What do you eat in Japan?

[synthia]

I never have been able to handle rice or fish for breakfast. I sprung for cereals. Since I lived in a smaller city, Kitakyushu, my rnet wasn't so terribly high ($450 per month for a 2DK), so I could afford to pretty much eat what I wanted. I just cringed a lot for the first four months.

[beatnik]

Originally Posted by steadyboy

Larabell, can you confirm/dispel the strong rumour about the cost of supermarkets selling western items? I am told they are very expensive, but can not tell how expensive is very expensive, if you get my point. How much would I pay for a jar of coffee? a litre of beer? a Big Mac? In general, I guess noodles would be cheaper and potatoes would be dearer, but are they twice the price, 5 times the price, 10 times the price?

America brands are a little more but for the most part it's not crazy expensive like most people say. I visited Tokyo this past spring and found that most things were no more than 20% higher in price and in most cases I think only about 10% higher than Los Angeles.

Things like rent are not bad. Transportation will cost you more than say NYC but using the trains in Tokyo is still more economical than having to maintain a car payment, insurance and gas in a place like Los Angeles.

I hope these comparisons help.

I think most of the notions that Japan is very expense come from tourists that found fancy cafe in a tourist/shopping area and ordered an infamous $7 coffee. This is rare and if you really want a good coffee you can actually get one from a vending machine for about $1.20. Hot and tasty in a nice can.

[beatnik]

Originally Posted by japanfan

When you're in Japan, what do you usually eat? What's your favorite food?

As for japanese food I still love sushi the most but when I went to Japan I ate less sushi than when I'm in California. There's so much variety in their diet, at least in what my friends eat. If you want to try something good and fast look for Akiba Kabab in Akihabra (electric town). The serve a unique rice bowl which is turkish style shwarma over rice. The rice is slightly fried and the beef is delicious. Even my japanese friend enjoyed it a lot.

[larabell]

That coffee thing is probably the most often cited example of how "expensive" Tokyo (and Japan in general) can be. But... try ordering one coffee in your local California Starbucks and sit there reading for 3 hours. See how long before they toss you out onto the pavement. There are no restaurants I know of where the coffee is free (like in many Stateside places) but it's not expensive and many places offer free refills. But a non-restaurant coffee shop has to make *some* money off all the deadbeats that treat the place like a public library.

Also, tourists tend to eat in (or at least near) major hotels. Try walking down one of those narrow shopping streets in a residential neighborhood. Pick a place at random. I've done that many times and have never been disappointed.

[larabell]

The coffee thing is probably the most often cited example of how "expensive" Tokyo (and Japan in general) can be. But the folks spreading these tales have probably never tried going into a Starbucks in the US, ordering one cup of coffee, and sitting in the shop for three hours reading. Coffee shops here may be expensive but the shop has to get *some* money out of the leeches that treat the place like it's the public library (actually, I'm joking... it seems to be a cultural norm here that buying a cup of Java entitles you to free rent at the table for as long as you like).

And don't forget that tourists (who are probably the primary source of the exaggerated cost-of-living stories) often eat in or near their hotels. But if you get away from the crowded area, look for a neighborhood shopping street, and pick a restaurant at random, it's not likely you will be disappointed. I've done that many times. You don't need to read the menu -- just look around at what's on the other tables and point. I even do that in my local place where I *can* read the menu. I sit at the counter where I can see the head chef doing his thing. If I see something I might like, I say "hey, what's that?" and if it sounds good I order one. Most of what I eat there I cannot recommend to others because I don't even know what it's called. I almost always order by habit or by sight.

[synthia]

I lived in Tokyo for three months, and then in Kitakyushu for a year. The difference in cost was dramatic.

A lot depends, too, on what the cost of living was in the place you left. The English people I met thought costs were about the same as at home, while I was choking over $11 for a movie that, at the time, would have cost $5 back in DC.

[beatnik]

Originally Posted by synthia

I lived in Tokyo for three months, and then in Kitakyushu for a year. The difference in cost was dramatic.

A lot depends, too, on what the cost of living was in the place you left. The English people I met thought costs were about the same as at home, while I was choking over $11 for a movie that, at the time, would have cost $5 back in DC.

makes sense, I happen to live in Los Angeles, probably the most costly place to live in the U.S. Yes we have mostly $9 and $11 movies here. Yikes!

[larabell]

Today I was in "Life" (a fairly popular supermarket chain in Tokyo) with my son buying stuff for lunch (he's off school this month). I saw a bunch of plastic bags stacked up, with five greenish-looking apples in each bag, selling for 498 yen (about $1.00 for each apple, sure, but that's a far cry from the prices you pay for the overly pampered single specimins).

If it's any help, I also saw plastic bags of 5 "navel oranges" (at least that's what the sign said) for a little less than 400 yen for each bag.

I don't recall off-hand the watermelon price but I think it was about 500 yen for a quarter melon. That would make the original watermelon something like 2000 yen, I guess. We opted for the pre-cut-up chunks because Pop is too lazy to cut the thing up for lunch .

[synthia]

The prices don't seem so outlandish now that things have gone up so much in the US.

[jamesc]

Originally Posted by steadyboy

Larabell, can you confirm/dispel the strong rumour about the cost of supermarkets selling western items? I am told they are very expensive, but can not tell how expensive is very expensive, if you get my point. How much would I pay for a jar of coffee? a litre of beer? a Big Mac? In general, I guess noodles would be cheaper and potatoes would be dearer, but are they twice the price, 5 times the price, 10 times the price?

I can dispel the rumour ... I have lived in Nakano Fujimicho (4 stations from Shinjuku) for 5 years and shop at the supermarkets in my area ... it is cheap if you want it to be, even when buying western styled food. I buy 2 tomatoes for Yen 100 (US$ 0.95) , 500ml cans of beer for Yen 280, a tray of sliced steak for Yen 700, 2 potatoes for about Yen 120, a bottle of foreign win for about Yen 800, pack of potatoe chips for Yen 100, a pack of coffee beans for Yen 700.

And if you are lazy like me then you can go to places that prepare meals and you buy by weight (Origin Bento). I can get a full meal for about Yen 700 that consists of chicken, vegetables etc.

Of course, on the other hand, if you want super expensive food you can get it too.