- Jun 19, 2003
- 23,454
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Has anybody ever lived in Japan?
- Thread starter DainBramaged
- Start date
Never lived there either, but I think a main concern is space. The population density is pretty high.
- Jun 19, 2003
- 23,454
- 41
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Biggest cost is housing, electricity. If you live in metropolitan area, can take train everywhere so no car or car insurance.
Plus gas is around 100 Yen a liter.
Food and clothes are pretty close to expensive areas in US. Like any other place, shop around and you'll find pretty good deals sometimes.
Computer stuff is toss-up. MBs, CPUs and hard-drives sometimes cheaper. Other stuff better to go newegg.
Movies are $15-$20 person, and the seats are very uncomfortable. CDs are $20-$30, but that is SLOWLY getting a little better.
Cigarette prices just went up a week ago to 280 Yen from 250 Yen for Japanese brands. 280 Yen to 300 Yen for Marlboros.
Nice hot can of coffee from the vending machine still 120 Yen, though have found a 110 Yen machine.
That's all off top of head.
Plus gas is around 100 Yen a liter.
Food and clothes are pretty close to expensive areas in US. Like any other place, shop around and you'll find pretty good deals sometimes.
Computer stuff is toss-up. MBs, CPUs and hard-drives sometimes cheaper. Other stuff better to go newegg.
Movies are $15-$20 person, and the seats are very uncomfortable. CDs are $20-$30, but that is SLOWLY getting a little better.
Cigarette prices just went up a week ago to 280 Yen from 250 Yen for Japanese brands. 280 Yen to 300 Yen for Marlboros.
Nice hot can of coffee from the vending machine still 120 Yen, though have found a 110 Yen machine.
That's all off top of head.
Housing, Parking, Car fees are OUT FRICKING RAgeous. Food is relatively cheap, if you eat local. Eat western and it gets pricey.
Need to speak some Japanese, Mostly kids are more bi-lingual than adults.
Expect to share a bathroom in budget apts.
<had a Japanese GF there in 1978, she lived in an apt that would fit in my current bedroom. EVERYTHING, kitchen/Bathroom/bedroom was no more than 16x 10 if that.
< lived there as a child w/ USAF Dad
<toured there 4 times in the last 15 years.
< would live there in a heartbeat.
- Jun 19, 2003
- 23,454
- 41
- 91
I have been living in Japan for over 6 years. Will continue living here for the forseeable future since I just got a job with a Japanese company.
The cost of living is still arguably the highest in the entire world. Real estate prices have come down quite a bit in the last couple of years, but you still have to shell out 25-30 million yen (about 250 thousand $US) for a decent apartment and about 100 million yen (nearly 1 million $US) for a family house in an average suburban neighbourhood.
Starting salaries for fresh graduates are ridiculously low in just about any field compared to the US, I think. A big IT company will pay about 25-30 thousand $US per year to a new employee. No wonder people are paying back housing loans till they die.
Living expenses are not too high now compared to a few years ago, although food does still cost more than in Europe or the US, I believe. One liter of milk is about $1. Vegetables and fruits are way overpriced. An apple (1 piece, not 1kg) can set you back as much as $2, and 3-4 pieces of tomatoes will cost anywhere between $1 and $3. 1.5 liter of Coca Cola is about $1.5. A Big Mac value meal at McDonald's costs about $5. Eating out can be cheap or ridiculously expensive. You can get a decent meal at a roadside restaurant for about $10-12 per person, but a slightly decent restaurant will charge you $50-60 per capita.
<EDIT>Oh, yeah, someone else mentioned that if you like Japanese food you can get away with spending very little. Unfortunately I do not like Japanese cuisine, so I am paying through the nose for bread, meat, cheese etc.</EDIT>
Telecommunications fees are probably the lowest in the world! ADSL is dirt-cheap, Fiber-To-The-Home (100 Mbps) is avaible at acceptable prices, cell-phone rates are super-low.
Electronics equipment probably costs about as much as in the US, maybe 5-10% more.
Hope that helps.
<EDIT>Of course, transportation. You can use the extremely well-developed train network to get just about anywhere, although it is by no means cheap to ride trains. You COULD buy a car, but you would end up paying about $150 per month for parking, and another truckload on insurance. Plus, roads are way overcrowded so prepare to spend a lot of time inching ahead in traffic jams. The cheapest and fastest method of transportation is scooters or motorbikes. A lot of people have 50cc scooters, and they ARE extremely useful, but can also be very dangerous, especially in the Osaka area, where most drivers are incredibly selfish, inconsiderate and even suicidal - running red lights, changing lanes without indicating and ignoring other traffic rules is normal practice here. Riding a bike is about as safe as walking into a mine field. Most of my friends who ride bikes have had at least one accident. I nearly died in one just about two years ago.</EDIT>
The cost of living is still arguably the highest in the entire world. Real estate prices have come down quite a bit in the last couple of years, but you still have to shell out 25-30 million yen (about 250 thousand $US) for a decent apartment and about 100 million yen (nearly 1 million $US) for a family house in an average suburban neighbourhood.
Starting salaries for fresh graduates are ridiculously low in just about any field compared to the US, I think. A big IT company will pay about 25-30 thousand $US per year to a new employee. No wonder people are paying back housing loans till they die.
Living expenses are not too high now compared to a few years ago, although food does still cost more than in Europe or the US, I believe. One liter of milk is about $1. Vegetables and fruits are way overpriced. An apple (1 piece, not 1kg) can set you back as much as $2, and 3-4 pieces of tomatoes will cost anywhere between $1 and $3. 1.5 liter of Coca Cola is about $1.5. A Big Mac value meal at McDonald's costs about $5. Eating out can be cheap or ridiculously expensive. You can get a decent meal at a roadside restaurant for about $10-12 per person, but a slightly decent restaurant will charge you $50-60 per capita.
<EDIT>Oh, yeah, someone else mentioned that if you like Japanese food you can get away with spending very little. Unfortunately I do not like Japanese cuisine, so I am paying through the nose for bread, meat, cheese etc.</EDIT>
Telecommunications fees are probably the lowest in the world! ADSL is dirt-cheap, Fiber-To-The-Home (100 Mbps) is avaible at acceptable prices, cell-phone rates are super-low.
Electronics equipment probably costs about as much as in the US, maybe 5-10% more.
Hope that helps.
<EDIT>Of course, transportation. You can use the extremely well-developed train network to get just about anywhere, although it is by no means cheap to ride trains. You COULD buy a car, but you would end up paying about $150 per month for parking, and another truckload on insurance. Plus, roads are way overcrowded so prepare to spend a lot of time inching ahead in traffic jams. The cheapest and fastest method of transportation is scooters or motorbikes. A lot of people have 50cc scooters, and they ARE extremely useful, but can also be very dangerous, especially in the Osaka area, where most drivers are incredibly selfish, inconsiderate and even suicidal - running red lights, changing lanes without indicating and ignoring other traffic rules is normal practice here. Riding a bike is about as safe as walking into a mine field. Most of my friends who ride bikes have had at least one accident. I nearly died in one just about two years ago.</EDIT>
That was very interesting, mudkiller, thanks for a good read. Naturally, you would not hear about stuff like this in Japan. People - big media included - pretend these issues do not exist.
<EDIT>One thing is changing, though, like I mentioned before. People are becoming much smarter about how they spend their money. They stopped being snobs about where they buy groceries. Discount supermarkets are becoming popular. Costco made its way to Japan, several shops opened up in the Kansai area, and their prices undercut everyone else's.</EDIT>
<EDIT v.2>The article did say this at the end, D'oh. Should have read the whole thing before editing.</EDIT v.2>
I lived in Northern Japan which is a bit cheaper than the major cities like Tokyo and Kyoto.
Pros:
Cool electronics before US gets them.
I lived there about 10 years ago and they had stuff I still haven't seen in the US.
Streetside noddle stands (like hot dog vendors in US) are cheap and good.
There's lots of buses and trains.
You can get just about everything in vending machines.
Cons:
Clothes usually suck. Anything semi cool (like a pair of Levi's) is very expensive.
Cigarettes have charcoal in the filters.
Video games are 100 Yen (about $ 0.75) which isn't bad compared to todays arcade prices
but it was expensive when I was used to $ 0.25 machines)
American fast food is expensiveand doesn't taste the same
Pros:
Cool electronics before US gets them.
I lived there about 10 years ago and they had stuff I still haven't seen in the US.
Streetside noddle stands (like hot dog vendors in US) are cheap and good.
There's lots of buses and trains.
You can get just about everything in vending machines.
Cons:
Clothes usually suck. Anything semi cool (like a pair of Levi's) is very expensive.
Cigarettes have charcoal in the filters.
Video games are 100 Yen (about $ 0.75) which isn't bad compared to todays arcade prices
but it was expensive when I was used to $ 0.25 machines)
American fast food is expensiveand doesn't taste the same
woah, Tokyo Costo!
all the way at the bottom of the guide http://www.costco.com/Info/CostcoNews/Locations/GetLocations.ASP?sbMap=True&sbState=0&sbCountry=10&log=#Tokyo
instead of 20lbs bag of rice, do you buy a 12 pack of 20lbs bags of rice? :Q
all the way at the bottom of the guide http://www.costco.com/Info/CostcoNews/Locations/GetLocations.ASP?sbMap=True&sbState=0&sbCountry=10&log=#Tokyo
instead of 20lbs bag of rice, do you buy a 12 pack of 20lbs bags of rice? :Q
Living here now, though I'm in Okinawa (much different). Unless you're coming to the island, I won't contribute any comments because they'll probably be wrong. 
If that webmaster wants people to read every word of that verbose essay, he'd better switch to a different typeset. White on black KILLED my eyes after reading all of that.
Palek, thanks for the heads up on Costco, I wonder if I can use my US membership there.
Are you living in Kansai?
Are you living in Kansai?
Not really. If you're single and want to teach English, there are quite a few companies that will hire you for a year to teach here. They take care of the place to stay, which is the biggest hurdle. You can manage the rest if you are good at budgeting.
Yes, in Osaka prefecture. I will be moving to Tokyo in March next year, though. Got a job there so naturally I'm happy to move, but I will miss all the good things about Kansai.
There's a Costco in Amagasaki city, went there with an American friend a couple of weeks ago. I'm not a member yet, but it only costs about 4000 yen to sign up, which is not too bad. I have no idea if they will let you use your US membership...
Though it was 30+ years ago that I lived on mainland Japan, I enjoyed every bit of it (then again I was only 9 when we left in 70.) It may be more expensive now than then, but for the experience of living there whould be well worth it.
If you choose to go to Oki, you may be in a bit of a surprise. The locals in the larger cities may associate you with the US military, specially if you wear your hair short, and give you a bit of grief. After some well publicized attacks on people (young girls no less, and I am ashamed to admit I was in the same branch as the attackers,) the populace has called for a reduction in the number of forces there. You could find yourself a target of verbal assaults, specially from the younger generation. Back when I was there (early 80's) once you got away from the larger cities, everyone was pretty friendly.
The good thing about living in either place is that consumer electronics are generally released there first. Some things are only released over there.
If you choose to go to Oki, you may be in a bit of a surprise. The locals in the larger cities may associate you with the US military, specially if you wear your hair short, and give you a bit of grief. After some well publicized attacks on people (young girls no less, and I am ashamed to admit I was in the same branch as the attackers,) the populace has called for a reduction in the number of forces there. You could find yourself a target of verbal assaults, specially from the younger generation. Back when I was there (early 80's) once you got away from the larger cities, everyone was pretty friendly.
The good thing about living in either place is that consumer electronics are generally released there first. Some things are only released over there.
Originally posted by: DainBramaged
Has anybody ever lived in Japan?[/
q]
Nobody. Japan is desolate and uninhabitable.
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