Cost of Living in Japan?

[Okimoto_Tatsuki]

Go to Okinawa, and you'll find out that tax is less...

[kudo]

Originally Posted by Okimoto_Tatsuki

Go to Okinawa, and you'll find out that tax is less...

hmm, i'm not too sure how the tax system works.
so is it a 2 level system? a national tax, then one by perfecture or area?
its like that in canada....government tax...then provincal tax. ends up being 14% in total

[Okimoto_Tatsuki]

i dunno about "level 2" ya talk of. and 14% cool =O
anyone who works has to pay Tax. If someone lives in Japan and another country, they pay less or dont pay for Japan at all as taxes are paid in the country where the person spends more time. shotokuzei/income teax, people whose yearly salary is lower than 1.300.000 yen are exempt, and those whose salary is paid by a foreign company can have tax reduction or be exempted if taxes are already paid in the other country.
juuminzei/residence/property tax, more of a local tax as opposed to national. Lower than the income one but it depends on the persons revenue.
And finally, shouhizei/consumption tax. Yah know when ya look at a japanese music cd or game cover or advert and they say "so so and tax for so and so yen"...well that is it. The tax paid when buying or selling products. Japan is such a place for many products, so this is charged. at the moment, the rate is 5% for this...
think of it like European VAT?

theres also enterprise tax, vehicle related and...tax for liquor, tobacco and gasoline.

I actually live in Taito-ku, only a couple stations from Ueno. And I'm inside the Yamanote loop. I'm not downtown, per se, but c'mon... The real point is: it's expensive but it's not THAT expensive. If you're smart, you can budget, and -- well -- if you're smart, you can even live in Tokyo on a below average income (average is 250,000JPY/month, I think).

As for taxes in Japan, there is a 5% consumption tax on all goods and services. Yay for sales tax! Considering New York* has an 8% state sales tax, it's not so bad, though. However, right now I'm paying a reasonable 3.3% income tax. Convert my approximate yearly salary to USD's and I'd likely be in the 28% range in the States.

-Eric

*I know other states are lower -- CT 6%, NH 0%, for example -- but Tokyo is often compared to NYC and I just happened to have lived in NY and know the sales tax. Deal with it.

[Okimoto_Tatsuki]

^ lol yeh and cool.

yup 5% is like 4% nationa and 1% prefectural

[kudo]

lol, thats so many taxes to get. but i guess it evens out in the end.
its 14% in my province in total. thats (as the moment) 7$ government (federal) and 7% provincal. and thats paid at the time of purchase (duh). but you know...some provices pay less and some more. one province pays NO provincal taxes. so their total tax amount they pay upon purchase is 7%. why? they mine oil there. rich province. o.x yep, alberta. get like 14-17$CDN/hr minimum wage too. lol...;_;

[jbsongaku]

I live with about 80,000 yen a month. That is, without the college fees. Just rent, phone, internet, food, transportation and electricity.

[Chibisuke]

Think about it this way. its 121.34 yen to 1 American Dollar. so 100,000 yen is really $824.13.
So its not enough, not even for the States. Be sure to know the currency exchange for whenever you go to another country.
Use this website to see the change of currency rate and see the value of the Japanese Yen to the American dollar or another country. Its a good way to see how much you'll really knew. But you should always plan to have more then you'll actually need.

Currency Calculator

Also talk to someone who live in Japan and see how much they spend. There is a guy who is engaged to a woman from Japan and she is currently living there. I think he can ask her for you.

Moving to Japan

Hope that helps. ^_^

[Nyororin]

I think that a lot of people misunderstand what a "high cost of living" is.

It isn`t simply the amount of money you need to survive - it`s the amount needed to live a normal life at the same standard as everyone else.

Sure, of course you can live in Tokyo, just paying your rent and your utilities, living alone.

But that`s not the "norm". You have to take into account whatever it is you are going to do and the fact that MOST people in Japan are working toward actually having a family. Of course most foreigners aren`t - most work for a while and go home. No need to save up or worry about the future.

But the average Japanese man in Tokyo has a future of paying for a family and all the included costs on that "average" salary. The cost of living IS high because it includes more than just rent, utilities and food. Try making ends meet with a wife and two kids at home (which has to be big enough to house them) on that 250,000/month salary. Oh, and don`t forget, one of the kids will need 35,000/month for kindergarten. Oh, and the other kid is still in diapers - 12,000 a month.

Yes, the cost of living is quite high. They don`t calculate that on single cheapy life. It is a figure from the standard level.

[Chibisuke]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

I think that a lot of people misunderstand what a "high cost of living" is.

It isn`t simply the amount of money you need to survive - it`s the amount needed to live a normal life at the same standard as everyone else.

Sure, of course you can live in Tokyo, just paying your rent and your utilities, living alone.

But that`s not the "norm". You have to take into account whatever it is you are going to do and the fact that MOST people in Japan are working toward actually having a family. Of course most foreigners aren`t - most work for a while and go home. No need to save up or worry about the future.

But the average Japanese man in Tokyo has a future of paying for a family and all the included costs on that "average" salary. The cost of living IS high because it includes more than just rent, utilities and food. Try making ends meet with a wife and two kids at home (which has to be big enough to house them) on that 250,000/month salary. Oh, and don`t forget, one of the kids will need 35,000/month for kindergarten. Oh, and the other kid is still in diapers - 12,000 a month.

Yes, the cost of living is quite high. They don`t calculate that on single cheapy life. It is a figure from the standard level.

Thats right, also saving money for those children's high school. Unlike in the states, you have to take an entrance exam for high school and pay for it as well. Also you have to take account for the money your going to use for the subway. The money for emergencies, smaller bills like cable, internet and what not.
Japan is one of the highest cost of living in the entire world. You'll pay an average rent for a two bedroom, 1 bath apartment in the states which is about $600-900 depending where you live and get a one room apartment in Japan for the same price.