Can you live in Japan on a budget? Lots of helpful advice givers told us that the answer was no. They said that living in Japan is super expensive and we better be prepared to pay lots for little. Fortunately, that's not true! yay! In fact, living in Japan is totally reasonable - price wise. You just have to know not to shop at expensive department stores every weekend, and not pay for parking in the city.
View Exhibit A:
Wow! This so-delicious-lunch that I bought myself at the take out sushi place down the street cost about 6 bucks. These are freshly made everyday and given a lovely spot on the counter next to the tuna and cucumber rolls. In the bottom right-hand corner, you can see some boiled veggies. In this case, carrots, mushroom, and Japanese radish (daikon). Of course, to the left of that is some rice with a small plum in the center. In the top left-hand corner is a small portion of pasta salad. And then in the main entrée section some cabbage, a slice of omlette-style egg, three pieces of fried chicken and a slice of yummy salmon steak. 6 dollars is a pretty average price for a take-out lunch like this one. However, if I had really felt like it, I could have walked just a little bit farther to the discount market for a half-price lunch like this one. Although, I think I went out around 2pm, and the half-price market sells out of lunches by 12:30 (unfortunately, it's not a well-kept secret).
Also, daily goods seem to be the same price as home or cheaper.
View Exhibit B:
I picked up some stuff at the Wal-greens-style store earlier today. You're looking at two refills of fabric softener, one 1kg box of laundry detergent, one package of toilet paper and one package of paper towels. (And behind them is my gray grocery bag that I picked up 5 months ago at the dollar store). This stuff cost 836 yen. About 9 dollars. I don't know what I was expecting, but I had to do a double-take at the register because I already had the equivalent of 20 dollars out ready to pay for my stuff.
So, can you spend a lot in Japan? Yes. For example, Gap jeans in the US cost 58 dollars. In Japan, they cost 98 dollars. There are Japanese-style barbeque places where you can easily spend 50 dollars a person. But, you don't have to. In my opinion, one can live relatively easily
on a budget. To be fair, living in New England was about the same, if not slightly more costly.
So, if you haven't decided where to take a vacation yet, maybe you should consider Japan! :)
