Neil Duckett

Way to get real Neil! You didn’t cover taxes though, that might be in interesting to some because the expense may be significantly different than in other countries. It also adds to what you need to earn to live a comfortable life and hopefully save some money towards retirements day…in your case 4 years, 7 months, 16 hours and 16 minutes as I write!!!

Interesting numbers and sooo different that what else is out there on the net.

Fascinating!. I’m blown away by your rent. Our mortgage repayments for a 5LDK house are about 60,000 yen a month, and I can get a haircut for 1,500 yen! You wouldn’t think we lived in the same country! I work from home so even though I have a car, I rarely use it. Also, since we’ve got a baby, we hardly ever go out so our entertainment and dinner expenses are tiny. The biggest strain on my earnings is paying for both our pensions, health insurance and life insurance. And I’m struggling to save anything at the moment.

thanks for sharing, i had to use a currenctly converter to remember what these prices mean in cheap us dollars.

Its tuff to afford 60k a year to run an internet business in japan. So for now i’ll have to just read your blog to connect on whats going on.

This is interesting - thank you! I’ve love to move to Japan but I assume I would take a big salary hit, and we could never afford a house in Japan the size of the one we have in the US.

Nick - Neil doesn’t look like he needs to worry about hair cuts! More money to save for his retirement

You’re a high roller in Japan Neil

-Mike

You gotta pay if you wanna play!!!
Good for you Neil!! Very good post by the way.

Thank you for that very informative article!

I’m just really shocked with how transportation costs are greater than those of grocery expenses.

After living in Japan for ten years and then moving back to Australia, I was completely blown away by how expensive the cost of living has become in Australia. I used to bitch and moan about how much cheaper things were ‘back home’ then I really came back home and now I’m bitching and moaning about how much cheaper things were ‘back in Japan’. Lol…

But I do have to say, you are living on the high side of Tokyo. I lived in an apartment with my partner 10mins walk from the west side (the happening side!) of Yokohama station and paid 75,000 a month. With our other living expenses, our monthly outgoings totalled up to well under 200,000 so we lived on one salary and banked the other. While living in Hon-Atusgi would be a bummer, you could always go for Machida or somewhere else that still had some life, but was a bit cheaper. I mean, really, why would anyone want to spend 2+ hours commuting on the Odakyuu line from hell? (I once lived in Kakio, so I know what it’s like…) But as you say, you like a certain quality of life and that’s your choice. I just don’t think your description of ‘living expenses in Tokyo’ is a truly accurate one for the average joe blow.

Wow … and I thought I had it rough with 2 hours of travel on Tuesday and Saturdays, with three hours on Wednesday through Friday

Tokyo is certainly an expensive place to live if you want to have it all. I’ve considered (briefly) moving up that way to make use of my database administration experience and certifications … but, depsite the cash some companies offer, I can’t bring myself to live in such a crowded place. My wife wouldn’t allow it, either

This is a great Article, Neil. I’m sure thousands of people will appreciate the info.

But prices don’t go up in Japan. Not anywhere as they do in the U.S. A post I made on this recently on J-List.

9 years in Kyushu, Japan - I have done the 2 hour commute and I hated it. Moved cloesr to the job, and life is much better.

Great post Neil, with more details than one could ask for. I think you are doing the right thing. The commute might be a killer right now, but pretty soon you’ll be working near where your living, and you’ll be doing fantastic.

I would only say, make sure you are staying healthy, getting the right balance of exercise and healthy food - and some rest too. Haha, I sound like your dad, right. Anyway, if you love your job you’ll be fine.

great breakdown post. may come in useful one day

Great post! I think paying more for rent to get closer to your optimal location is worth it if you don’t own a car. I considered getting a car but a parking space in my apartment costs 20,000 yen a month. I don’t think it’s needed if you live in a busy area near public transportation and for the long trips you can always rent a car.

I’ve heard before that the living cost in Japan is high…My parents have travelled to Japan. They tell me that the price of fruits and vegetables are 20 times expensive than my country. I could understand this as those goods are planted using hydrophonics technologies.

Would anyone have an idea about the cost of living in Kyushu island? Since I am applying for a job there

Thanks

Neil, you pay alot of money man! That 200,000 yen a month you pay on rent must really burn a whole in your retirement money. Osaka is much less expensive than Tokyo, but I guess you get what you pay for sense Tokyo has 10% of the population and more job opportunities.

Show us the inside too!

jesmond malta

i was living in okayama 1 year with my japanese wife, and i found that japan is very expensive , i was working in elderly hospital becouse my job is nursing, you have to pay 2 kinds of incurance 1 that one you pay from your salery + pateint + tax and the other one called life incurance cost 13000yen a month, apartments start from 50000 you dont find less expiacally if you have a family, my pay was 100000 a month only becouse i was part time first 3 months, here in my country health, schools are free in japan i have to pay for life incurance for me and all my family, now i came back to my country but still confuse where is better to live i loved japan since i was a kid and i still love japan and japanese peaple but life is not so easy up there, you should have a very good salery to live in japan expecially tokyo, leave and sick leave doesnt exist in japan , if you want to visit your family abroad you have to quit your job, jes

[...] own I would recommend reading How to rent an apartment in Tokyo by Matthew Firestone at Gadling the Cost of Living in Japan where Neil Duckett discusses his expenses associated with living in Tokyo.  For a six month [...]

I used to live in Hon-Atsugi and good call on not living there. There wasn’t a whole lot to do there so my favorite activity was to get on a bus and ride it to the end of the line, get off and walk around. Pretty interesting but not exactly sociable!

I agree, living in or very near Shinjuku is worth the extra expense. I live just a 12 minute direct line walk from Shinjuku JR West exit. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else in Tokyo. And really, any apartment next to any major station in central Tokyo will cost the same.

I’d say thought that ¥10,000 a month for leisure train riding is accurate if you stay within an hour of Shinjuku on regular express trains, but any train into other prefectures (even only like 2 hours away) costs, a lot. Heck, it costs me ¥2,220 roundtrip just to go to the Shonan area beaches on the Shonan Shinjuku Tokaido line.

[...] 2008 … it’s gone further down today and is sitting at 66 cents. When it comes to the Cost Of Living In Japan this sort of a fluctuation makes it very beneficial come pay day when i send a few bucks back to [...]

hey
how much would a one bedroom studio be? i want to move to japan, but idk how much i would need to bring with me when i make the move. my grandparents are japanese and they can probably let me stay with them for less than a month, just until i can find my own place and hopefully by then a job. is it hard to find jobs in japan? i can speak enough to get by, i dont know too many Kanji or big words. but back to my main question, how much would i need to take with me in dollars???

good day neil,would appreciate your advice,want to move to japan,im single and dont need alot,would 250000 cover me pm?this would be either in tokyo,kanagawa,saitama