Job Discussion Forums

[Movin' and Groovin']

Hey, I'm thinking of going to Japan very soon and was just curious as to what things cost and how far money will go. I see on the internet that a lot of jobs posted are for 250,000 yen, how far does that go, is there any possibility of saving???

[allyismycopilot]

Very vague question.

Depends on where you are in Japan and what kind of lifestyle you lead.

[Sweetsee]

According to today's paper Tokyo is no longer the most expensive city in the world, that would be Oslo.

I can tell you what some everyday items go for:

1. newspaper-$1.60
2. smokes- $2.50
3. coke-$1.20
4. school lunch-$4.00
5. one litre of gas(1/4 gl.)-$1.23
6. Minimum train fare-$1.40
7. " taxi " -$6.50
8. Sausage Egg McMuffin-$2.00
9. 100 grams of chicken-.98
10. 2 hours tennis court rental-$8.00

What do you think?

[PuffyFugu]

I'm rather anti-social, and don't drink much-
I usually save about 100000Yen a month.

Many of my co-workers don't save half that though. I guess it depends on your lifestyle.

[kdynamic]

It's pretty simple. If you live in the countryside things are cheaper. Major expenses are:

eating out
shopping
have a car
drinking
traveling

If you can limit yourself to three of those 5 and practice moderation, you will be able to survive. I live in the countryside. I don't drink, shop and eat out only sometimes, travel a ton, and spend a chunk of change on my car and gas and parking, and save over Y100,000/mo without really trying too hard.

[Yawarakaijin]

I believe there is a sticky on the unit cost per item if you are trying to figure out exact costs. I figure you are just trying to get an overall feel for how easy it is to save though. So I can help you there a bit.

Ok, so if you have a regular eikaiwa job at 250,000 yen you might take away about 225,000 after taxes. Your rent will run you anywhere from 50,000 at the very least ( this will probably be a pretty small place) up to maybe 75,000

This on average will leave you with about 150,000 yen for spending. Now the way that work out nowadays thats only about 1,500$ Canadian.

Perhaps for a Canadian to have 1,500$ after taxes and paying his/rent that sounds like alot of money. That will not get you far in Japan though.

So, now you have 150,000. If you are a first timer to Japan and are put somewhere interesting and fun...........wow you are gonna be in trouble.
When I first came here and it was all about meeting people and having fun I was dropping 20,000 yen a week without even trying!! ( read as drinking and going out with friends in Tokyo) Although when I lived way up north in a city called Kushiro, which couldnt be more different than Tokyo, I still managed those 20,000 yen weeks.

So, if you are a pretty sociable guy/gal and its your first time here, I dont think I would be doing you a disservice of knocking your 150,000 yen down to a approximate firgure of 90,000 yen.

Now everyone has different eating habits but I will try to average it out for you. Some months I just dont feel like eating out and want to stay home. When I go the 99 yen shop route and cook all my meals at home I still drop 7,000 yen a week easily. So that is 90,000 - 28,000 for just about the crappiest food you have ever eaten.

Now if its your first time here... My god I seriously doubt you are going to be able to avoid all the great shops and restaruants here. If you are stuck in the boonies you might be forced to shop at the grocery store. I find that first timers here are often very lonely in the begining. One of the things they do is head out to the local izakaya and restaraunts to get a little human contact. This can be very expensive. Lets say the average trip to the local eatery costs about 3,000 yen ( very conservative ) if you go 3 times a week thats 32,000 yen a month! which does not even include your other meals. So if the rest of your meals come to about 15,000 yen that knocks your 90,000 down to about 43,000 yen.

So there you go.. on average if you are pretty sociable and like going out you are at around 43,000 or 430$ Canadian a month. I have not even factored in the cost of dating or having a gf by the way I have not factored in alot of the other daily expenses that always crop up.

Now I may get flammed by some hermits who will say "no way is it that expensive". Sure... If you want to eat only rice and veggies you can save more. If you have no friends and dont go anywhere you can save more.

I will honestly say that when I was relatively new to the country and in my party days I would have been living paycheque to paycheque on a 250,000 yen salary. I find that the longer people have been here...the longer they have got Japan "out of their system" they tend to stay home more and save a little more money. Don't buy all the stories you have heard about Japan from back home. That Japan does not exist anymore!!!

Granted though, if you want to live like a hermit and work like a dog ( that means privates which are not always that easy to get in the begining) the money is there and you can save up quite a bit.

[PAULH]

Here is an official government website with recent prices (December 2005) of consumer items

Cost of living statistics in Japan

also check prices in Tokyo at this site

[Sweetsee]

Nice post Yawarakaijin, pretty much sums things up.

[David W]

I live in rural Japan. I think the cost of living here is actually cheaper than in Australia. Never used to be though just that prices are out of control in Australia but have remained the same here or even gotten a little cheaper.

[Yawarakaijin]

I have lived in Japan on 3 seperate occasions and I agree. The prices here seem to have stabilized or gotten cheaper. A 120 yen onigiri in 1997 still costs 120 yen in 2006. In Japan I really think that saving money is dependant on how hard you really want to try. The spread of 99 yen shops and their improvement in terms of items carried really helps when things get tight.

[Yawarakaijin]

This all reminds me of a girlfriend I once had when I lived in Tokyo. We ended up living together for a 6 months and it was an eye opener for sure. She would go to different shops on different days because she had this magazine that told her where to get the best deals on the best items. It seemed like we were constantly going shopping.

"Ok James, its Tuesday and the moon is waxing so that means its time to go buy soybeans in Nakano and miso in Koenji". God, I respected her for it but it did'nt take long before I just started giving her 10,000 and sending her on her way just so I could sit down and rest after work

[Brooks]

try getting married.
My wife is always looking for a bargain.
She likes auctions on the web, too.

Thing with prices is that there has been deflation for some time.
If you are saving money, you probably are buying things made in other countries, like in China or Korea.

For cheap izakayas, I know that there are places around Ueno or Ikebukuro for people trying to stretch their yen. But I live out in Kanagawa, and those places are just too far away.

[Yawarakaijin]

Hey Brooks did you notice? You are in Machida, I'm in Sagamiono. We are practically neighbours

[Brooks]

yep.
I fact I live in nana chome in Sagami-Ono.

[Glenski]

A shorter version:

Figure on spending half of your 250,000 on rent, food, phone, insurance, and utilities.

What you do with the remaining 125,000 is up to you. Go out twice a week and drink conservatively, and you will spend 50,000 yen/month.

That leaves 75,000 yen/month for EVERYTHING ELSE in life.

Do you have bills back home to pay? Are you a vegetarian or carnivore? Do you want cable TV, a magazine subscription, dry cleaning every week, more nightly entertainment than previously mentioned, trips out of town every weekend, a girlfriend/boyfriend on which to spend your money, etc.?