{"id":4255,"date":"2020-09-02T10:03:33","date_gmt":"2020-09-02T01:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vhbloglive.wpengine.com\/?p=4255"},"modified":"2020-09-02T10:03:42","modified_gmt":"2020-09-02T01:03:42","slug":"cost-of-living-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/japanese-apartment-life\/cost-of-living-in-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Cost of Living in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Moving to Japan\nentails a large amount of planning and forethought, and one of the largest\nfactors is money. Check out our article on the cost of living in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving to a new\ncountry can involve many new experiences and planning for such a move will make\nyou think about different aspects of life in your new country. Learning new\ncustoms, navigating public transportation, and enjoying festivals are all a\npart of the Japanese experience. You need to think about the cost of living in\nJapan when looking at Japanese apartments. Certain areas of life in Japan will\ndiffer greatly from your home country and money is another thing that will change.\nWe will look at some of the basic costs of living in Japan and some of the\nuncommon things as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Utilities and Housing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first big\nadjustment you will probably make is for housing. You will find through\nsearching for an apartment, that some new charges will drive up the cost of\nliving in Japan. One major payment that people will encounter is key money. Key\nmoney is a general fee for living in a Japanese apartment and is seen as a gift\nto the landlord for allowing you to live in their apartment. It is usually\nanother month of rent that is given when you pay your deposit and the first\nmonth of rent. Depending on the building, there could be an extra maintenance\nfee added every month for basic cleaning and security upkeep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Utilities can be\ndifferent depending on the area or building you live in. Some cities exempt\npayments for a certain utility. For example, you may not have a water bill in\nsome areas and in others, you will not need to pay a maintenance fee. Your\nutilities will all cost an initial activation fee and will vary depending on\nusage. Some companies will offer to reduce your bills with special deals or\ncampaigns. In terms of the essential costs of living in Japan, utilities are\ncomparable to other western countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

There are special\ncity taxes in every city and there is also the national health tax and pension.\nThese all add up to a once a month payment that you will need to pay using\nslips delivered to you from city hall. Your city tax will differ between cities.\nYou can adjust your cost of living depending on what you think is best for you.\nAsk your real estate agent or landlord about the different costs that will be\nrequired of you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Food and Eating out<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One thing that\neveryone will worry about is monthly food costs. Certain things in Japan will\nbe priced much higher than in your home country, like vegetables and especially\nfruits. You will find some fruits cost 2 to 4 times as much as what you are\nused to. There may not be the kinds of fruit you want as well so you may need\nto find some new favorite fruits. You can find the Japanese version of most\nthings and they import a lot of fruit from neighboring countries as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most apartments\nhave small kitchens that make it difficult to prepare meals comfortably. This\nmakes most people go out to eat at least once a week. You will find if you go\nout too much you will drain your bank account quickly. There are a lot of fast\nfood places and local restaurants you can go to try and keep the costs low, but\nit won\u2019t be as cheap as making meals yourself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imported foods\nare very expensive and you won\u2019t be able to find everything you want. It is\nbest to find the Japanese equivalent of whatever foods you are missing. There\nare many western restaurants in Japan as well and you can use those to sate\nyour appetite. This cost of living expense is completely dependent on your\ntaste and how you wish to enjoy your food when living in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Transportation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Transportation\nsystems in Japan are some of the best in the world. The trains run on time, the\nbuses are frequent, and there are plenty of taxis to call on. There will be a\nsignificant price increase for anyone who has not lived in a city or major\nmetropolitan area. The prices will become larger the more you travel, and you\ncan end up paying over 10,000 yen a week just going to work. Luckily, most\ncompanies are willing to pay your travel expenses, or they will give you a\ntravel pass for certain lines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Entertainment and Leisure<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The country of Japan\nhas no shortage of fun things to do and their entertainment districts are\nfilled with places to enjoy your evening. Karaoke shops are everywhere, and many\nbars to enjoy drinks. This can be dangerous for your bank account as you may\nend up spending more than you planned. Too many trips to karaoke can be\nexpensive and leave you worrying about your next bills. Even if you go in\ngroups you could find the price a little steep. You could easily spend 20,000\nyen at an izakaya if you don\u2019t pay attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

City Living vs Countryside<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The cost of\nliving in the city and the countryside are very different. The city is generally\nmore expensive since there are a few more things that you have to pay for.\nTransportation changes drastically as most rural areas require you to drive.\nJapanese apartments tend to be lower in price and the ability to get large\nhouses for cheap is much easier. The taxes may be cheaper in the countryside as\nwell and the way of life is slower too. You won\u2019t have as many options for\nentertainment or eating out so you will be forced to cook for yourself\nregularly. It will take a different mindset when trying to budget and figure\nout the cost of living in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When looking for\na Japanese apartment you can find many options that will fit your needs. You\nshould make sure to consider all of the different fees and extra payments\nyou\u2019ll make during your stay. You will need to keep tabs on your spending and\ncheck all your expenses before and after arriving so you can budget correctly.\nTake your time and ask as many questions as you can before you move so you can\nget the best idea of the living costs of your new home. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Moving to Japan entails a large amount of planning and forethought, and one of the largest factors is money. Check out our article on the cost of living in Japan. Moving to a new country can involve many new experiences and planning for such a move will make you think about different aspects of life […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4256,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-japanese-apartment-life"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}