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Actually I have, and it doesn't matter, you still have no point.
Visiting a place has nothing to do with knowing the official govt. stats on median household income. It's a completely nonsensical point. Why would visiting a place make me know the entire universe of salaries in a country?
And Tokyo is less than 10% of the country. Even if I personally knew the salary of every single Tokyo resident, it would be useless info in answering the question.
I must admit that i don't know a lot about Japan outside Tokyo but you have to agree with me that Tokyo is one of the richest cities in the world.
Look it up, they have the most millionaires and multi-millionaires.
In my experience, western foreigners made much more than the locals.
I would not be surprised if foreign workers are somehow not counted in the official income statistics, as Japan is weird like that. Even if they were, they are a rounding error in the total population. There's like 100K westerners in a country of 120M people.
tokyo is a rich city, but i don't think number of millionaires is a good metric unless you are a millionaire. for example in the states the Twin Cities have one of the lowest number of millionaires but one of the highest median salaries. In my experience in Tokyo, the typical salaryman made peanuts but every aspect of his life was taken care of and he never got fired. Then there was a huge class of younger people who just had part time jobs and hardly made any money at all.
I lived in Tokyo for a year. Salaries are surprisingly low.
Most live in small apartments in extremely urbanized areas.
It is extremely "japanese." Which may sound obvious but it's hard to get a handle on it until you live there. It's not like many western countries where there are all types of people around.
If you aren't japanese, you will never really be a part of the country.
I enjoy Japan quite a bit but I think most non-japanese will have better lifestyle, income, etc in western cities.
That about sums up my experience living in Japan. I loved it as well.
But, it is extremely "japanese", and I'd say that for western families, it is better in the west. I would agree.
Japan is great, and if a western person marries a Japanese, I'd much prefer living in Japan than the West. But a western family, they'd have to figure out a lot of things on their own, both culturally, and every other way. Not so easy to do.
ALso, Japanese is insanely expensive with a high cost of living. It gets tiring knowing that everytime you step outside of your house, you are going to have a very thin wallet by the time you get home, despite not doing much to warrant it.
The minimum wage in Tokyo is just about the same as towns in the US.
It is not like Dubai , Singapore and HK where different foreigners are working in the cities and contributing to the globalisation of the cities.
About the costs, the Californian rice and fruits grown in the US are cheaper than the rice and fruits grown in Japan.
Japanese rice, the staple food of the Japanese, is the most expensive rice in the world.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rzzzz
I lived in Tokyo for a year. Salaries are surprisingly low.
Most live in small apartments in extremely urbanized areas.
It is extremely "japanese." Which may sound obvious but it's hard to get a handle on it until you live there. It's not like many western countries where there are all types of people around.
If you aren't japanese, you will never really be a part of the country.
I enjoy Japan quite a bit but I think most non-japanese will have better lifestyle, income, etc in western cities.
I find it interesting that Japan has some of the lowest income (according to the people here) and highest cost of living of 1st World countries... Then how is it possible that Japan is always in the top 20 quality of life?
IMO Housing is relatively inexpensive in Tokyo as compared with other cities like NYC, Boston, Honolulu or Hong Kong (where I had all experienced).
I always looked at those advertisements displayed in front of those Real Estate agencies in Tokyo. It seems that in many suburbs in Tokyo. i.e. 30-45 minutes by train, a 1LDK in a brand new building only asks for 100,000 - 150,000 Yen/month in average. I understand that key money, i.e. 2 months rent, may be added on.
But it is still cheaper than Honolulu, much cheaper than Boston, and much much cheaper than NYC or Hong Kong.
The secret to a successful life as an expat in Asia is to start your own business selling products or services to western countries. Then, the low wages for professionals isn't a problem but an opportunity to arbitrage and offer goods and services at a lower cost than they would be in the U.S. or Europe.
I find it interesting that Japan has some of the lowest income (according to the people here) and highest cost of living of 1st World countries... Then how is it possible that Japan is always in the top 20 quality of life?
Because the people here know nothing about Japan. Japan doesn't have the lowest income or highest cost of living amongst 1st world countries. Average salary in Japan is about the same as the Netherlands and Germany and the cost of living is around the same as well. Rent of a 30m2 appartment in Tokyo is around €800, which is not even close to the high end amongst 1st world countries. The same appartment would be like €2000 in London, for example.
Japan is also very clean, safe, and reliable so the quality of life is much higher than the likes of the UK or France, for example. It's also a much nicer place to live in than the US for the vast majority.
I've owned rural property in Hokkaido since 2009. Currently spend about four months per year there and the rest of the time in the U.S., with occasional business trips to Taiwan. I prefer life in Japan though my wife prefers the U.S. I like the culture, food, amenities, and people in Japan best. Just personal preference. Food, gas, electricity and vehicle registration cost more in Hokkaido but most everything else is cheaper than or comparable to the U.S. Food quality is much better. One of the things I don't like about the U.S. is that pristine rural areas like Couer d'Alene, Idaho where we spent the Memorial Day weekend are gradually being urbanized under the constant pressure of population growth. Hokkaido, on the other hand, is reverting to nature as Japan's population declines so development is minimal, other than infrastructure improvements. I'm a skier and skiing in Japan is easier and cheaper. Skiing in the U.S. is a zoo.
I've had little trouble with language since translation apps matured. I can go into a Homac hardware story and, using an app, have a functional conversation with a non-English-speaking clerk about a log splitter or plumbing issue. If things get more complicated, I have a local translator who charges me ¥2,500 per hour to translate onsite or call someone for me.
I really like the attention to detail among craft people and workers in general in Japan. It's refreshing. I also never feel like I'm being cheated or gouged there, unlike in the U.S.
I'm in the process of applying for a business visa in Japan and, if it comes through, will move there "full time." Only problem is convincing my wife to move too.
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