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Just came back from a while in Japan skiing in Hokkaido, but was wondering about going over again to work next season. Anyone give any hints as to living costs. The popular image is that it's real expensive to live and survive. How much cash do I need to live on do you reckon?

 

Thanks for any help in adv.

 

JW

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Since I am from US, I can only tell you in comparison between US/Tokyo/Osaka

 

 

Cost of living ~200%

Cost of real estate ~300%

Tax loading ~ 200%

 

Real estate in Hokkaido is substantially less.

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Soooo... IM, on your reckoning, you can get a luxury 100m sq. apartment in the center of San Francisco or New York for $60,000? Wow, I really didn't realize property was so cheap in the Big Apple. Can you give me the number of your real estate agent?

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Sorry for the sarcasm, not very helpful, but I think Japan gets a bad rap on prices. I think it's hard to go cheap here, but for regular living (esp. downtown in the big cities) many prices are comparable to the West. Japan is not as pricey as it used to be, and if you work here, the tax break makes a big difference to the relative expense of living. I think if you bought a season lift ticket, you could live on well under $1000 US a month (exchange rate permitting).

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I'm with miteyak on this one. Japan does get a bad image on prices. Some things are ridiculously exp, yeah, but you can find ways to live fairly inexpensively if you have a brain.

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I think living depends a lot on how much you are prepared to pay for comfort. When I was a student living here I used to live on about 1/3 of what I do now. To be fair I was studying pretty hard so not going out in the weekend as much as I do now (yes I was a nerd) but I still had a good time. Now that I have a real job (ha ha ha) a bit more money I tend to use it all and wonder how I survived on so little. A lot also depends on people around you. if they are always going out for dinner its hard to say no I am a stingy bastard and am having cup noodles again...etc

 

Just my humble 2 yen worth

 

ps mogul world cup last weekend was awesome. Its amazing to see what a pounding the human body can take.

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Japan is definately getting cheaper through deflation reflected in pricing by many retailers who are trying hard to survive. The thing about Japan is that it can be expensive because one shop will charge a lot more than another selling pretty much the same thing. I've seen a deal in Hakuba for board & bindings hire for \1500 yet most places will charge twice that if not more. Rent in the cities will never be a good deal unless you get lucky. Look around keep your eyes open and scam instead of be scammed -living here need not be that expensive.

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I have been here for 2 years now. At first I was shocked by setup costs, but now that we have settled down, we find it to be cheaper than our initial expectations.

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My town tax is about the same as my income tax, both come to around 10% of salary. Japan's tax system is progressive, both town and income tax increase exponentially, but you'd have to be earning huge bucks to be taxed as at home.

 

Health insurance is expensive, but foreigners can opt not to join it and go private.

 

I love it. Pay for what you use.

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 Quote:
Health insurance is expensive, but foreigners can opt not to join it and go private


Tell me more. I just got my bill for the coming year for health today and its EXPENSIVE. Until now I just paid automatically. It seems I have been missing out - can you post more on that miteyak before I start paying this...many thanks
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Did you say you've already started paying it? That can be a problem. If you never sign up, they never bill you, you have no insurance. Once you've started to pay it can be a major hassle~impossible to leave. I've only heard of others trying to get off and not being allowed without proof that they're leaving Japan. I've no idea what would happen if you just didn't pay.

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I have paid since I came here.

I just got the bill for this year today.

I suppose its just something to ask the town office......what are these alternatives then that you use and how much do they cost?

 

cheers

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I pay it too, and didnt know of any way to avoid it. My town office always demanded I pay, saying that it is compulsory. As I work for the town, it's difficult to do too much about it frown.gif

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There appear to be two health schemes, a work based one (80% cover) that's paired with the pension scheme and the town hall based one (which was 70% cover in Amagasaki the last time I asked) that seems to be for self-employed people and assorted "others". If you're in the former, I doubt very much that your firm will let you get out of it, even though they will be contributing the same amount as you. I don't think the town hall one is compulsory. I enquired about joining five years ago, but didn't because it was going to be very expensive (high income/no dependents). They didn't force me to join. With Japan's ageing population and the decreasing relative size of the workforce, this may have changed already.

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There's a whole load of privates ex-pat plans available. I'm with Global, not that's it's the best necessarily, but I signed up a while a go, and with most policies, there's a period where certain ailments take a while to be covered if they should crop up. Starting over all the time makes no sense! Ultra care under this policy costs around $1200 us a year, and includes full medical coverage with minimal deductable, emergency dental, and limited travel insurance. High income, no dependents, young and healthy? definitely the way to go.

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