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Pitarou
Joined: 16 Nov 2009
Posts: 1116
Location: Narita, Japan
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 Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 5:46 am Post subject: |
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| milkman wrote: |
| I still don't understand why the people here are so against the TPP. |
You're not seeing the whole picture. Bear in mind that Japan is not very democratic. The decision making process is opaque, and outsiders are excluded. Public opinion is a factor, of course, but far from the decisive one.
The anti-TPP camp has a natural advantage in the public arena, and they're milking it as much as they can. Meanwhile, the pro-TPP camp is barely bothering to even enter the public discourse. And why should they when they already hold all the aces?
Joining the TPP aligns nicely with Abe's policy goals. So long as Abe's grip on the tiller remains firm, Japan will sail straight into the TPP. The best the anti-TPP camp can hope for is mitigation. |
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Black_Beer_Man
Joined: 26 Mar 2013
Posts: 453
Location: Yokohama
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| Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 12:52 pm Post subject: |
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I think that in Japan, the Japanese people should consider making affordable fruits and vegetables a political issue.
It's a big problem in the U.S. with giant bags of potato chips and bottles of soda being a lot cheaper than fruits and vegetables. As a result, many people are obese.
This should be an imperative political issue in the U.S. as it impacts people's health.
What surprises me in Japan is how there are few heavy people here despite vegetables being expensive. I guess people here just don't eat much.
Today I saw kiwi fruit 128 yen a piece and large mangoes (look like Mexican type) for 700 yen a piece.  |
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Black_Beer_Man
Joined: 26 Mar 2013
Posts: 453
Location: Yokohama
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| Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 1:29 pm Post subject: |
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I was just thinking how rare it is that I see any Japanese people eating fruit.
At my public school, I see teachers and students eat up their obentos, but I can't recall there ever being any dessert. Not even fruit.
And then, I once bought a few apples and started taking apples to school and students and even teachers commented. "Hey! You have an apple!" "Oishii so.".
I just accepted their comments as being friendly, but now I am wondering if they really envied me for having a apple? |
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qwertyu2
Joined: 13 Mar 2012
Posts: 93
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| Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 2:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Black_Beer_Man wrote: |
| What surprises me in Japan is how there are few heavy people here despite vegetables being expensive. I guess people here just don't eat much. |
Diet is probably the main factor. However, I would also add the amount of walking people do has a lot to do with obesity levels.
As for prices, Japan seems much more expensive than where I grew up in the States. Maybe it's nostalgia, or my spending habits since I started living abroad, but I still think the dollar has significantly more purchasing power than the yen. For Americans, wouldn't you agree that USD 1,000 buys a lot more than JPY 100,000? I'll drop a JPY 10,000 note without a second thought here, but would likely think twice before doing the same with a hundred dollar bill. |
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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629
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| Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 10:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Rooster_2006 wrote: |
Funny thing is, Forbes is always compiling their list of the most expensive cities in the world. Fairfax never makes the list, but Tokyo always does. I can rent an apartment for less than $600 a month in Tokyo, at Sakura House. I highly doubt one could find an apartment in Fairfax, VA for that price. How do the Forbes people come up with their "most expensive cities?" Perhaps they are only using things like a night at the Hilton and a liter of Cristal in their price index...
Agreed. There are some parts of the US that have more reasonable rents. If I moved back, I would probably move to one of those areas instead of Fairfax or Montgomery County. |
I don't know how they make those lists, A lot of times the only factor is a McDs meal. How many hours of work it takes to be able to buy one. Something arbitrary.
The US would a lot more livable if the past 20 years weren't full of Quantitative easing, which made people able to bid up housing prices to a crazy degree |
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Pitarou
Joined: 16 Nov 2009
Posts: 1116
Location: Narita, Japan
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| Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 1:59 am Post subject: |
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If I was in a pedantic mood, I'd call this thread a target-rich area. A lot of the posters clearly don't have a clue what they're talking about.
(My apologies if you feel offended by that remark. That's not my intention; I'm just calling it as I see it.) |
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milkman
Joined: 12 Jul 2013
Posts: 29
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| Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 5:38 am Post subject: |
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[quote="qwertyu2"]
| Black_Beer_Man wrote: |
As for prices, Japan seems much more expensive than where I grew up in the States. Maybe it's nostalgia, or my spending habits since I started living abroad, but I still think the dollar has significantly more purchasing power than the yen. For Americans, wouldn't you agree that USD 1,000 buys a lot more than JPY 100,000? I'll drop a JPY 10,000 note without a second thought here, but would likely think twice before doing the same with a hundred dollar bill. |
Although Americans do love their credit cards and use them a lot more often. It's kind of unusual to carry big bills with you.
For me, coins are a killer vs. bills. 100 and 500 yen coins are just pocket change, so I'll blow them without a second thought. $1 and $5 bills aren't exactly big money, but it's still a bit more effort to take out the wallet and pay for things like that. |
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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629
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| Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Biggest example of collusion, is pizza. There is no reason for a American sized med pizza to cost ¥1500, yet often times is close to ¥2000. I think they all had a meeting and decided prices. |
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Pitarou
Joined: 16 Nov 2009
Posts: 1116
Location: Narita, Japan
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| Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:28 pm Post subject: |
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| rxk22 wrote: |
| Biggest example of collusion, is pizza. There is no reason for a American sized med pizza to cost ¥1500, yet often times is close to ¥2000. I think they all had a meeting and decided prices. |
You think that's the biggest example???? |
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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629
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| Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Pitarou wrote: |
| rxk22 wrote: |
| Biggest example of collusion, is pizza. There is no reason for a American sized med pizza to cost ¥1500, yet often times is close to ¥2000. I think they all had a meeting and decided prices. |
You think that's the biggest example???? |
Well to me, it has the biggest impact  |
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Black_Beer_Man
Joined: 26 Mar 2013
Posts: 453
Location: Yokohama
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| Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 10:33 am Post subject: |
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| rxk22 wrote: |
| Pitarou wrote: |
| rxk22 wrote: |
| Biggest example of collusion, is pizza. There is no reason for a American sized med pizza to cost ¥1500, yet often times is close to ¥2000. I think they all had a meeting and decided prices. |
You think that's the biggest example???? |
Well to me, it has the biggest impact |
I was on the bike at the gym today and on one of the TV monitors was a commercial for Pizza La.
I was thinking that for pizza and movie tickets (which are very expensive), my guess is that they are at these prices because this is how much the Japanese public is willing to pay.
So, if your a cinema or pizza company, you just keep raising prices until you see a drop in sales. When you see the slightest drop, there's your price.  |
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Black_Beer_Man
Joined: 26 Mar 2013
Posts: 453
Location: Yokohama
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| Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 10:41 am Post subject: |
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For a fair comparison of prices, you can now look to South Korea. Both Japan and South Korea have average incomes of about $35K a year.
A tall Starbucks coffee in both Seoul and Tokyo will cost you about $5 - $6, but a large (medium by U.S. measures) pizza will cost you somewhere from $10 - $18 in South Korea, I think a movie ticket is $10 - $12.
I have not been to Korea in 5 years, so if someone on Dave's can update these prices, that would be great.
But, maybe they're still about the same today. The prices of pizza and movie tickets have not changed much in Japan over the past 10 or 15 years. However, they need to go down as incomes in Japan have gone down. |
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Rooster_2006
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984
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| Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 12:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Black_Beer_Man wrote: |
For a fair comparison of prices, you can now look to South Korea. Both Japan and South Korea have average incomes of about $35K a year.
A tall Starbucks coffee in both Seoul and Tokyo will cost you about $5 - $6, but a large (medium by U.S. measures) pizza will cost you somewhere from $10 - $18 in South Korea, I think a movie ticket is $10 - $12.
I have not been to Korea in 5 years, so if someone on Dave's can update these prices, that would be great.
But, maybe they're still about the same today. The prices of pizza and movie tickets have not changed much in Japan over the past 10 or 15 years. However, they need to go down as incomes in Japan have gone down. |
You're mixing and matching PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) and nominal exchange rates in the same statement, and it's making South Koreans appear to have more buying power than they actually do.
Let me break it down, using the latest Wikipedia figures:
SK GDP Per Capita (PPP): $33,580
SK GDP Per Capita (nominal): $25,051
Japan's GDP Per Capita (PPP): $36,266
Japan's GDP Per Capita (nominal): $46,726
If you're going to quote prices for individual items being sold in South Korea, converting the won into US dollars or JPY, then you need to quote the nominal GDP per capita, not the PPP. Otherwise, it is not a fair comparison.
For example, if a tall Starbucks coffee costs $5 to $6 in both countries (let's say $5.50 for this conversation), then that means the tall Starbucks coffee is much more expensive for Koreans, relatively-speaking, than it is for Japanese. An "average" Korean could only buy 52% as many of those tall Starbucks coffees because his nominal income ($25,051) is only 52% of an "average" Japanese person's nominal income ($46,726). |
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Pitarou
Joined: 16 Nov 2009
Posts: 1116
Location: Narita, Japan
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| Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 12:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Rooster_2006 wrote: |
| Black_Beer_Man wrote: |
For a fair comparison of prices, you can now look to South Korea. Both Japan and South Korea have average incomes of about $35K a year.
A tall Starbucks coffee in both Seoul and Tokyo will cost you about $5 - $6, but a large (medium by U.S. measures) pizza will cost you somewhere from $10 - $18 in South Korea, I think a movie ticket is $10 - $12.
I have not been to Korea in 5 years, so if someone on Dave's can update these prices, that would be great.
But, maybe they're still about the same today. The prices of pizza and movie tickets have not changed much in Japan over the past 10 or 15 years. However, they need to go down as incomes in Japan have gone down. |
You're mixing and matching PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) and nominal exchange rates in the same statement, and it's making South Koreans appear to have more buying power than they actually do.
Let me break it down, using the latest Wikipedia figures:
SK GDP Per Capita (PPP): $33,580
SK GDP Per Capita (nominal): $25,051
Japan's GDP Per Capita (PPP): $36,266
Japan's GDP Per Capita (nominal): $46,726
If you're going to quote prices for individual items being sold in South Korea, converting the won into US dollars or JPY, then you need to quote the nominal GDP per capita, not the PPP. Otherwise, it is not a fair comparison. |
Thank you for injecting a little hard, carefully compiled, non-cherry-picked data into the discussion. |
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Black_Beer_Man
Joined: 26 Mar 2013
Posts: 453
Location: Yokohama
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