Avg salary (or standard of living) for Sr. Java developer in Berlin? Tokyo? London? Paris?

I am seriously considering a change of scenery in the next few years, and curious to know what kind of lifestyle I could afford in various major world cities.

Is it easy for an American to get a software job in these places? Or would I already have to live there to even get an interview?

I'm tempted to go the route of switching to another company here in the US that has an overseas development office and then requesting a transfer after a few years, but there are no companies like that in my city, and I would prefer to move once, not twice.

Also, is fluency required from day one, or would most companies consider a person with some knowledge of the local language and a willingness to learn? I can get by pretty well in tourist situations in German, but I am not fluent. I probably only know 200-300 words each of French and Japanese.

PayScale.com will give you the information you're looking for, but it asks for a few more parameters (Which is why I couldn't do it for you ;) )

Places like Germany and England would be fine, as the majority of the populace speaks english at least as a second language. If you look into countries like China, you might have an easier time finding a job. They have a large interest in the English language and becoming a technological entity.