The following description of Japanese Army pay in WWII was originally published in Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 16, Jan. 14, 1943. [DISCLAIMER: The following text is taken from the U.S. War Department publication Tactical and Technical Trends. As with all wartime intelligence information, data may be incomplete or inaccurate. No attempt has been made to update or correct the text. Any views or opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the website.]

ANNUAL BASE PAY--JAPANESE ARMY Grade      Annual Base Pay         Grade      Annual Base Pay General   $1,914.00 1st Lieutenant   Lt General    1,682.00    1st Class $327.70 Major General    1,450.00    2d Class  295.80 Colonel    1,305.00 2d Lieutenant  246.50 Lt Colonel      933.80 Warrant Officer  261.00 to 278.40 Major      675.70 Sergeant Major  104.40 to 135.72 Captain   Sergeant   46.98 to  78.30    1st Class      551.00 Corporal   31.32 to  53.94    2d Class      478.50 Superior Private   22.27 to  24.36    3d Class      426.30 1st & 2d Class Privates   19.14   Comment: The U.S. dollar has about 4 times greater purchasing power in Japan than in the United States. Note the great difference between the pay of enlisted personnel from sergeant down and that of commissioned personnel--in particular that the pay of a general is exactly 100 times that of a private.

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