his accumulated wealth, whether it be held directly in his name or as part of the Family Fortune.

Which is why it's so insulting having these Money Moguls preach about how doozy life is for the ordinary folks - you know with Abenomics spurring Pay Rises & Summer Bonuses for the betterment of all.

Life's a Trickle.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

That is it? Chump change compare to America.

The median net worth of a US senator was $3.2 million, versus $900,000 for members of the House of Representatives. A LDP dietman at $245,000?

America is a much bigger economy, so they can afford bigger bribes, payoffs and insider deals. But also I think the Japanese are better at hiding their wealth - much tougher to do in the US. So these figures are almost certainly on the low side.

Either way, when politics is good business, that means business is bad for everyone else. Wake up, folks.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

"Japanese lawmakers' income averaged 26.57 million yen ($245,000) in 2018"

That is it? Chump change compare to America.

The median net worth of a US senator was $3.2 million, versus $900,000 for members of the House of Representatives. A LDP dietman at $245,000?

This is why they do not have a clue what life is like for the average citizen or resident of US. Out of touch

-9 ( +1 / -10 )

Meanwhile, 60% of workers are on short-term contracts and 25% of kids are living in poverty. Talk about feathering their own nests. Japan is not a democracy! It is a fascist state run by bureaucrats who have no political ideals besides their own salaries.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Marcelito, you are so right. The old Minshuto were so naive and trusting. They were completely played by Abe and his bunch of cronies. But still many people feel that many of japan's problems were caused by the three year run of Minshuto. I can't believe how gullible these people are.

And now it looks like Abe will win again, nothing will change, the deficits will grow, and their salaries and pensions will increase while the average Taro gets screwed.

10 ( +10 / -0 )

So roughly, each year our taxes are paying these people ¥30600000000. That is a lot of money to have people sit around and drink tea, sleep during question period and not do a whole hell of a lot.

11 ( +11 / -0 )

This is why they do not have a clue what life is like for the average citizen or resident of Japan. And this is only the official income. It does not include all the shady brown envelopes and donations that pass for influence, or the lucrative post-government advisory posts where they can boost their generous pensions.

11 ( +11 / -0 )

basic monthly salary for a Diet member is ¥1,294,000 and his/her yearly bonus amounts to ¥5,530,000. So about Yen 21 million. Plus you can hire three secretaries at pubic cost for Yen 8M each up to a total of Yen 24M and get free shinkansen tickets to go home plus other annual stipends for communication etc. In short, this can and in some cases on BOTH sides of the aisle become a family business. Given’s shrinking population and the demographic shifts with towns/villages being merged in the rural areas, there seem to be a discussion awaiting about how many members of Diet are really required to provide full representation. Do we really need 680 representatives between Upper and Lower Hoses? Does the Upper House actually provide any value at all in today's world versus the age of nobility from whence it sprung? Or would we have a stronger, more cost efficient, democracy with no Upper House but the Lower house expanded but with a total reduction from 680 to perhaps 500?

11 ( +11 / -0 )

Not bad at all..... looks like they needn't worry about having 20million yen in savings for when they retire...

9 ( +9 / -0 )

This is click bait, sloppy title and reporting. The average salary of the law makers didn't change; it just happened that one guy had stocks and other businesses that boosted his income, and therefore the overall average. Which doesn't say anything.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

The thing is, though, there's nothing here about their official Diet salaries, just what they're making on the side. I'd be interested to know what they're getting from taxpayers but I bet it's way too much.

12 ( +12 / -0 )

Nice. The average salary keeps going down but the salary of lawmakers, who make promises to raise salaries of the people, keeps going up.

14 ( +14 / -0 )

25 million to sleep during meetings. What a job.

In my opinion, lawmakers should be paid depending on their achievements and after the fact. They need to be held accountable, but yeah, who am i.

9 ( +9 / -0 )

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