Hi!
Here's a quick rundown on some of the costs of living in Japan, at least as
I've been able to figure (I'm not terribly good at keeping track of my
money). Note, however, that these prices are likely to widely vary
depending on where you're living: obviously, rental costs for central
Takamatsu (Kagawa-ken, pop. 400 000) is going to be substantially lower than
Shinjuku, Tokyo.
Rent:
Oddly enough, this is the one I'm least able to comment on accuratly. My
rent, like many English teachers in Japan, is subsidized. I pay 12 000 yen
a month for a six-tatami bedroom, slightly-larger kitchen, apartment.
That's peanuts. Unsubsidized, I figure the price would be about 4 man (1
man=10 000 yen).
For the purpose of your fic, if your photographer is close-to-poor, and in
Tokyo, likely the best he could afford is a six-tatami room apartment. One
room, a cubicle bathroom, that's it. These kind of apartments seem to
abound.
Note that, by moving a short distance out of the urban center (say a fifteen
minute kotoden ride), apartments drop in price and swell in size. My
apartment's small because I'm in the city; another person on the same
program outside of downtown has a two-bedroom, kitchen+dining room flat. No
windows, strangly enough.
Of course, none of this includes utilities. Figure an average of 4000 yen
on hydro per month (low in spring and fall, high in summer and winter - air
conditioning and heat.) Gas is negligible, maybe 2000 a month. Phone costs
are -high-, since even domestic, down-the-street calls cost 10 yen/3
minutes. I hate NTT. If your character has the internet, phone bills could
prove very high. I limit my usage, and still get a 10 000+ yen/month bill.
***
Miscellanious stuff:
Vending Machines abound. Pepsi is more expensive than coke. 120 yen'll get
you a can of most products, from Fanta to Coke to Boss Coffee. The two
rival sports drinks are Aquarius (a Coke product) and Pocari Sweat. PS is
better, but more expensive. Strangely enough, I haven't seen a chocolate
bar dispenser yet.
Vending machine beer is cheap - 300 yen for an Asahi Super Dry 500 ml can,
for example. Taking tax in account, it's proven the cheapest way to buy
beer. At a bar, you'll be charged around 500-600 yen for a glass that's
maybe about a half-pint. And you may be charged just for walking in the
door. The highest cost is, of course, at the infamous snack-bars, where the
cost can range anywhere from 3000 yen to a full man! Haven't bothered with
those, yet. Fortunately (or not, depending), gaijin are often exempted from
those cover charges.
In the summer people hit the Beer Gardens, usually found at the top floor of
major department stores. These places charge about 5000 yen to walk in
(ouch), but then it's all you can eat and drink for a few hours. Very
popular, but they all close down at some point in September (no matter how
warm it still is... the Japanese really stick to their deadlines.)
What else... um, McDonalds is surprisingly cheap, about 650 yen for a
L-sized Big Mac combo. Of course, you -have- to L-size it here, because
portions are smaller. And stay away from the Teriyaki burger, it wanks.
I dunno, hope this helps... anything else you need help with, or anyone else
for that matter? It's my pleasure. Let's Happy Time! Uh, sorry... gotta
go. Today's a big day: Junior High Graduation day, when all the san-nenseis
(third years) break free, and move on to High School (most of them, anyway).
Spring break first, of course - for all of two weeks. Although the first
and second year students still have another week of school first. As a note
of interest, this is also the time in which many teachers are forced to
change schools, giving them a week and a half to pak their stuff, move, and
settle in to the new workplace.
You know what's cool? Hearing five-hundred Japanese kids sing the national
anthem in unison.
Later!
Mike Noakes
noakes_m@hotmail.com
http://www,geocities.com/noakes_m
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