Looking for advice regarding salaries in IT. Feeling stuck on what to do next.

Background info:

I’m a software developer with a mixed amount of experience in different fields, total of 8 years now. I was about to leave Japan because of the low tech salary a few times and in one instance, when I was about to leave, my offer was rescinded as they did layoffs/paused hiring so I stayed and managed to get a few offers in Japan. I was choosing between a foreign company that’s notorious for poor WLB that was fully remote or a Nikkei company that is also fully remote. I chose the latter despite the former offering more money and is way better on the resume(I regret this decision sometimes). The current job didn’t fully match it but I believe they were only willing to dish out a decent amount of money was because of that offer I had(and they were desperate…).

At my current job, the first year was rough and I hated it(constant pings, etc). The second year, while better, I want to move on. I haven’t received a raise nor a bonus. It’s my first job where I didn’t receive anything but I’m okay with this as my base salary is in the high end. The only way to receive more money is to get promoted to a manager which I don’t want. I’ve been wearing multiple hats. I interviewed for a few companies and received a few offers last year; most only wanting to offer 10-11.5 million and hybrid(2-3 days at the office). I declined them mostly because I was tired of working for Nikkei companies and didn’t want to lose full remote. Some companies were honest and said they can’t match my pay which I appreciated(sometimes, I did interview with them only to get some practice under my belt, hoping for system design and programming practice). I have nothing against Nikkei companies, the first company I joined, I really loved the people I worked with but left because there was little career growth after 3 years.

However, one offer I have is from a foreign company, but they only offered 10 mil + stock options as an IC because of a lack of experience in x programming language. They told me once I pick it up, I’ll be promoted with a salary increase(not sure if I can trust them). I’m only considering this since I wanted to try a gaishikei at least once, but one day at the office a week, an hour and a half away, would suck. I haven’t commuted to work since COVID. However, the total work hours per week will decrease by 3 hours. The manager seems nice, and the potential to grow seems to be there? I’m not sure. It’s the only company from the list I declined that seemed okay, and I was hoping maybe I can use it for a transfer if I want to leave Japan again.

So two main questions:

1. Should a pay cut be expected? I feel like I’m peaking here regarding salary. Yes, a few companies do offer more than 10-12 mil but fully remote as well? It seems so rare nowadays. Most companies seem to only want to pay at most 10 million for a senior developer.
2. Would you take a pay cut to work for a gaishikei and maybe better career growth? I could try my luck this year and continue self-studying, but it doesn’t seem like the job market will get better. I’m somewhat okay with maybe a 10% pay cut if it brings a better WLB, but 20-25% is pushing it.

I would like to move to a different company, but it seems like I have to take a pay cut unless I want to do management. Headhunters all say it’s hard to find a job that would pay more or wait until the job market gets better(most headhunters suck, I’ve found only one that was decent). I’m feeling stuck in my career here... 

Edit: Japanese level: I passed N2 a few years ago.