Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm not only talking about rent.
Groceries, Alcohol plus Prostitutes in bars/clubs are more expensive in Tokyo than in New York.
Alcohol is not more expensive. Beer can run you $4-7 a beer. A gin and tonic at HUB (one of the most popular bar chains for foreigners and Japanese) is like $4.
I eat bento from the conbinis and supermarkets and pay anywhere from $3-4, a good meal at a restaurant is also cheaper than NY on average, not to mention the cheap eateries like Sukiya or Yoshinoya that are almost the same cost as buying bento.
Idk about prostitutes - I live near Kabukicho but I don't hang around the hostess clubs.
Last edited by ny2asia1234; 02-15-2017 at 09:12 PM..
I was born in HK and have a habit of walking fast since junior high school, I walk fast on Sundays too when I dont goto school or work.
HK is not like many Mainland Chinese or Taiwanese cities where people stand on both sides of the escalator. It is a general custom people stand on one side only and let people walk on the other side.
Tokyo is the same and has a higher poulation density than NYC and HK.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ny2asia1234
I also disagree that HK is "way, way faster". In fact, outside of Central, I didn't get any crazy vibes, just a bunch of crowds in Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, TST, etc. Definitely a lot more comparable to NY though. Also, people in HK walk pretty slowly, and it isn't just because of the crowds. I'm not the first person to write about that on the internet either.
Try Mongkok at night and it should be similar to Kamata. LKF is quiet on most weekdays. HK Island is pretty quiet and boring by HK standard.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ny2asia1234
Outside of maybe LKF, HK was pretty dead at night from what I saw. Even the streets didnt have a lot of peoole walking around, and pretty much everything except all the convenience store chains were closed. What shocked me is that you can even be in Tokyo in Kamata (30 mins outside the center of Tokyo), and there's still businesses going and places to hang out with people still walking around at very late hours.
Alcohol is not more expensive. Beer can run you $4-7 a beer.
I paid $8 for a bottle of Corona at the clubs in Roppongi and Shibuya and that was in 2011.
I could buy 2 bottles for the same price in the bars i've visited in Midtown Manhattan.
I was born in HK and have a habit of walking fast since junior high school, I walk fast on Sundays too when I dont goto school or work.
HK is not like many Mainland Chinese or Taiwanese cities where people stand on both sides of the escalator. It is a general custom people stand on one side only and let people walk on the other side.
People stand on the right side of the escalator in Taiwan.
I'm not only talking about rent.
Groceries, Alcohol plus Prostitutes in bars/clubs are more expensive in Tokyo than in New York.
Alcohol is about the same. Groceries I found to be of generally higher quality and is more expensive for similar quality in NYC with certain meats being the exception. Meals are generally cheaper.
I paid $8 for a bottle of Corona at the clubs in Roppongi and Shibuya and that was in 2011.
I could buy 2 bottles for the same price in the bars i've visited in Midtown Manhattan.
Most bars do not sell $4 Coronas in NY. You will pay $6-8 or so on average.
Roppongi is a more expensive area. I don't hangout there for other reasons like there being too many foreigners. So yes, 1000 yen (almost $9) isn't odd for a beer there. But this isn't representative of most areas of Tokyo, even central Tokyo like Shinjuku or Shibuya.
One thing I will say w regards to clubs is that it's standard to pay 3000-4000 yen ($25-35) as a cover charge. Sometimes this includes one or two drinks, sometimes it doesn't. This is just 1 reason I don't hang out at clubs a lot but go to bars every week.
You said you were there in 2011. I'm guessing you're also implying things should be more expensive since you talked about high prices and said "and that was in 2011". The exchange rate in 2011 was 75-85 yen/USD (75-85 yen was equal to 1 US dollar). At the time of this post, it's 113 yen to a dollar, so the weak yen/strong dollar also makes things cheaper on top of all this. Also, it's well known that Japan has had a big problem with deflation - not inflation.
Last edited by ny2asia1234; 02-15-2017 at 09:57 PM..
Most Asians do not have a real alcohol culture and bar scenes are not the same as in Western countries.
In Japan, many people go and drink after work. I see a bunch of salarymen all dressed up in bars, etc. People get pretty drunk, too. It is supposedly customary to go and drink with coworkers after work to unwind. Probably also has a lot to do with the long hours.
The bar scene isn't quite the same in the sense that stand up bars aren't as popular. People go to izakayas and sit with a group while getting food, etc. However, there's plenty of places to stand and drink, and they have no shortages of people in there, Japanese or foreigners.
Japanese definitely drink alcohol quite a bit - the bars and such are not empty. I've heard Koreans drink even more.
Also, I'm putting this here not so much as a direct reply as just something for someone else to read. I read this thread and a lot of others before moving to Tokyo so I'm trying to put information up someone else can read.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
