Japanese asked what it is they think is too expensive in Japan compared to overseas yield a ranking unlikely to dismiss any stereotypes about urban life in Japan…
1. Land
2. Housing
3. Delivery pizza
4. University fees
5. Highway tolls
6. Gasoline
7. Movies
8. Mobile phones/packet charges
9. Foreign brands
10. Taxes
Aside from the fact that Japan’s taxes are some of the lowest in the developed world, a list Japanese and non-Japanese alike are unlikely to find fault with – although being a survey of commoners the extreme prices of Japanese games and anime do not feature.
Well land is everywhere expensive!!
Pizza delivery is 3rd oh my God… It shouldn’t even be on that list is it sooo expensive..
Pizza hut always seems to find it’s way into anime
i understand land and house…but pizza ey? i suppose they are in japan
I live in Chiba, about 40 minutes from Akihabara station.
I pay $700 a month for a 40 year old apartment that is two 7 tatami sized rooms and a bathroom… I don’t even live in the more expensive, smaller apartments that are closer to the city. On top of that, in order to move in to a house, you pay 2 months rent as a bond, then 2 more months rent as a cash gift to the owner for them allowing you to live in their building. Oh and when you move out, you NEVER get your bond back.
A large pizza, picked up from the store is $30.
Plenty of friends are in university. They pay exorbitant fees.
I drove to Gunma for a holiday. A 4 hour trip. Tolls were \6800 each way. Don’t ever drive in Japan.
Fuel is about the same as my home country (Australia).
Movies are \1800 for a regular session, \300 more for 3D. The last session of the evening is usually only about \1200, but they don’t play most new movies that late.
Don’t EVER use your phone to make calls. It costs too much. Everyone just emails unless they NEED to call. The rates are crazily high.
Foreign brands are a bit of a lucky dip. Some expensive things overseas just don’t have brand recognition here, so they are pretty cheap. However, if you like the brands Japanese people like, go get a second job. Ed Hardy tshirts can go for over \20,000.
What they haven’t mentioned is that to buy a crappy little table for your house is about \15,000. Furniture is so expensive, the companies selling it must have a massive cocaine habit. If you want a standard single bed, you can say goodbye to about \60,000 and then more for delivery. Tomatoes are \100 EACH. The cost of living in the greater Tokyo area is inflated at every turn by price gouging.
Oh damn. It sounds so discouraging. I want to live in Japan,please tell me something positive.
The yen sign is coming up as a slash… *sigh*
“Foreign brands”?
WTF?! I thought they call it “gaijin brands”!
Fucking hypocritical Japs!
>:-/