The cost of living in Japan can be a big concern for those wanting to move to Japan for the first time. It’s best to know what to expect before making the big move.
I’m someone who likes to be prepared before making such a big life change. So I scoured the internet looking for real examples of people’s budgets so I could prepare my own.
There’s many articles with ballpark figures for different expenses but that doesn’t mean much to me. I like to see the exact numbers of someone’s real lived experience living here in Japan.
So I want to share my own budget and experience in the hopes it can help any others who are also wanting to move to Japan.
Living in the Japanese Countryside
In my first year in Japan, I lived in the countryside of Kagoshima prefecture in Kyushu.
I came over to Japan through Interac and worked as an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) in 9 different schools in my small countryside town.
The cost of living in Japan in the countryside is definitely lower than living in a city. As now I live near Tokyo and can confidently say my expenses look very different.
Upon reflection, I realise the beautiful natural attractions of the countryside (and access to a car) allows you to explore so much of an area for very little money.
It was a fantastic experience and I recommend it to anyone who is interested.
Cost of Living in Japan in the Countryside Summary
Below is a summary of my monthly income and expenses living in the Japanese countryside in Japanese Yen (¥).
Income
The base salary is standard for all Interac employees regardless of location.
However, I received the position allowance and rental car allowance to cover the cost of my rental car.
Additionally, the commuting allowance is designed to cover the cost of petrol needed to commute to and from work for the month.
So, although the income total looks decent, all the extra ‘income’ I received was automatically withdrawn to cover the rental car fees.
But at least in my position my rental car was paid for by the company in full. I have read online that some Interac employees at different placements only had half of their rental car fee covered.
Unfortunately, in my case, I didn’t get any information about the rental car and it’s associated costs until the end of the training week.
At this time we were signing the work contracts and rental agreements, and the car rental agreement was included in this.
Therefore, it’s difficult to plan for costs associated with a car until you’re already working in Japan.
Fixed Expenses
These expenses are automatically withdrawn from your pay by Interac.
Health insurance, pension, employment insurance and income tax remain the same each month and don’t fluctuate if your income remains constant. (Which it does if you work for Interac).
The cost of the rental car is covered by the position allowance and and rental car allowance I receive as part of my income.
The rent is also automatically withdrawn as my apartment was organised through Interac.
Rent prices can really vary depending on your location as well as what is available in your town at the time you move there.
I’ve heard Interac likes to set up most employees with Leopalace apartments. Especially if you’re working in a city or medium-sized town, as Leopalace apartments are readily available.
My town was actually so small it didn’t have any Leopalace apartment blocks. So my apartment was found through an independent realtor.
Given the price of my apartment at ¥50,594, it was a decent size. It was a 2LDK. It was a bit old (built in 1998) but clean and had all the necessary basics.
After speaking to other Interac employees who I met at training, I found most of them were set up with a Leopalace apartment.
So this apartment was actually a very decent size. So I consider myself somewhat lucky here (if you value a bigger living space).
For comparison, I currently live in Saitama prefecture. Although it’s a bit over an hour outside of central Tokyo, it’s still considered part of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. My rent in this area is ¥57,232. But the layout is much smaller. It’s a 1R as it’s just one room.
If you would like an idea of the cost of apartments in Japan, try looking at Japanese real estate companies. (E.g. Suumo: https://suumo.jp) Here you can take a look and compare the costs of different sized apartments in different areas of Japan.
Fluctuating Expenses
These ‘fluctuating expenses’ can vary widely depending on each person. Every person spends differently according to their lifestyle and what they value.
So this is a summary of what I personally spent, on average, living in the Japanese countryside.
Electricity
My electricity bills fluctuated a lot depending on the month. In months of nice weather, such as September and October, I never touched the aircon so my bills were much lower.
In extremely hot or cold months I would use the aircon/heater a lot so the bills were higher. However, I was still quite conservative with my aircon/heater use.
In Kagoshima, the winters are not so cold so I don’t need to use the heater as much. However, in summer it’s incredibly hot but I was usually at school during the heat of the day and let the night breeze in my 2nd story apartment at night.
For comparison, in Saitama. my electricity bills are almost double. Where I’m currently living, the summers have very little breeze. And in the winter, it occassionally gets cold enough to snow once or twice.
So electricity bills can vary widely depending on how often you like to use it and the environment of the area you’re living in.
Gas
My gas bills stayed fairly consistent throughout the year. I had an electric stove and not a gas stove. So this cost was basically for heating my water each month.
Water
My water bills also stayed fairly consistent throughout the year. I generally just take showers and occasionally have baths.
If you want to embrace the Japanese way of life and take baths every night, your bill could be higher.
Petrol
Petrol is a necessary cost that comes along with owning a car. In my town it was necessary to have a car as there was no other way of getting around.
I drove my car to my schools each weekday. So, Interac gave me ¥8,054 per month for petrol. This was supposedly the amount it would cost me to to commute to and from school each month.
I’m not sure how they calculated it, but occasionally I spent less than that in a month. Including using my car for personal use. So I didn’t mind (and didn’t question it).
I also used my car for every day life, of course. Going to the grocery stores, going shopping, driving into Kagoshima city.
Additionally, I also used it for travel. Everywhere I traveled in Kyushu I did by car. This is why there is such a big variation in the cost of petrol.
In months where I stayed around my town, the petrol costs were lower. But in months when I did big road trips through Kyushu on long weekends, the costs were higher, naturally.
However, I do have to say I always went on road trips with a friend who lived in my town. So we split the cost of petrol between us.
So, if you’re often travelling by car by yourself, the cost for petrol will be much higher. Or if you’re travelling with a group of friends, it could be even cheaper.
Internet
Many people who move to Japan choose to set up internet with a standard provider, who usually comes to their house to install it. This is often around ¥5000 a month on average.
However, in my case, I was warned it could take up to a month or two for internet to be set up. Additionally, I knew I wasn’t going to stay in that apartment for more than 18 months at most.
So I didn’t want to worry about uninstalling it and paying fees for cancelling a plan. I also wasn’t confident in my Japanese ability and wasn’t confident going through the process on my own.
So I decided to get a pocket wifi with a long-term plan. I found this worked best for me, as I could take the pocket wifi to work and use it with my own laptop that I brought to school each day.
(As the school didn’t provide a computer or internet access to me. And it’s not 1985 so I wanted to be able to make and prepare resources on my laptop with my free periods at school).
It also meant I could take the pocket wifi with me travelling around Japan and on my road trips. So I didn’t need to worry about going over data limits on my phone and could choose a cheaper phone plan.
So personally, I thought this was the best fit for me. And I’ve continued to use this method even since moving to Saitama.
I was lucky and got my first long term pocket wifi rental at a discount. It cost about ¥3,000 per month. But this was a lucky deal and not your average price.
When renewing my rental wifi this deal didn’t exist any more so I switched to another plan that has unlimited wifi for ¥6,000 per month.
I find the price of the pocket rental wifi can vary widely depending on the length of time you rent, and if they happen to have sales or promotions at the time you need it. So I chose around ¥5,000 to represent the average cost of my wifi.
Groceries
The cost of groceries can vary dramatically from person to person. I think I am on the higher end of the scale when it comes to the cost of groceries for one person.
For context, I’m vegetarian. Therefore, I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and I often have to cook my own meals. I also like to eat relatively healthy.
In Japan, fresh fruits and vegetables (I think) are quite expensive compared to the rest of the world. So this naturally increased the cost of my grocery bills. As I primarily eat fruits and vegetables.
I also enjoyed splurging on more expensive ‘western’ food that I could find in Kaldi. Such as early chai tea, chia seeds, salsa and tortillas.
With groceries, I think you can go as cheap or as expensive as you want. If you’re someone who doesn’t mind eating the same cheap and easy meal every day, or even if you like living on cup ramen, you can spend much less.
But if you’re someone who enjoys cooking a variety of meals, including western dishes, or if you like buying ready-made meals, your bill can be higher.
Eating & Drinking Out
In this category I included all food and drinks that were bought at restaurants, bars or convenience stores. Basically any food that didn’t come from the supermarket.
I found a typical meal out with friends could range from ¥2,000 to ¥4,000 yen. And I did this about once a week.
Of course a sushi train meal will be cheaper, but a meal at an izakaya including drinks will be more expensive. So this is an average range from my experience.
I also bought food or snacks from the convenience store every week so this is also included in the total for this category.
Shopping / Fun / Irregular Expenses
I think this category speaks for itself. Here I included the cost of any shopping I did. Or costs associated with doing fun things like tickets to a garden or event in my area. As well as irregular expenses like hair cuts and doctor’s appointments.
I personally wasn’t a big shopper during my time in Kagoshima as I knew I was going to be there for one year to 18 months at most and I didn’t want to accumulate a lot of things I would later have to deal with when I moved.
Again, this category can be as expensive as you want to make it, depending on your shopping habits.
I know this spending category become a lot higher once I moved to Saitama and settled in the same place for a few years and started to accumulate more things.
Travel
In this category is all costs associated with travel. Such as accomodation, entry fees, parking. This doesn’t include petrol use (included in the petrol category) and food (included in the eating out category).
I liked to travel cheap when I was exploring Kyushu. Often staying in hostels that cost only ¥2,500 a night. I also did a lot of hiking and exploring temples which were usually free.
So the costs associated with travel were quite low for me living in the Japanese countryside.
The nature, temples and hiking in the Japanese countryside are some of the best things the area has to offer. So I never felt like I was making any sacrifices or doing these things only for the sake of travelling cheaply.
I actually recommend people try hiking and exploring waterfalls and forests in Kyushu as well as the rest of the countryside areas of Japan.
Cost of Living in Japan (In the Countryside)
So there you have it, the cost of living in Japan in the countryside.
I hope my sharing my experiences and my budget can help you plan for your move to Japan.
If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer, so please leave a comment!
