Yes, they're really low. Starting base salaries for programmers and technical workers in general in "regular" Japanese companies are in average $3M yen (=~ U$36

Yes, they're really low. Starting base salaries for programmers and technical workers in general in "regular" Japanese companies are in average $3M yen (=~ U$36k) with very little variance. Salaries go up very slowly (but surely) and most engineers and developers will eventually reach a plateau under U$100k. Unlike US companies, there's no way you'll ever earn more than that without changing to management. On the other hand, most companies pay overtime and you have job security. Exceptions are Japanese financial companies and foreign companies. They tend to pay much more than regular Japanese companies. Still, the only companies that pay on par with US companies are foreign banks and securities houses. I think people underestimate how good it is to be in US if you're a software developer or IT professional in general.