For the past few weeks I've been living in Tokyo, almost literally between the skyscrapers (close to Nishi-Shinjuku). I've had to buy my own food and drinks and take care of household stuff, and finally I came to the conclusion that Japan is actually not an expensive place at all !
Compared to other Western European countries where I have been, it's actually cheaper. Knowing that I can order a medium Big Mac set with an extra cheeseburger - my normal order - for only 740 yen (4,58 euro - 7,20 dollars) I feel like I'm in heaven. In Belgium I have to pay about DOUBLE for it. If I'm interested in Japanese food - after all who eats Mc'D in another country - I just go to Matsuya and order myself a big bowl of gyuudon (rice with cow meat on it) accompanied with miso soup and a salade for about 550 yen (3,40 euro - 5,35 dollars).
What about entertainment if eating is not fun enough for you ? As for partying, you will have to dig up more money I'm afraid. Most clubs have a 2 000 yen entrance fee, and you won't get any drinks cheaper than 500 yen (yep, you can almost get a nice meal for that at Matsuya).
There are other ways to have fun ofcourse. Just do like everyone else here: gaming. It is generally known that a PSP or Nintendo DS is cheaper in Japan than anywhere else. I don't know any details about it cause I'm not really into this stuff.
Or if you are interested in manga, Japan is the place to be ! (that's nothing new I guess ☝) A lot of manga is ranked at 105 yen. I remember as a child I could only get comics in Belgium for at least 3 euro (480 yen) and that was even before euro was introduced.
To end this post with a good note, I won't talk about the general prices for housing and land here. It's just too boring..
Compared to other Western European countries where I have been, it's actually cheaper. Knowing that I can order a medium Big Mac set with an extra cheeseburger - my normal order - for only 740 yen (4,58 euro - 7,20 dollars) I feel like I'm in heaven. In Belgium I have to pay about DOUBLE for it. If I'm interested in Japanese food - after all who eats Mc'D in another country - I just go to Matsuya and order myself a big bowl of gyuudon (rice with cow meat on it) accompanied with miso soup and a salade for about 550 yen (3,40 euro - 5,35 dollars).
What about entertainment if eating is not fun enough for you ? As for partying, you will have to dig up more money I'm afraid. Most clubs have a 2 000 yen entrance fee, and you won't get any drinks cheaper than 500 yen (yep, you can almost get a nice meal for that at Matsuya).
There are other ways to have fun ofcourse. Just do like everyone else here: gaming. It is generally known that a PSP or Nintendo DS is cheaper in Japan than anywhere else. I don't know any details about it cause I'm not really into this stuff.
Or if you are interested in manga, Japan is the place to be ! (that's nothing new I guess ☝) A lot of manga is ranked at 105 yen. I remember as a child I could only get comics in Belgium for at least 3 euro (480 yen) and that was even before euro was introduced.
To end this post with a good note, I won't talk about the general prices for housing and land here. It's just too boring..
