Cost of Living in Tokyo

An Insider’s Guide to Moving to Tokyo

This Tokyo relocation guide has been designed with the explicit intention to provide expats and travellers with all they need to know about moving to Tokyo.

This exciting chapter covers Cost of Living.

Before moving to Tokyo (or indeed any country) you need to know how much everything costs. This enables you to plan out a sensible budget and how living there will differ from where you are now. This chapter has been crafted to put your costing fears at ease and to show you what the most important facilities and luxuries are going to cost per month.

It is important to note that costs can vary depending on how often you go out and what your lifestyle is. If you love pricy and luxury items and and enjoy splashing out on the best theatre seats, then chances are you’ll be spending more than those that are more rigorous with expenditure. Not that there’s anything wrong in splashing out, obviously.

3.1 Rent

This is one of the first costs that you’ll have to deal with when you arrive. Your rent, depending on the contract you sign, will cover most aspects of upholding the property from gas, electric, water and internet.

It is best to remember that rent prices will vary across the different neighbourhoods of Tokyo and on the overall size of the living space. This is the same in any city in the world, from the delights of London to the cities of New York and Paris. So don’t be surprised if you see some disparity between one neighbourhood and another.

As covered in the first chapter, Tokyo is renown for being an expensive place to live. It’s best to take a deep breath.

Don’t forget that serviced apartments in Tokyo offer better amenities and long term prices.

Some of the rent prices can be viewed below:

As you can see, the prices do vary across area and the size of the living space that you’re renting. The average rent in Tokyo is 78,000 yen per month. The national average for Japan itself is 44,000 yen. It is worth mentioning that the average cost of living in Japan is 110,000 yen per month.

The prices in the tables may or may not include utilities. Remember that gas, water and electricity are not covered in rent by most landlords so you’ll have to add the utilities to the rent cost. Internet and other perks will obviously be separate in the majority of cases.

3.2 Utilities

We all hate bills. There's nothing more annoying than picking up the post and finding that the whole stack is a load of bills. However, cheer up fellow relocator as those bills give you all the utilities you need to make your tasty meals, keep the property warm and to browse the web.

Prices vary wildly depending on the amount of people living in your household, how often you use all the facilities and what providers and suppliers you are using.

A rough idea can be viewed below for the prices of utilities every month. The prices cover gas, water and electricity.

If you’re concerned about the overall costs and expenditure when it comes to bills, you may be able to discuss the possibility of looking for a new provider with your landlord. Both of you can benefit from a better provider if you feel you're being overcharged.

Electricity & Gas

The electricity and gas markets are controlled by different companies that will all have their standard rates and deals. Your landlord may have already supplied you with a few names to call up to provide the utilities or you may have to look them up yourself.