How Expensive is Living in Tokyo? | Street Interview 

The markets cannot both keep increasing their prices and expect workers to stay for the same wage. Both have to increase, or the workers will find a job that lets them pay for food… ie Costco.

But that Costco's salary will go back into Japanese economy. I think that's win win

Costco is a great company, Japan needs to raise their wages

Did you know Costco wages in my area of living In the states start from $20 an hour?

Yes, your country is being exploited by the West due to the yen/USD gap such as Warren Buffet and Black Rock who are buying up Japanese homes to rent out as they doing in the USA - the low-frequency Japanophiles here do not know such details because because they don't read global financial news.

That's one thing I believe the west should also consider doing in the big cities. Making small, yet livable apartments so young adults can rent at a relative fair price.

@@eiennofantasy yes, also a bunch of supply and restriction of rental/investment property is needed

Just say that u are a weeb🙄

these rent to income ratios are way too good compared to america where you'll be spending minimum 50-100% of your salary in rent depending on area. House hacking is the only way to financially stay ahead of the game unless you have a 150k a year or higher salary in places like california and new york.

​@@eiennofantasy if only more of those kinda places would pop up. The housing crisis is ridiculous in North America and 100% fueled by greed.

I'm pretty sure I've had closets that were bigger - and I didn't have to share a bunk bed on top.

Exactly. It's probably better if we could have a cost per square meter for comparison.

And that their salaries are lower compared to the US.

better than spending 90% of your salary to get a not much bigger walk in closet in america.

that's still extremely cheap compared to major U.S. cities. a couple years ago, i was living in an 80 square foot apartment in venice beach for $1000/mo with a shared bathroom among the entire floor of about 16 units & just a sink in the room. it's up to $1800 now, i think. hell, even in bigger cities in middle of nowhere states, i was paying $1800 for a 600 square foot studio - in mississippi, until recently. i guess it depends on where you folks are living, but e.g. one of my best friends is living in San Diego in a 2bdr with 4 roommates for $3700. when i first moved to los angeles (santa monica) in 2008, i was paying $600 to share a bedroom in a 3 bedroom condo - i had 7 roommates then. just the fact this is *tokyo* the idea of spending less than $1500/month for ANY room is astounding to me.

I honestly agree! As someone who lives in Southeast Asia, it's incredibly frustrating to see foreigners come to our countries and commenting about how cheap the prices are when it's actually pretty expensive for locals

100% this. People don't seem to understand postindustrial countries are all in a globalized economy, so even though there's obviously some regional variation in economics, the ratio of income to cost of living generally ends up being about the same -- i.e. getting worse. The only way to "hack" this is by living in a developing country while earning developed country wages -- preferably USD or GBP -- and/or buying up real estate in the developing country and AirBnB'ing to European and North American tourists. Of course, this is arguably just straight up exploitation of the global south but hey, how do you think postindustrial countries got to become postindustrial in the first place?

Well said. I can't stand it when people goes to another country to live in while earning a higher foreign currency salary remotely, and says that life is easier there.

Good excuse to buy a Switch or kindle to pass the time

Agree with you. I lived in Chiba but working at Shibuya.

How can a family of 4 live in 24 m2 ? That is the size of my studio in Paris 30 min away from the city centre. I used to pay 700 euros (770 dollars) per month. And this is considered small and expensive in Europe for only 1 person.

@@danielalvarezcosme3757 you can look up the the apartment structure. Some maximized space with bunk bed and closet

​@@danielalvarezcosme3757that's easy when op is a weeb🤡

@@danielalvarezcosme3757 The Japanese just don't have the expectation of space in the same way as other places. My wife is Japanese and her family of 5 lived in a similar situation in a suburb far west of Tokyo and it was considered quite normal.

@@danielalvarezcosme3757 you're right. I was thinking of the top of my head and didn't realize how low i imagined. After some calculations its around 66 m2. Thanks for catching it

Exactly. Very misleading video title.

Looks like they changed the title

Even within Tokyo, the prices can greatly vary. One apartment's rent can triple depending on whether it's located in the Greater Tokyo area or in Central Tokyo.

@@TheRealityofFake Nice. Props to them

They also only interviewed people that look to be in their early twenties so they are likely just getting started in their careers so they are earning less. If they interviewed older people the salaries would likely be higher. You also don't know what these people do for work which plays a big factor.

Also, most companies subsidize for the transit as well.

Yeah, maybe as a single person without any obligations. The Western lifestyle is not the Japanese lifestyle. Japanese culture has a much greater emphasis on taking care of your family, especially parents in their elderly years. Young people often aren't just funding their own lives and needs. Plus, saving money in Japan to increase your overall wealth is extremely difficult with current banking practices, like the negative interest savings rate. So long term, no, it's not affordable at all.

He's not talking about affording your parents, but the cost of living. You don't need your parents to live technically. I also agree with him, as Tokyo is NO WHERE near as expensive as Zurich, Switzerland. It's not even near the most expensive places on earth.@@je9417

​@je9417 i live in tokyo and neither do i, my coworkers, or my uni friends fun their family except buying souvenirs when returning home

​@@KanemiX3this! Agree! That's also what I heard as well. I think Tokyo is expensive for the average salary that people make here.

The very low salaries need to be taken into consideration. The gap between wage and cost of housing is big in big US cities, but even bigger in Tokyo it seems

Price really depends on the location within Tokyo

@@ricka4678 Of course it does. But that is true anywhere in the world. Plus, Tokyo has an excellent public transport system, so basically anywhere close to a train station is fine, as long as you are within the 23 wards.

Yeah it's a globalized economy and everything just adjusts for local inflation. Americans gasp at how much cheaper food and housing sounds in other developed countries and don't realize how much less you make on average there. Europeans and Japanese gasp at how much more money you can make in the US (like, it's truly ridiculous) and don't realize they won't get much of a leg up because of the much higher living costs.

I wouldn’t buy a house in a former execution ground no matter how cheap… real estate in Aoyama, Azabu, Akasaka is comparable to other major cities in the west.

@@moderateatberkeley why does it matter what a place was 200 years ago? Also, not all of Minami senju was an execution ground..

SSSSHHHH!

You are a foreigner whose salary is not in Yen or probably not in the same league as their regular salary. 🤷🏻‍♂️

@@drisshansfreetime453 Probably less.

@@rowbearly6128easily half of what someone in the West makes for the same job. 800 yen seems to be the minimum wage there, in Canada with the current exchange rates, easily DOUBLED ($15CDN, with an almost 1:1 exchange rate now ex. 1500 yen per hour). Yet everything in Japan food/restaurant wise is half what I pay in Canada. People just don't seem to understand simple economics even my dumb ass can figure out. Things in Japan appear "cheap" because they're priced for Japanese salaries, which is a lot lower than anywhere in the G7 and with the weak yen, it hits them even harder on a global market. Tokyo is definitely not cheap for the local even if they made 300000yen/month (around 3000 bucks give or take), which seems to be a good salary. In US/Canada, you can easily make double that. I live in Toronto, making $100k for the average "worker" is nothing to brag about considering the prices of things here, of course everything is cheap in Japan in comparison. Japanese person making $100k USD a year in Japan is definitely not a worker or "salaryman". Take your money to India, it'll go even further, its why western companies love to send all the jobs there, they're paying a fraction for almost the same talents.

How much was your salary? Let’s start from there.

It's all relative, if I as a foreigner making an American salary went to Japan I'd also find it cheap to live there. The difficulty comes into play when you're talking about the price in relation to local people's stagnant wages... The average salary over there is literally worse than minimum wage in some states over here, and comparing prices/wages across currencies is not really reflective of how much spending power the average local has

japan is kinda socialist country.. because almost every person has kinda similar range salary. unless you are doctor. in japan salary for engineer doesnt have a large gap with non-engineer . but, japan wasnt a country that can make people rich no matter how hard you work.

Yea I when I visited I was shocked how cheap it was, and food is waaay to cheap, and I live in Mexico which is pretty cheap as well compared with other countries lol

Isn't that also the price for a countryside in the UK?

@@VinVin21969 No, in Japan, you can make the most money working in the financial industry. And the mass media pays pretty well.

And you are from what country?

@@23zchris USA. I wear old T-shirts and leggings everywhere.

thrift or second-hand shops - shop off season for deals too.

we go to GU , it's much cheaper

Some make more than 2k a month, and the other reason is some people live with their parents or already have a home or apartment that was passed to them by their parents, That is why their disposable income is high, also their savings rate is higher than the US savings rate, also the average household in Japan has about 130,000 USD in savings

The only comment I've seen with something worthwhile to add lmao

I didn't find hamburgers were any smaller than the ones I usually have back at home though....

@@dynadwynn Where are you from? It might just be an American thing lol I don't know what burgers are like in other countries, but the burgers I had in Japan were smaller than all but the cheapest fast food value menu burgers lol Also something nobody talks about: the bun to meat ratio is different, too. Imagine a normal mcdonalds cheeseburger, but make just the patty like 30% smaller and that's a Japanese burger. At least that was my experience at MOS Burger lol Like you get your order and it's like "Oh this isn't so tiny" and then you bite into it and you're like "wait it's empty" lmao MOS Burger still the jp GOAT in terms of quality, though, just go in with the right expectations is all I'm saying

food is cheap in Tokyo, just stop eating western food. I had many Tonkatsu or Karage meals for less than 1000 yen (what is that 8USD?) Why would anyone want to eat hamburgers? Housing is the most expensive imo, second is Shinkansen tickets. Eating western food in Japan is for suckers.

@@PWCDNObviously I'm talking from a local's standpoint.

Salaries in Japan is far less than the countries tht u mentioned, so yeah

We are ALL phucked cos of government money printing - inflation is the invisible tax that kills most but the super rich

Again compare using local salary. Everything seems cheap when you earn dollars but when you earn the local average income then it wouldn't be as cheap as you would think it would be.

Well, visiting Tokyo with a U.S salary is a whole different story than living there with a Japanese salary. Of course it will be cheap if the exchange rate is good. Btw, you don’t need a $ sign before posting yen amounts as $ means dollars. Being picky I know!

try using this symbol when talking about yen ¥

@@R.Williams This video is about how expensive is it to live in Tokyo. Based on my experience, Tokyo is not as expensive as Los Angeles. There are many comments from people stating that Tokyo is not as expensive as their home countries. By the way, if you want to sound and act smart, then at least write in standard English.

I found people in Tokyo were pretty antisocial and travel may be a factor. I don't know if COVID made them adapt to WFH..

Toronto is unfortunately turning into Bay Area in terms of overpriced unaffordable housing

@abtcup Did you take into consideration of the sizes and their salary too? That 1 bedroom you speak of could be 4x the size of Japanese sized 1 bedrooms. And Their average salary is about $25k, whats average California salary? More than double that! So how is that a bargain?

Japanese one bedroom is literally 1 bedroom and you sleep next to the toilet and the kitchen.

@@yerri5567 $15/hour to flip burgers

But its easier to find mates, so there is that

Rent in Sydney is one of the highest in the world. People in Sydney can't afford to own property near the CBD unless they're wealthy. Most live +45 min away.

Space🤡🤡🤡☠️💀

@@mayshusakuhanamurasufferli5438 have you been to Shikoku? Kyushu? If you haven’t you can stfu

In Tokyo most people earn around 1800-2500$ per month, and they are able to live a comfortable life and save quite a lot actually...their average rent is around 400-600$ per month and if you live in a relatively big house in central Tokyo maybe 800$-1000$

Aren't salaries always gross? It technically passes to you before you pay tax, even if it's auto-deducted.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eLJ-CxlzTK0.html&ab_channel=AsianBoss

Or Monaco

Or Beijing 😂

Singapore episode was done alreadyyy

LOL - 700k can get you something nice in any country in this world - you forgetting the 30-year rule in Japan/Tokyo while a 700k home in the USA can last more than 200 years.

@@eddunn3021 No. My STUDIO in Manhattan was just under $700K and that is CHEAP by Manhattan standards.

@@eddunn3021in Jakarta Indonesia USD700k will just get you apartment with 40-50square meters in the outskirts of Jakarta

population decline is more people dying thatn being born because young Japanese are not having families due to financial constraints that is being expressed in the video

​@@eddunn3021I think they did a survey and they found people just didn't want sex.

@@pigeonlove ??? research is inconclusive but usually points to work culture rather than that... not sure where you heard that from

@@pigeonlove what's love hotels for then? People can't not want sex unless they're asexual which is rare, sex is a hormonal need. It's children that are expensive to raise.

​@grapesurgeon fr dude I live in Seattle too and 1400 and below is considered low income and most apartments that aren't a shoebox are like 2000 easily

You speaking of rent but your grocery bill is what really matters - there is no way you can get the same fresh foods in Japan cheaper than in the USA. Something tells me the people who talking about how "cheap" Japan is never really lived there and just visit - try shopping for good food in Japan that is non-processed and non-packaged with high amount of salt and sugar - I'll wait

@@eddunn3021 Yeah you have to cook yourself in Japan if you want healthier food :( source: just lived in Shinjuku for 4 months

@@eddunn3021a dozen eggs in a small town in USA is like $7 USD and you can’t get meat for under $10. A week worth of groceries for 1 person is over $100 easily not to mention that you have to drive to the grocery store which adds at least $500 a month for a car payment and then $3.60 gas if you’re living in a cheap area. Cost of living is significantly higher in US

I thought that was weird, the guy mentioned 700k to buy an apartment, which is similar with my city (Vancouver BC), but the rent in Tokyo seems so CHEAP compared to my city where the average 1bedroom apartment is roughly $2900 CAD/$2150 USD to rent per month.

$750 to rent? In 2023? What are you smoking and where can I get some? You aint getting a studio for $750 more like $1500 very least.

@@SeudXe one of the interviewees said $650, another said a combined $840 and the last said $450 for 1 room apartment, did you even watch the video. zzz

I agree. from someone who lives in London, some of these salaries would not cut it here

lol that's because Tokyo is bigger than NYC and LA combined. Certain parts of Tokyo are on level with Manhattan prices ie: Ginza, but Tokyo is just way bigger so there are cheaper places to live.

I think you have to consider the income they’re making. $1,800~2,100 isn’t that much and income taxes are deducted from it. These people are paying $450 to rent a small box apartment and are shared. There’s also expenses such as transportation which I would estimate is around $200 min. per month then you have water bills, electricity, phone bills, internet, food and you’re really left with not much.

@@ZergcerebratesNot really. Even after the expenses you’re left with more buying power due to the low price of food and other services. Meals can be had for $4, US you need to spend $20 min to eat decent meals out. Basic groceries can be had for less than 20$, a grocery trip cost me at least $100 in 2022 in the US for 1 week of food. Actually, the cost of living in the U.S. even with lower taxes is much much higher, because you don’t have things like subsidized healthcare, quality public transport, etc. everyone pays for those things out of pocket, and they add up to be enough to eat away at any salary difference. You need at least $140,000 to live a decent lifestyle in a place like NYC or LA, and that’s without kids or a spouse. You only need 50-60,000$ in Tokyo. That’s not unobtainable.

"It's not that bad 8m^2 for 4 people" sure

Alhamdulilah

Yeah but it’s in a Stan which makes it utterly worthless

@@lulc4694 You know nothing about our region. Search on Google: Tashkent city

Uzbekistan is a developing, third word country. Obviously it’s gonna be way more cheaper.

I think so as well

I lived there for +1.5 years. Wages are a fraction of Australian wages and groceries are more expensive and smaller than in Australia. Eating out is cheaper but you can't eat out everyday.

@@Umeshukitsune agree, the government act blind

that same bowl is about 1,200 yen now. About $15 USD after conversion.

@@DSHndmn OUCH.

@@DSHndmn actually Im looking at the menu current as of 2023, a bowl in Yoshinoya tokyo is still 575 yen or 4 USD. 5 with tea and a raw egg. Tokyo can be expensive or cheap depends on your taste.

a big bowl of meat and rice - processed foods, high salt content, yeah - that's your cheap living argument. It is ridiculous the comments people are making leaving out critical details

@@eddunn3021 whatever blah blah blah, I thought it was delicious , then again I cook my own food most of the time.

No thanx. I bet many Chinese bots are going to troll that video.

the movie hasn't been released in Japan yet

@@zucarita24 what I mean is it's already a heated debate on social media.

Not yet