How much per month to live in TOKYO?

[AlexLosAngelesCa]

Is Tokyo as expensive as I hear it is. I would love to visit sometime.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by AlexLosAngelesCa

Is Tokyo as expensive as I hear it is. I would love to visit sometime.

Since I don't live in your brain, How expensive do you hear it is?

[AlexLosAngelesCa]

Originally Posted by MMM

Since I don't live in your brain, How expensive do you hear it is?

Well actually, I would like to know which is why I'm asking. I just hear its "EXPENSIVE".

[MC9876]

Compared with Holland, where I live, it's not really expensive. Everything is about the same or cheaper. Only coffee and alcohol are quite expensive, but the basic stuff, food, water, clothes, rent are decently priced imo.
It is expensive if you compare Japan with other Asian countries though, like China.

[AlexLosAngelesCa]

Originally Posted by MC9876

Compared with Holland, where I live, it's not really expensive. Everything is about the same or cheaper. Only coffee and alcohol are quite expensive, but the basic stuff, food, water, clothes, rent are decently priced imo.
It is expensive if you compare Japan with other Asian countries though, like China.

I see, lets say I visit for 2 months. Would $3000 us be enough?

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by AlexLosAngelesCa

I see, lets say I visit for 2 months. Would $3000 us be enough?

2 months in a hotel and eating out? No, not at all.
Living in a one room apartment and eating cheap home cooked meals? You could pull it off, I`m sure. The thing is, unless you`re a student or have someone to look after your affairs, the chance of arranging that is pretty low.

[Heru]

I was looking at apartments in tokyo and they didn't seem that expensive. My idea of expensive is not being able to find things below 2500 in a nice area. I was hearing things like "tokyo is the most expensive place to live in the world" but compared to new york city. At lesat in apartment prices they had a range from high to low in seemingly decent areas. Versus nyc where you can have really nice places for 5-17,000 a month, but, in a less desireble location you can get things for like 1300-1500 (i'm speaking strictly about Manhattan here).

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by Heru

I was looking at apartments in tokyo and they didn't seem that expensive. My idea of expensive is not being able to find things below 2500 in a nice area. I was hearing things like "tokyo is the most expensive place to live in the world" but compared to new york city. At lesat in apartment prices they had a range from high to low in seemingly decent areas. Versus nyc where you can have really nice places for 5-17,000 a month, but, in a less desireble location you can get things for like 1300-1500 (i'm speaking strictly about Manhattan here).

I think that there are a lot of underlying costs which you simply don`t see when looking at the price of rent alone. For the same level of lifestyle as most other places, you`d have to dish out a whole lot more. But if you just want to look at the cheapest you could get by on, while discounting what that entails - then you will be able to find things for cheaper.

You also need to keep in mind that searching "Tokyo" is not necessarily going to only give you the prices in Tokyo city (the 23 wards that make up what people think of as Tokyo), but also in the whole Tokyo area (Sort of like if I were to search for "New York" without specifying city, I`m sure I could find something dirt cheap somewhere in New York state far from the city.) Tokyo is the name of the area, and Tokyo city is just part of it. There are other cities in Tokyo (26 others!), which are going to be cheaper than inside Tokyo city itself.

[MC9876]

Originally Posted by AlexLosAngelesCa

I see, lets say I visit for 2 months. Would $3000 us be enough?

I don't think that's enough. Maybe if you live on a tight budget, but I recommend to take enough money with you to "experience" Tokyo, go to musea, have some nice meals, go to an onsen, go out a couple of nights, etc.

[atheistwithfaith]

Well that is around 275,000Yen. When I spent a month in Tokyo it cost me probably around 150,000-200,000Yen taking into account rent / food / transport / "extras", that is not including flights though. If your feet were your main carriage and you lived in the cheapest place you could find, never ate out for lunch or dinner. Then you MIGHT just be able to get by, but I wouldn't recommend it.

With that cash go for 1 month and have a much more action-packed and enjoyable time than living on the breadline for 2.