[brandall10]

It's definitely a factor... average salary in Japan is slightly more than half the US.

That said, I've been to 25 countries / 40 cities in the past 2 years and Tokyo felt like an anomaly.

Price-wise, it wasn't too dissimilar to Eastern bloc countries where average salary would be yet again half what they are in Japan. You could get a great meal at a decent restaurant for well under 10 euros. Something similar in Manhattan would be over twice the cost. In a place like Bucharest, probably still more and be of worse quality.

And the city itself is highly modern and clean, unlike in those nations. It presents as a place that should be incredibly expensive in many aspects, yet it isn't - ie. the subway system is world class, yet a fraction of what the subway costs in NYC.

Right now I'm in Mexico City, and I've told many folks who live here, to their amazement, that Tokyo is roughly similar in cost for what I call 'middle class' living. In fact, for nicer restaurants, it seems more expensive here compared to similar places in Tokyo. Street food and the like is still a fair bit cheaper here, but when you simply look outside and try to compare them, it is shocking.