Negotiating salary: Discussing benefits like vacation days or remote work

🇯🇵 This is your opening to raise vacation or remote work. In Japan it's normal to ask a few calm, specific questions here rather than make bold demands.

💬 Put に after a time span to mean "per" or "every". For example, 週に means "per week" and 月に means "per month".

💬 何 plus a counter asks "how many". For example, 何日 means "how many days" and 何時間 means "how many hours".

🇯🇵 Japanese law guarantees at least ten paid days after six months on the job. Many workers still hesitate to use them all, so asking how easy it is to actually take leave is reasonable.

💬 十日 is said (tōka), not (jū-nichi). The counts from 1 to 10 days, plus 20, have special readings.

🇯🇵 Said flatly, そうですか just acknowledges what you heard without agreeing. It gives you a polite pause before you counter-offer.

🇯🇵 Asking "would X be difficult?" is a soft way to make a request. It lets the employer decline without either side losing face.

🇯🇵 Trailing off after ちょっと "a little" is a polite "no". The refusal is understood without being said, so don't push for a clearer answer.

💬 十二日 can mean either "twelve days" or "the twelfth," and context decides; here it's the number of vacation days. Adding なら means "if it's that," as in 週二日なら "if it's two days a week".

🇯🇵 Meeting in the middle like this is a typical Japanese compromise. Accepting it graciously usually works better than pushing again.

🇯🇵 わかりました is polite enough for a boss or interviewer. It signals that you accept the point and are ready to move on.

🇯🇵 Remote work has grown in Japan since 2020, but many firms still favor being in the office. Asking about it is fine, but expect limits.

💬 Put a noun with は in front of できますか to ask whether something is allowed. For example, 残業なしはできますか means "is no overtime possible?".

💬 それから "and also" is an easy way to bring up the next topic without sounding demanding.

💬 まで after an amount sets the upper limit. For example, 三日まで means "up to three days".

💬 Ending with ね invites the listener to agree, so it sounds warmer than a plain statement.

🇯🇵 Read it carefully before signing or stamping it, and check that agreed points like vacation days are written in. Verbal agreements carry less weight.

💬 を marks the thing being acted on and is said (o), not (wo). The verb comes last: thing + を + action.

🇯🇵 In this setting it means "excuse me for leaving," said with a bow as you stand or exit. It's also said when entering a room, where it means "excuse me for intruding".