> That seems to be about the situation.  Do you have any idea about
what
> percentage of your income would go to all the things like income
> tax/insurance/city tax, etc for a 300,000/month salary?  I've heard a
> number of different things, but it seems to be around 25-30%. Does
this
> sound about right?
>
> Based on the way Japanese engineers seem to work, I don't know how I
> would find the additional time to work a part time job.

That sounds low for an english teacher if it isn't including some sort
of housing.  For an engineer that's just ludicrous.  We had a bunch of
freshmen engineers around last week and the starting salary for them
was (IIRC) 50% higher then 300,000 a month.

> My current visa has the status as "Professor", so currently I can
only
> work at academic institutions or related places.  So I have to get
the
> status changed before I can work at a company (which the company will
> help me do).  My current contract has less than 3 months left on it,
but
> my visa won't expire for another year.  I'm not sure how the self
> sponsorship thing works.  I may or may not try to look into it, but
it's
> good to be aware of it.

You might check into this.  My visa has "intacompany transferee" on it.
 My understanding is that that means jack and squat - I can quit my job
and work for anyone I want to since it is a valid work visa.  As long
as you have a valid work visa chances are the company isn't going to
care - I suggest not bringing it up in the future and if it is a
problem they can help you get it changed.