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Before I headed off to Hokkaido later in the afternoon, I decided to pay a visit to the Gundam Café in Akihabara. I knew it was going to be expensive, but I know some of you would appreciate the pictures. I ordered the Char Aznable Pilot’s Lunch with Haro-laté. It ended up costing me ¥1270 ($14.20USD) for burger meat in tomato sauce, a stick of garlic bread, and a small black laté. lol For that cost I could order one and a half large meal at a regular restaurant, or order two large bowls of ramen. This place was purely a luxury restaurant for the die hard fans of Mobile Suit Gundam. Enjoy the pictures!
Actually, while I’m on the subject of things that cost money. I would like to remove a huge myth about living in Tokyo city, or Japan for that matter. Please remember this well! “The cost of living in Tokyo city is expensive in comparison to the the rest of Japan, but it’s nothing compared to living anywhere in the United States!” Yes, you read that right.
For instance, the cost of food in the states is astronomically high. Yet the states over produce food so much that we export it!? What!? My groceries at a bargain store, Trader Joe’s wiki, in Western Massachusetts is almost double what I pay in Tokyo, or the same if I go out and eat everyday at a restaurant. Not only is the food cheaper, it’s natural, has way more flavor, is grown with almost no pesticides or chemicals, and its not hybrid or GMO. Last I checked that’s considered luxury produce in the states, like a tier above Whole Foods Market wiki even. The funny thing about this, Japan is having a food shortage crisis right now, and are increasing imported produce.
So USA has too much food and exports with high prices for locals, and Japan has too little food and is importing with normal (low) prices for their locals. Hmm, something isn’t right here. In the states I sometimes snack during the day just to hold off my hunger until it’s dinner. In Japan I eat like a king, having large meals with snacks in between. This is just food mind you, I could go on with other things like my apartment in the heart of Tokyo was only $800 a month with all utility, high-speed internet, and digital TV all included…., but I’ll just sum it up like this: “In Japan, the only thing that costs a lot, or by US standards normal price, is luxury products and imported entertainment.”
That’s the end of my rant and extermination of a dumb myth.
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Eh, I still say it’s a rather expensive place, though that depends on how you like to live. Rent is very expensive for the amount of space you get compared to most places in the US. I know Pittsburgh is cheap for a city, but I could have rented a house for what I paid for my dorm room at TUJ. Going places could cost quite a bit, from what I heard from others going out to clubs and bars is expensive (though I proudly have no interest in such things), and it just felt to me as if there was a cultural mentality where if you’re not spending a few hundred dollars on a day out you’re doing it wrong. I’d be aghast watching the amounts that some of my Japanese friends would drop without any real concern. Regular costs can tend to nickel and dime one’s wallet pretty badly too, I’d still say that it’s quite an expensive place to be.
Food was actually the area where things ended up being cheaper for me since I cooked almost all my food. Produce was dirt cheap and really good in particular, and the cheaper food when I would go out to eat was great for the price. Restaurants could get really expensive though once you went above the cheap/student sort of food though. But I’d take cheap food in Japan over cheap food in the US any day, the quality and variety is far superior.
How much Tokyo costs is directly correlated to how you want to live. You can do it inexpensively, of course, but you can’t expect to live as you might somewhere in the States.
This study is interesting:
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/109909/the-worlds-most-expensive-cities-2010
Why’d you delete my comment?
I haven’t deleted any comments on my site yet… You must of had an error.