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seoulmon
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 12:47 am Post subject: Cost of living in Japan!!! |
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Dig on this. This half filled cup of watery broccoli soup cost $3.50?!?!
One thing I really liked about K was that everything was cheap, cheap, cheap. Here in Japan you have to be a lot more careful. Eating out costs atleast $10. Going anywhere cost about $5. The good thing? Well, this place that I called "anywhere" is actually Kyoto. It is 1 hour and $5 away from where I live. How cool is that?!?! |
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Kenny Kimchee
Joined: 12 May 2003
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| Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 1:05 am Post subject: |
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| Going anywhere cost about $5. The good thing? Well, this place that I called "anywhere" is actually Kyoto. It is 1 hour and $5 away from where I live. |
You guys got some cheap transport up there. Fukuoka is 47 minutes away from my town and costs 870yen one-way and that's via a private train line (Nishi tetsu - gotta break it up or it'll get censored) - on JR it would cost around 40% more. Minimum fare on the Fukuoka subway is 200 yen, going up to 250 yen if you travel 3 stops, etc.
OTOH, there are some cheap(ish) eats if you know where to look - but nothing like Korea. Ahh, the good old days of home-delivered soon dae bu chigae, rice, and about 20 varieties of kimchi for 3500 won...[/code] |
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Alias
Joined: 24 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 12:12 pm Post subject: |
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| The reason why Japan is more expensive.......you get what you pay for. |
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Gord
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 6:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Alias wrote: |
| The reason why Japan is more expensive.......you get what you pay for. |
Wages and prices have pretty much remained unchanged for almost 20 years now while the currency has appreciated by about 200%. It's the currency appreciation that has made everything appear expensive. So while it seems expensive on to people on the outside, it's not such a large deal if one is living in Japan (though Tokyo housing can be pretty pricy).
Compared to what the currency was in 1995, the average English teacher in Japan today makes 1/3 less now than eleven years ago while inflation in the rest of the world has marched onward further reducing the purchasing power of the money saved. |
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numazawa
Joined: 20 Mar 2005
Location: The Concrete Barnyard
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| Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 6:18 pm Post subject: Re: Cost of living in Japan!!! |
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| seoulmon wrote: |
Dig on this. This half filled cup of watery broccoli soup cost $3.50?!?!
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Ah, c'mon, quit complaining. "Half filled"? You could have topped up your cup with the glass of water that came with it. Didn't you see on the menu where it said to "add water to taste"? |
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fiveeagles
Joined: 19 May 2005
Location: Vancouver
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| Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 6:39 pm Post subject: |
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| So while it seems expensive on to people on the outside, it's not such a large deal if one is living in Japan (though Tokyo housing can be pretty pricy). |
My friend just bought a 4 story building in Fukouka for 1 million bucks. If a building is 20 years old or older, than it is considered worthless. You are only going to buy the land.
He tells me that he saw some people buy some land and a 4 year old building. They ripped down the building because they don't believe in renovation.
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mack the knife
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: standing right behind you...
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| Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 4:21 am Post subject: |
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| (though Tokyo housing can be pretty pricy) |
Pretty pricy?! Good lord! That's a truly awesome understatement, especially if one is talking bang for buck. |
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billybrobby
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 4:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Gord wrote: |
| Alias wrote: |
| The reason why Japan is more expensive.......you get what you pay for. |
Wages and prices have pretty much remained unchanged for almost 20 years now while the currency has appreciated by about 200%. It's the currency appreciation that has made everything appear expensive. So while it seems expensive on to people on the outside, it's not such a large deal if one is living in Japan (though Tokyo housing can be pretty pricy).
Compared to what the currency was in 1995, the average English teacher in Japan today makes 1/3 less now than eleven years ago while inflation in the rest of the world has marched onward further reducing the purchasing power of the money saved. |
i don't understand. japanese currency is becoming more valuable but english teachers are getting poorer? are they being paid 1/3 less in yen? or 1/3 less in terms of some other currency? and how does a currency appreciate 200%? against what? the dollar? i'm confused. |
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Gord
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 5:37 am Post subject: |
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| billybrobby wrote: |
| i don't understand. japanese currency is becoming more valuable but english teachers are getting poorer? are they being paid 1/3 less in yen? or 1/3 less in terms of some other currency? and how does a currency appreciate 200%? against what? the dollar? i'm confused. |
Ten years ago, the Japanese Yen was trading at 70 Yen per US dollar. It dropped to about 110 after that and has been between 100 and 120 ever since. Ten years ago, English teachers made 250,000 Yen a month which is the same as today (which is also the minimum amount the law allows for a full time foreigner to be paid in Japan if I recall correcly).
The Yen is up substantially from the 400 Yen per dollar of 30 years ago. |
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