Salary · Tokyo in-house
In-House Counsel Salary in Tokyo 2026: how many seats ¥100 million funds.
A dated cash figure in yen and dollars first. The measurable 2026 series is a national membership survey plus two employer-printed Tokyo cells. A listed-company general counsel is not in a single-figure table we can cite.
¥100 million of 2026 cash is a seat count, not a headline.
The Tokyo map records title and employer. It does not record cash. A company asking what 2026 Tokyo in-house cash actually buys is asking how many seats ¥100 million funds, in yen and in dollars, at one labeled Bank of Japan rate.
JILA modal-band midpoint, March 2026 survey: ¥11,250,000 ($71,000 at ¥158.46 per $1). One hundred million yen funds 8.89 seats at that midpoint. The midpoint is not a median. JILA questionnaire ↗
Pick a dated seat. The number is how many of those seats ¥100 million funds. Dollars use the Bank of Japan central rate of 7 October 2026 only. The full table sits below.
- ¥158.46
- Yen per US dollar, Bank of Japan central rate on 7 October 2026. Dollar columns use this print only.
- Bank of Japan daily foreign-exchange PDF
- 3,130
- In-house bengoshi on the three Tokyo bars as of 30 June 2026, out of 3,756 nationally.
- JILA transition table, 30 June 2026
- 92
- Respondents in the ¥10–12.5 million total-cash band, of 354, in the March 2026 survey.
- JILA questionnaire, 18 February–13 March 2026
- 8.89
- Seats ¥100 million funds at the ¥11.25 million midpoint of that modal band.
- Derived from the JILA band and the 7 October 2026 central rate
What 2026 Tokyo in-house cash actually funds
Local currency first, dollars at one central rate, then how many such seats ¥100 million buys. Each row is a named instrument. None of them is a mean of the respondents.
There is no published 2026 average for Tokyo in-house counsel that survives a source check. The Japan In-house Lawyers Association questionnaire, fielded from 18 February to 13 March 2026, collected 354 valid responses. It asks for total cash paid (支給総額) in bands. It does not ask for a Tokyo office, and it does not publish a median or a mean. The modal band is ¥10–12.5 million: 92 of 354, the Association’s own 26.0 percent. The midpoint of that band is ¥11.25 million. Calling the midpoint a median would invent a statistic the PDF does not contain.
The same PDF’s year-on-year page puts the 2025 column at 83 of 359 in that band, 23.1 percent, a rise of 2.9 percentage points in the 2026 column. The ten 2026 bins are 0 under ¥2.5 million, 1 at ¥2.5–5 million, 29 at ¥5–7.5 million, 59 at ¥7.5–10 million, 92 at ¥10–12.5 million, 56 at ¥12.5–15 million, 50 at ¥15–20 million, 36 at ¥20–30 million, 25 at ¥30–50 million, and 6 at ¥50 million or above. Those bins sum to 354. Respondents at ¥10 million or above sum to 265 of 354, 74.9 percent. Respondents under ¥10 million sum to 89 of 354, 25.1 percent. Both percentages are sums of the printed bins, not a separate JILA release.
The Bank of Japan’s foreign-exchange PDF for 7 October 2026 prints a USD/JPY central rate of ¥158.46 per $1. The spot at 9:00 JST was 158.31–158.33. The spot at 17:00 JST was 158.10–158.11. The day’s range was 158.04–158.51. Every dollar figure on this page uses 158.46 only, rounded to the nearest $100. On that rule, ¥100 million is $631,100. The seat counts below divide ¥100 million by the yen figure. They do not divide $631,100 a second time.
| Seat | Cash (JPY) | USD | Seats / ¥100m | What the number measures | Dated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band just under the mode, floor | ¥7,500,000 | $47,300 | 13.33 | Floor of the ¥7.5–10 million bin (59 of 354). Not the modal band. | Mar 2026 |
| JFTC term attorney, 3 years | ¥8,300,000 | $52,400 | 12.05 | Approximate annual cash, including allowances. Not a GC package. | 2026 starts |
| JFTC term attorney, 5 years | ¥9,400,000 | $59,300 | 10.64 | Same guide. Application deadline on this print was 15 October 2025. | 2026 starts |
| JICA stated annual, about ¥10 million | ¥10,000,000 | $63,100 | 10.00 | Employer's figure on the grade-7 line. Initial term was calendar 2025. | 2025 term |
| JILA modal band, floor | ¥10,000,000 | $63,100 | 10.00 | Lower edge of the modal total-cash band. 92 of 354 respondents. | Mar 2026 |
| JFTC term attorney, 10 years | ¥10,600,000 | $66,900 | 9.43 | Top rung on the same approximate table. Workplace is Minato. | 2026 starts |
| JILA modal band, midpoint | ¥11,250,000 | $71,000 | 8.89 | Midpoint of ¥10–12.5 million. Not a median and not a mean. | Mar 2026 |
| JILA modal band, cap | ¥12,500,000 | $78,900 | 8.00 | Upper edge of the modal band. The next bin is a different row in the survey. | Mar 2026 |
| ¥15–20 million bin, midpoint | ¥17,500,000 | $110,400 | 5.71 | Bin midpoint. 50 of 354 sit in the bin. Not the average of those 50. | Mar 2026 |
| ¥50 million or above, floor | ¥50,000,000 | $315,500 | 2.00 | Open-ended bin. 6 of 354. Floor only, because the bin has no cap. | Mar 2026 |
Arithmetic is ¥100,000,000 divided by the yen figure, to two decimals. Dollars are the yen divided by 158.46, to the nearest $100. The JICA row and the modal floor share a yen figure and therefore share $63,100 and 10.00 seats. They are different instruments. See the sources.
Modal midpoint
¥11,250,000. Center of the ¥10–12.5 million band. 92 of 354 respondents. Not a median.
JILA questionnaire, March 2026 ↗Two printed Tokyo jobs anchor the same arithmetic, and neither is a private-company grade. JICA’s Legal Affairs Division specialist (attorney) posting, which now shows recruitment closed, states a grade-7 monthly base of ¥555,630 and, on that same line, about ¥10 million a year. The initial contract was 1 January 2025 through 31 December 2025. Renewal is annual, capped at three years from the hire date, so a renewed seat could still be staffed in 2026. The yen on the page is the 2025 spec, not a 2026 lockstep. Bonus is listed for June and December. A commuting allowance and a special-city allowance are listed separately. Dependent, housing, and retirement allowances are not paid, and there is no step increase. Twelve times the monthly base is ¥6,667,560, which is $42,100 at the 7 October 2026 central rate. That product is not the employer’s “about ¥10 million,” and it is not the figure used in the seat table. The employer’s annual figure converts to $63,100, the same dollar as the modal floor. The workplace is JICA headquarters in Chiyoda. The spec asks for a Japan attorney qualification and, preferably, three or more years of corporate legal work. One hire was planned.
The Japan Fair Trade Commission’s term-attorney guide prints approximate annual cash, including allowances, of ¥8.30 million at three years, ¥9.40 million at five years, and ¥10.60 million at ten years. Those are $52,400, $59,300, and $66,900. Adoption on this guide is any day from 1 February 2026 to 1 July 2026, ending 31 December 2026 or 30 June 2027. The application deadline printed on the guide is 15 October 2025, 17:00. Planned hires are 29. The workplace is Toranomon Alcea Tower in Minato, after the move the guide dates from December 2025. The grade is an assistant-division-director or section-chief administrative post, not a general-counsel title. The guide states that the National Public Service Act applies, so the appointee cannot perform lawyer work, and it excludes applicants who are not Japanese nationals. A later hiring round is not treated here as having reused this yen.
| Instrument | Geography | What sits inside the yen | A median? |
|---|---|---|---|
| JILA total-cash bands | National membership survey, March 2026 | Total cash, as the respondent placed it in a bin | No. The modal bin is not a median |
| JICA grade-7 spec | Chiyoda headquarters; initial term calendar 2025 | Monthly base, plus the employer’s about-¥10 million figure on the same line | No. One printed seat |
| JFTC term-attorney guide | Minato; start dates in 2026 | Approximate annual cash, including allowances | No. A ladder by years of practice |
| Listed-company general counsel | Not used | No single-figure cash table is cited | Not estimated |
A Tokyo in-house cash figure is a seat count before it is a paycheck.
The employer is a company or a public body. The survey will not tell you which.
The March 2026 cash question has no employer name on it. The June 2026 roster has employer names and no cash. A payer who merges them into one Tokyo average is building a number neither document contains.
Manufacturers and trading houses
The largest slice of the membership survey, and the largest trading-company desks on the June 2026 roster. Pay is a grade table. It is not a New York counsel band converted at spot.
Banks, trusts, and securities
Financial employers are the second industry in the survey and several of the largest desks. The number the board will sign is the grade, not a dollar survey.
IT and platform companies
A listed platform and a US platform's Japan unit sit near the top of the roster. Headcount on that roster is not a cash figure, and it is not a Tokyo-only salary cut.
Public corporations and the commission
JICA and the Japan Fair Trade Commission are the employers that actually print yen. One spec is a 2025 contract. The other staffs 2026 start dates on an approximate ladder.
JILA’s July 2026 roster, as of 30 June 2026, counts 3,756 in-house bengoshi at 1,552 employers. A year earlier the same series was 1,539 employers and 3,596 people. In-house bengoshi, on the Association’s definition, are lawyers who register the company’s location as their law-office address and who are officers or employees of a company other than the national or local government. They are 7.8 percent of 48,106 registered bengoshi on that date. Registered foreign lawyers are excluded from that denominator.
The three Tokyo bars hold 1,197 (Tokyo), 989 (Dai-Ichi Tokyo), and 944 (Dai-Ni Tokyo). The sum is 3,130, which is 83.3 percent of 3,756 and exactly five-sixths. The Kanto federation total on the same table is 3,207, so 77 in-house bengoshi in that federation sit outside the three Tokyo bars. The salary survey is still not a Tokyo cut. The roll says where the registered in-house lawyers sit. It does not say what they are paid.
The largest desks on the 30 June 2026 roster are LINE Yahoo 73 (80 in June 2025), Mitsui & Co. 42, Marubeni 35, Amazon Japan 33, and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank 31. Those five sum to 214, 5.7 percent of 3,756. The printed top 20 sum to 538, 14.3 percent. Both percentages are our sums of the printed headcounts. They are roster counts. They are not the case study on this page, and they are not cash.
Industry on the salary survey, which is a different base of 354, is manufacturing 133 (37.6 percent), finance 58 (16.4 percent), IT 57 (16.1 percent), and other 106 (29.9 percent). Position is staff in legal, IP, or compliance 129 (36.4 percent) plus staff elsewhere 14 (4.0 percent), together 143 of 354; managers in legal, IP, or compliance 160 (45.2 percent) plus managers elsewhere 18 (5.1 percent), together 178 of 354; and officer or General Counsel 33 (9.3 percent). There is no salary-by-rank cross-tab. A general-counsel band is not inferred from the 33.
Sartori’s Tokyo in-house interview set is 275 structured interviews with Tokyo in-house counsel. Of 148 counsel and legal-manager respondents in that set, over a 24-month window, 38 placed their own total cash in the ¥10–12.5 million band, 25.7 percent. That is next to the Association’s printed 26.0 percent and it is not the same sample. A general counsel at a TSE Prime electronics manufacturer, in that set, said the remuneration committee had converted a New York counsel band at the spot rate and called it a Tokyo offer. A head of legal at a Tokyo-headquartered megabank said the grade table, not a dollar survey, is what the board will sign.
Cash is printedCash is withheld
- Public employer spec A monthly base or an approximate annual ladder sits on the employer’s own page. The company and the lawyer can both read the yen. The date of the spec still has to be read.
- Company grade table The board signs a grade. The March 2026 band is evidence of where total cash clusters nationally. It is not the grade, and it is not a Tokyo payroll extract.
- Listed general counsel No single-figure cash table for that title is cited on this page. The missing number is not a median waiting to be inferred from the officer row of 33.
Your first offer is a seat count. ¥100 million funds 8.89 seats at the modal midpoint, 10.00 at ¥10 million, and 8.00 at the modal cap. It does not fund a New York band converted on the day of the committee.
- Name the instrument. A survey bin, a 2025 public-corporation spec, and an approximate 2026 public-service ladder are not interchangeable. The JFTC line includes allowances and removes private practice. The JILA line is total cash as reported.
- Do not import a dollar survey. The spot rate moves inside a single Tokyo day. This page locks 7 October 2026 at ¥158.46 so the committee and the candidate are not using two prints.
- The officer row is not a GC band. 33 of 354 respondents are officers or General Counsel. Their cash is not broken out. Budget the managers, who are 178 of 354, as the layer under the title.
- Read the roster as headcount. 3,130 of 3,756 in-house bengoshi are on the three Tokyo bars. That is where the people are registered. It is not what a seat costs.
Your title is not a published Tokyo band. Unless the employer has printed a spec, the number you earn will not be in a public table, and a converted New York figure is not the grade the board signs.
- Ask which yen you are being shown. Monthly base, total cash, allowances, bonus month. JICA’s ¥555,630 times 12 is ¥6,667,560 before the employer’s own annual figure of about ¥10 million.
- Bar dues are usually the employer’s line. On the March 2026 survey, 302 of 354 respondents, 85.3 percent, said the employer pays bar dues. 52 pay their own.
- A public-service seat is a different profession for the term. The JFTC guide says the appointee cannot perform lawyer work. Compare that constraint before comparing ¥8.30 million with a private grade.
- The modal day is not a long-hours premium. 143 of 354 respondents report 8 to under 9 hours. Price the work, not a foreign lockstep that assumes a different day.
Listed-company general-counsel cash is not in a table a board can open.
The modal band is a cash cluster, not a bilingual night shift.
Hours, language, and prior firm practice are on the same March 2026 questionnaire. They explain what the modal respondent’s job looks like. They do not create a second salary table.
The modal day on the questionnaire is short of a nine-hour block. 143 of 354 respondents, the Association’s 40.4 percent, reported 8 to under 9 hours. That 143 is a headcount on the hours question. It is not the same 143 as the combined staff rows, and it is not a Tokyo time sheet. The cash in the modal band is not evidence that the seat is priced as a long-hours premium.
Language points the same direction. 146 of 354, 41.2 percent, use a foreign language in under 10 percent of their work. A language uplift is not the typical job in this respondent pool. The JICA spec, separately, lists TOEIC 730 as desired and an average of 22 overtime hours a month, on a day printed as 9:30 to 17:45. That is one Chiyoda seat. It is not the survey.
Other constraints on the same 354: 248 (70.1 percent) had practiced at a law firm before the in-house seat; 114 (32.2 percent) may not take side work; 46 (13.0 percent) sometimes act as the company’s litigation counsel. The largest experience row is 10 to under 15 years, 136 of 354, 38.4 percent. There is no cross-tab of experience against cash, so the modal lawyer is not declared to be the modal earner. Respondents were 242 men (68.4 percent), 111 women (31.4 percent), and 1 other or no answer. That mix is the questionnaire. It is not a census of the 3,756.
Of 110 respondents in the Tokyo interview set, over an 18-month window, 91 said the employer paid bar dues. The Association’s printed share is 85.3 percent. The two figures are close, and they are not the same question asked of the same people.
Sartori maps about 11,000 lawyers in Tokyo. That file records title and employer. It does not record cash.
The cash instruments moved. They still do not publish a private GC table.
Headcount and the public ladder are dated 2026 facts. Neither prices a listed general counsel, and neither counts open Tokyo seats.
The global map covers 1,480,000+ lawyers. It does not price a Tokyo seat. Sartori has made 400+ placements since 2017 (230+ in-house). That history is firm-wide. It is not a Tokyo cash distribution, and it is not the closed-search count in the next section.
Price the seat on a printed instrument, then run two clocks that are not the same book.
The firm-wide general-counsel clock and the Tokyo in-house line do not share a timetable. Using one number for both is how a first offer misses the modal band.
Two firm-wide clocks are a different book from this city. Sartori’s general-counsel shortlist is 24 days, and the median time to an accepted offer on a general-counsel search is 11 weeks. The Tokyo in-house line on this page is the city book: median 12 working days from offer to signature, and a typical 8 to 16 weeks.
Of 19 closed Tokyo in-house searches over three years, 11 were counsel or legal-manager seats, 5 were head-of-legal or deputy seats, and 3 were general-counsel seats. Those three groups sum to 19. Of the 11 counsel seats, 4 drew a counter-offer. Counter-offer incidence on the line as a whole is 30 percent. That counsel-seat segment is not the line rate.
The miss is the first offer. Of the 19, 7 first offers were priced under ¥10 million, below the floor of the modal band. 4 of those 7 did not sign until the cash was reset into the ¥10–12.5 million band, and that reset pushed them past the 8 to 16 week window. Completion on the line is 93 percent. That percentage is the line’s completion figure. It is not 19 divided by 19, and it does not make the late reset a success.
A TSE Prime electronics manufacturer in Tokyo hired a commercial counsel in 14 weeks. Those 14 weeks sit inside the 8 to 16 week window. The seat was a counsel file inside the 19. No company and no lawyer is named. The file is not one of the 4 that had to be repriced after a sub-¥10 million opening.
BriefSignature
- Name the instrument Survey midpoint, public spec, or a grade the remuneration committee will actually sign. If the brief cannot name the instrument, it is not a brief.
- Name the yen, then the dollars Convert once, at a dated central rate, and write the rate on the offer. A spot picked on committee day is a different number by the evening print.
- Name the constraint Private practice, bar dues, bonus month, and whether the title is counsel, head of legal, or general counsel. Those are different seats inside the same closed-file count.
Inside the 8 to 16 week window, the first offer names the title, clears ¥10 million, and names the central rate. ¥158.46 on 7 October 2026 is the rate used for every dollar figure above. The 9:00 and 17:00 prints that day were already different.
If you are the company putting this lawyer on the payroll, the next conversation is a search brief. Sartori’s in-house counsel recruiting desk runs that brief. A first general counsel sits on first general counsel. The research method is on the methodology page. National attorney receipts, which are a different instrument, stay on the Japan lawyer salary page.
Tokyo in-house counsel pay: common questions
What is a typical in house counsel salary Tokyo figure in 2026?
92 of 354 Japan In-house Lawyers Association respondents in March 2026 placed total cash in the ¥10–12.5 million band, 26.0 percent. The survey ran from 18 February to 13 March 2026 and is a national membership survey, not a Tokyo-only cut. Of 3,756 in-house bengoshi on 30 June 2026, 3,130 sit on the three Tokyo bars. At the Bank of Japan central rate of ¥158.46 per $1 on 7 October 2026, the ¥11.25 million midpoint of that band is $71,000.
How many Tokyo in-house seats does ¥100 million fund?
¥100 million funds 8.89 seats at the ¥11.25 million midpoint, 10.00 seats at the ¥10 million floor, and 8.00 seats at the ¥12.5 million cap. The same ¥100 million is $631,100 at the 7 October 2026 central rate. Seat counts divide the yen. They do not divide a second dollar budget.
Does the March 2026 survey publish a Tokyo median?
92 of 354 respondents sit in the ¥10–12.5 million band, and that band is the mode, not a median. JILA does not publish a median, a mean, or a Tokyo-only cut of the same question. The 2025 column of the same PDF put 83 of 359 respondents, 23.1 percent, in that band.
What yen do public Tokyo employers actually print?
JICA printed a grade-7 monthly base of ¥555,630 and about ¥10 million a year for an initial term from 1 January 2025 through 31 December 2025. The Japan Fair Trade Commission guide prints approximate annual cash, including allowances, of ¥8.30 million, ¥9.40 million, and ¥10.60 million at 3, 5, and 10 years, for start dates from 1 February to 1 July 2026. That guide’s application deadline was 15 October 2025. It planned 29 hires. It is not a 2026 lockstep survey of private employers.
How long does a Tokyo in-house search take to close?
A typical Tokyo in-house file on this line closes in 8 to 16 weeks, and the median from offer to signature is 12 working days. Of 19 closed searches over three years, completion on the line is 93 percent and counter-offer incidence is 30 percent. A TSE Prime electronics manufacturer in Tokyo hired a commercial counsel in 14 weeks.
Is the modal cash a foreign-language or long-hours premium?
146 of 354 March 2026 respondents use a foreign language in under 10 percent of their work, 41.2 percent. On the same survey, 143 of 354, 40.4 percent, report a day of 8 to under 9 hours. The modal band is not evidence of a bilingual night-shift premium.
The questionnaire, the roster, two employer prints, and one exchange-rate PDF.
Cash bands come from the March 2026 membership questionnaire. Headcount comes from the 30 June 2026 roster. Employer yen comes from JICA and the Japan Fair Trade Commission. Dollars use the Bank of Japan central rate of 7 October 2026.
Primary documents and the research program
7 references- Sartori & Partners — Tokyo in-house research and mandate telemetry sartoriglobal.com ↗
- 企業内弁護士に関するアンケート集計結果（2026年3月実施） jila.jp ↗
- 企業内弁護士数の推移（2001年～2026年） jila.jp ↗
- 企業内弁護士を多く抱える企業上位20社（2001年～2026年） jila.jp ↗
- 外国為替市況 — Foreign Exchange Rates, 7 October 2026 boj.or.jp ↗
- 任期付職員（法曹資格者（弁護士））の募集について jftc.go.jp ↗
- JICA — 総務部法務課専門嘱託（弁護士）の募集 partner.jica.go.jp ↗
Each external figure is a printed bin, a roster count, a contract spec, an approximate public-service ladder, or a central exchange rate. Seat counts and dollar conversions are derived from those inputs. The modal band is not a median. Recruiter salary guides are not used. Sartori figures are marked on the page for confirmation.
Keep reading
The national attorney survey, the Tokyo market, and the desk that runs the search.
Lawyer salary in Japan 2026
JFBA receipts and the one public-corporation cell. A different instrument from the Tokyo in-house seat count.
Read the Japan lawyer tableTokyo legal market 2026
Registration, deal flow, and the listing rulebook. This salary page does not restate that market.
Read the Tokyo marketIn-house counsel recruiting
How a company briefs the seat: a named instrument, a yen figure, and a first offer that clears the modal floor.
Brief a Tokyo searchBrief a Tokyo search
Price the seat before you convert it.
Whether you are hiring Tokyo counsel or replacing a head of legal, we price the first offer on a printed yen instrument and run the search on the Tokyo in-house clock, not on a general-counsel timetable borrowed from another book.