Life in Japan

みんなさん、こんにちは！ I would life to know about how expensive is life in Japan right now :). As I would want to go and study there, I need to gather some information about the lifestyle of Japanese. The first and most important question: how much money (euros or dollars please) does an individual need on average to survive one month in Japan ? If I take Tokyo as an example, how expensive is the food and travel tickets (ex: buses or trains), to travel within the city ? For example: Where does a bachelor room average around as price (per month) ? Any other information that would be very helpful on this matter of living in Japan are welcome :). Thanks in advance, コッド

Well, MEXT gives you 125000 yen a month, which is like $1400. On that stipend, you're meant to be able to live comfortably for a month (rent, utilities, etc.) however MEXT pays for other things, like Healthcare, etc, so I would guess about $2000-$3000 a month. To survive. It's all really relative. There's a difference between surviving and living comfortably. My father travelled from Germany to Hong Kong on about $2000, but he economized by sleeping in alleyways, etc. Taking Tokyo as an example, I believe the subway is priced on how far you travel. You'll probably spend aroud 300-400 yen for a one way ticket. I think they have daily passes for 1600 yen (about $18 ). Not to sure about the buses. As for meals, on a *really* low budget you could probably get by on $25 a day eating at fast food restaurants, and convenience store take-aways. For intercity travel, you can buy a Japan Rail pass, which, if I remember is like $700-$1000. From what I gather, as a general rule for Tokyo, think of what size apartment you can afford now. Then half it. You might be able to afford that. Like any city, housing in it is expensive. Personally, I think the easiest thing to do to study in Japan is to a)look into a student exchange program (I take it you're in high school?). b) Do a Bachelor's in your desired field in another country, (eg. England, America) then apply for a Post grad MEXT scholarship. This seems to give you some qualifications, and you get more money too. c) Do a Bachelor's, and then apply for the JET program. Sure, it's not really studying, but you make about 3.5 million yen a year ($43000). Lots of people do this. You just need the above degree, and be a National of one of the participating countries. It should be noted however, that studying isn't a holiday. You would be studying a subject, at university level, in Japanese. For multiple years. I'm also interested in this matter, so if Sayaka or Derek could post, it would be very informative.

Thanks for the reply. I just need some references in order to calculate if my family has enough money to sustain me there. And yes, I'm a high school student, currently in the 10th grade. And yes, I know it's about studying hard, I can really say that here in Romania, where I live, school is really harsh. I have some ex-classmates who moved into other countries (eg. Canada, France) and they are in the 12th grade, while I'm in the 10th here. So the level of teaching is quite high. Even though it is like this, I still study a lot of things on my own, especially in the field of programming, where at the moment, I know a lot more than those in the 12th grade (finishing year for High school in this country). Anyway, what I wanted to point out now is that the problem of studying is at the bottom of my concern list :). I read the MEXT conditions, terms and about what I get...and I'm kind of not in agreement for the undergraduate courses, so I'll stick to the idea of moving in Japan once I start the graduate courses. And yes, I would also like some accurate information from somebody who actually lives there like Sayaka-sensei and Derek-san :D. コッド

konnichiwa listen someday i am thinking about living in japan some day and i was wondering how much it will cost me to fly to japan and when should i leave japan when their becomes an earthquake and how will i earn the money they got in japan i need a little help here and i will be happy if u could please answer my question.

You guys made my day by asking advice from me. Thank you for that! Well as far as living in Japan as an adult goes, financially speaking I have no experience with this whatsoever. Exchange students have host families that provide food, shelter, and so much more at no cost to the student. All of those expenses are covered by the exchange program whom also give me roughly $60 a month as spending money. It technically is 10,000 yen, but that usually is halved by having to pay for my cell phone bill. If you are looking for the financial aspect of living in Japan among other things like what NOT to do as a foreigner in Japan and so many other helpful advice, I have an excellent resource for you: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheJapanChannelDcom The guy who runs this channel has been living in Japan for an extended period of time now married to a Japanese chick and actually makes his living off of making these youtube videos. His explanations of Japanese culture and lifestyle have been invaluable to me so I figured you might find them interesting as well. So if you are interested in becoming an exchange student, then what you'll need to do is first find out what exchange programs are available in your country. If Rotary is available in your country, I highly recommend it as it is the program I am currently in. They are the most affordable exchange program as it is volunteer based, but also the most experienced exchange program at the same time. If you can get accepted into Rotary, I highly recommend you go with them. The expectations for acceptance vary per country and culture, but you should look into it. If you're living in Central US then and only then will my experience with applying to join Rotary will be of benefit to you. Otherwise, yeah I can tell you, but at the same time different cultures and countries can have completely different entrance patterns. It even varies per the district upon which you apply to, so yeah this is something you have to research unfortunately. I currently am living in a very very rural part of Japan, we don't have our own train station. Which in the US wouldn't be anything new, in Japan this says something HUGE. Out of my 6 months living here thus far I have yet to ride a domestic train, and I doubt I will before I return to the US. I have ridden the Shinkansen though, so if you want to know about that experience I can tell you, but it really isn't all that cheap. By comparison to an airplane, its insanely cheap, but by comparison to a bus ride or something its insanely expensive. Buses in Japan are decently priced, They as well are priced upon distance. When you get on a bus, you have to take a ticket with a number on it, a board on the front of the bus has different fares listed based upon the number on your ticket. The board with the fare rates is updated as you pass each stop or some amount of distance. Some city buses are a flat rate regardless of distance, when I was on my school trip in Kyoto, the bus was a flat rate. Taxis in Japan are priced as well by distance, but are expensive to cheap depending on the number of people in your group. If you are riding alone, they are insanely expensive. If you are riding with only 2 people, probably cheaper options out there. However, groups of 3-4 people are where taxis are probably going to be your cheapest bet. This of course assumes you split the bill when paying the taxi driver. For more advice on travel in Japan: www.japan-guide.com Inter-city food is expensive!!! Home cooking is going to be your cheapest bet, so if you know how to cook, your set. If not, then restaurants at their cheapest will be from $6-7 in rural/ not close to train station areas. In areas closer to train stations the price may be more in the $8-9 range and if it is in a train station you can be expecting to spend over $10. There may be places where you can find decent meals for $3-5 but this is usually limited to fast food aka McDonalds or convenience store bentous which aren't that bad actually. Another thing to note is convenient stores in Japan are exactly that, convenient, you can do a lot of things in a Japanese convenience, faxes, printing, buying highway bus tickets, food, buying other tickets of sorts, and so much more. The stuff beyond food is usually tucked away in a corner so it may not always be in the most obvious of locations. Although the more Japanese you know the more convenient they can become. Depending on your length of stay, it may be a good idea to get a Japanese bank account. That's all the information I can think of off the top of my head so if you have question please feel free to ask.

Ok, that is unexpectedly detailed Derek-san, arigato gozaimashita ! One more thing, can someone make an estimation on how much an average person spends there to live/month (eg. Can someone survive with 600$/month ?) And I'm not actually looking for an exchange program, I just want to continue my studies (University and Masters Degree) in Japan. As Pascal-san suggested, MEXT is a good option for a bursary, but not from my country unfortunately.

This may not be helpful at all, but I figured I would put in my 2 cents anyway for anyone interested.....in Canada we have this SWAP program, where you can apply for a working holiday type thing, and go to a different country of your choice to live and work there. they have outlets once you get there to help you find a job and apartments and such, but it would probably be only temp work or stuff like waiter/cashier/etc. Like you would expect in Canada, but if you had already gone to school for something you possibly may be able to find something related to your field of study. They don't really have much of an outlet yet because the Japanese government used to handle it, but they recently closed down and are looking into setting up there. They also don't recommend going until you are at least 20 if you want to find work, because that is the age of majority. So overall not very helpful if you are Romanian and looking to be a student there, but you could check out their website, you might find something there, I haven't looked into it thoroughly just yet. www.swap.ca

Interresting. I'll look a bit more into it, thanks :D

コッドさん、 Living expenses in Japan can vary according to your preferences. You CAN live quite cheaply - rent a wooden 1K (one tiny tatami bedroom with Kitchen attached) apartment 20 min walking distance from a station for 4-5 man. You may have to use the public baths for that one - and toilet may be shared. Of course, the problem of being wooden is that it's freezing in winter - and you can hear all your neighbours... food can be inexpensive if you don't go to expensive sushi restaurants everyday. I believe you can live with 1000 yen a day - easily - if you budget well. Transportation depends on where you live and where you need to get to. It is based on distance - the cheapest is 150yen - (for 1-2 stops) then goes up to 400-500yen or even higher. Having said all that - you may prefer a comfortable living - which means paying around 7-9 man a month for a descent apartment (still small...) with your own bathroom and toilet. - Sayaka ;)

Thank you very much ! I know that it all depends on the university, but could you please tell me on average how much would the studies cost/year whether I get a bursary or not ? :)

The other thing is you can get MEXT as an International undergraduate student in Japan, so going to college for a bachelor's in Japan is possible too and something I am considering. I've already decided that I plan on naturalizing, living in Japan, and more so the matter of a Japanese Degree not being useful in the US is irrelevant. Plus the benefit of going to a Japanese college is it gives me a really really important thing called connections. Also gives me 3-4 years to perfect my Japanese speaking/writing/reading abilities in an immersive environment. There are also a variety of other scholarships on top of MEXT that you can get that would make your life even more comfortable, although, one thing about Japanese culture is don't take more than what you need so... you might want to be careful about that. It might come with a side of guilt. Even if it doesn't, if a Japanese friend noticed you're living quite wealthy and are living off of government money they might be less appreciative of you... so yeah only try to get scholarships for what you NEED.

コッドさん、 Check out the Tokyo University student fees website: http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/stu04/e03_e.html Looks like it's increasing every year... 50 man yearly for an undergraduate. Tsukuba University (another famous university) is around the same: http://www.intersc.tsukuba.ac.jp/01prospective/tuition.htm - Sayaka ;)

Thank you very much for your answers :), that helped a lot. Well, it seems that I can't go there without a bursary as only living there costs about 15 times more than the average salary in my country, every month that is :D. When the summer break comes I'll look deeper into this matter and also contact the embassy here for more details about the bursaries, not to mention that I still haven't decided on a univeristy there :).

well when i grow up and live in Japan it will be better if you spent it on a cheap house or apartment, have some food in the house, and get a job and take care of the bills those are the important things to do

Well said Keyatta-san! :)

Arigato Sayaka-san!

Benkyou gambatte kudasai! - Sayaka ;)

I'd like to throw my 5 yen in here.. I've been living in Japan for about 3 months now, and I've just joined the Rocket program to try and accelerate my learning. I visited Japan for about a month last year with my kendo team, but now I'm in another part of the country working full-time as an English teacher in a public junior high school. As some of the people here have been saying, your mileage will vary tremendously. I live in a very small city and work one town away in a very rural area (as an example, my school shares property with a goat farm). Because of this, my costs of living are significantly lower than many other people I've spoken to who all have their hearts set on living in Tokyo. (From Chiba prefecture where I live, Tokyo is about 2 hours away by train, which isn't so bad for going in on the weekends to have fun if I'm in the mood.) I pay about 5.5man for a small but very modern 1K, but I end up paying about another 1man a month on utilities (less when it was cooler and I didn't run the air conditioner). Like a lot of my Japanese co-workers, I buy the school lunch on a monthly basis (between 4-6sen a month depending on how many school days there are) which is an enormous bargain for a large and very healthy meal. I also volunteer to help with the tea lady and the cafeteria when my schedule permits, and they tend to return the favor by slipping me some extra food, so my food budget is very reasonable. Living in the countryside also has the advantage of being able to buy lots of fresh vegetables, fruit, and fish very cheaply in town (I like to cook for myself), which also gives me an excuse to meet and chat with my neighbors. I help the PE teacher train the kendo team at school, so I have free use of the village dojo and get to train with the children, which is even more language practice outside work (and a great workout)- this costs me nothing, compared to the price of joining a dojo in the city. I can buy a monthly train pass for my commute which runs me about 4sen, and saves me about 20% of what I'd pay if I bought tickets daily, but since I like exercise, I usually prefer to take the 30 minute bicycle ride to and from work when the weather allows it. I'm saying all this because I hear an awful lot of people talk about how expensive it is to live in Japan, and truthfully, there are plenty of ways to save money. If you're courageous enough to get out and explore the community you live in, there are bargains for everything (ask an obaasan very politely in the shopping center and they'll let you in on the secrets of where to shop). I always have plenty of money left over each week to go to the amusement center in town to watch a movie or eat out, and my job doesn't pay a lot of money compared to others (about 225,000 a month). The JET program is very competitive and most people that apply don't get in, as space is extremely limited. It's also only open to very young people, usually current college students (I'm 33 years old and had to get here myself). I wouldn't rely on JET as the best way to come to Japan. There are many, many companies hiring English teachers, and they offer a very wide range of salaries and the level of support they give you. Unfortunately, with the economy doing very poorly in most Western nations right now, a lot of young people have decided to try working abroad- because of this, there's a very large surplus of applicants, and so the jobs don't pay quite as much as they used to and conditions aren't as... kind. You'll have to do quite a lot more on your own than you used to, and if you don't know anyone in Japan and don't already have a strong foundation in Japanese language, it can be very rough. (Try to imagine finding an apartment and signing paperwork when you can't read or write any Kanji!) You should not assume that you will encounter many Japanese people that can speak English, either. If you don't live in Tokyo, Osaka, or Kyoto, the number of native people with English skills decreases dramatically. In my school, for example, the only people that can speak ANY English are the English teachers, and none of them would claim to be fluent. I haven't met anyone in my town outside of the schools that can speak more than perhaps one or two words of English that they know from television or music. This can be a lot more isolating than you'd expect if you don't have strong Japanese conversational skills. All of these things are much easier if you live in Tokyo or the other large cities, but there's a trade-off there, too: the cost of living becomes significantly higher, and the competition for those jobs is much higher (everyone wants them). I hope some of what I've shared is a helpful "reality check" for your future plans. I'll be happy to talk more about my experiences in Japan, but you should always, of course, defer to Sayaka and Derek-sensei and the other professionals. Gambatte!

Just to clarify though, I'm not a professional by any means... just a young adult (younger than you are) who happens have been to Japan for an extended period of time and likes to help when he can... In no way am I officially affiliated with Rocket Japanese. Although one kind of thing I like to remind people of when going to any country is when going to a country where the native language is not English, it is expected of you to speak the language so... please don't become cheap unskilled labor by not learning the language.

@Rebecca 1, Thank you for your detailed insight. I've read similar views on a few blogs, and it's good do have some kind of "confirmation".

My pleasure. I'll be here doing lots of studying, so I'd be happy to share more of my experiences if anyone has questions. Derek's point is probably the single most important piece of advice for anyone looking to work/live in Japan, probably even more important than anything I've had to say about economics. YOUR LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY WILL DIRECTLY IMPACT HOW WELL YOU WILL SURVIVE IN JAPAN. The companies hiring ALTs (the most common type of foreign teaching job) and other teaching positions are very fond of saying "there is no Japanese language skill required to do this job." They're throwing this phrase around a lot less often now due to the large rush of applicants, which is just as well, because it's NOT TRUE. It's true that it's entirely possible (but I can't imagine it) to do an ALT's job with no Japanese skill at all, but you will be completely unequipped to do anything else, down to very small but essential daily issues like commuting, shopping, or paying bills. The average things that an adult has to worry about every day in any country will NOT be available in English, end of story. That said, Derek's previous point about how it's not a good idea to hang out with too many other expatriates at first is an excellent one. I know a few people that have been here much longer than I have, including one gentleman who's married and has lived here 15+ years who can't even read Kanji after all that time and barely seem cognizant of manners and etiquette. While it's true that in a big city you can probably get away with surrounding yourself with other English speakers and doing a "gaijin smash" to get your way, you're wasting your experience here and gravely insulting the culture that has let you in.

@Rebecca 1 Yeah! "Gaijin Smash!!!". But yes, on a serious note, it should be a given fact that prior knowledge of a foreign country's language and culture is directly proportional to one's enjoyment in aforementioned country. For me, despite the fact that I'm eager to visit or study in Japan, I really have to consider the magnitude of vocabulary, kanji etc. that come up in day to day life, let alone doing a university course. I've fortunately been able to acquire reading materials, DVDs, books and games from friends and some of my Japanese-American relatives, so that satiates me. I tell myself that the more of the language I know, the more enjoyable an experience in Japan would be. (I know from past experience, when I travelled to Greece without knowing any Greek, although there were quite a few English speakers, I certainly didn't enjoy the games of charades I played with some of the smaller shop owners ;) )

hmm, thanks for the thorough details Rebecca-san, that was really helpful. I've know managed at last to make some assumptions on the sum of money needed. When calculating, I doubled all the expenses that you told us (city scenario) and saw that the scholarship offered by MEXT would be right at the limit of living comfortably. (best case scenario - I will have about 1-2sen to spare from it).　Derek-san and Pascal-san's comments were also very helpful as always :). Jouhou ga totemo kansha itashimasu ! Now all that's left for me is to study hard for everything. Gambarimasu !

@ コッド: I also live in Romania and i need to ask you something about this topic, but i could not find any option of sending you a PM, so i'll let you my e-mail (i hope i do not violate any of this site rules by doing this). Please contact me!!! [redacted]

Gina-san, Konnichiwa ! I've sent you an email and I'm currently waiting for a response. And there's no need to worry as there is no policy for this forum which states that exchanging contact addresses is prohibited; there's even a separate topic somewhere on this forum which was created especially for exchanging email and skype addresses.

As a tourist I do not find it any more expensive than any other country in the world.