The Cost of Tokyo

Before I came here, I told everyone who would listen that I was going to Tokyo for two months over the summer. The first three sentences in reply, in varying order, would inevitable be: 1)"Wow!"/"Cool!"/"Really?!" 2) "Why?" 3) "It's expensive, you know."

Then I got more serious about coming here and started to search for an apartment. Apartments in Tokyo are expensive. That's why the stupid Chuo line out of Shinjuku turns into a sardine can every day from 6~9. Everyone lives just outside Tokyo, not in it, because it's so expensive.

So I arrived with the idea that everything in Tokyo was going to cost me about 3x as much as it would at home. But now I realized, it's all about the choices you make. For example:

1) You could go to the top of the Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills to get a 360 view of Tokyo from the top of a tall building and pay $18/1800円, OR you could go to the top of the Sunshine 60 building in Ikebukuro for a little over $6/600円, OR even better, you could go to the top of the Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku for free! Yay! Muryou is the best yo. haha. (無料 muryou is free in Japanese) I've been to the first two, and Roppongi Hills is only slightly better, but only because you can go on the roof for an extra $3/300円. Otherwise they're about even only one's much cheaper.

2) You could buy all your food at one place like a Seiyuu Super Market or LIFE, and pay $5 for a peach and $13 for a small watermelon, OR you could go to a small, locally run produce stand on a small shopping street and pay $1.90 for 2 peaches and $4 for 1/4 of a large watermelon (which is only slightly less than a whole small watermelon). The second one is probably better tasting too.

3) You could buy your Calpis (because you are as addicted to it as I am) from a vending machine on a busy street for $1.20, OR you could find the vending machines sort of off the beaten path that sell Calpis water for only $1. Once I found that vending machine, I saved about $1 a day! Just kidding. I don't buy that much Calpis water. Or do I? hmmmm.... haha. OR, for the true addicts, you could simply buy a huge container of Calpis water for like $2.50 or something instead of the tiny bottles. I don't do that. often.

4) You could pay $50 for super tasty sushi of a quality that you could never find in the U.S., OR you could just skip down to the nearest convenience store (they're everywhere. worse than starbucks along highway 80 in California) and pay $4~8 for some pretty tasty sushi of a quality that you couldn't find in the U.S. for less than $50, OR, best yet, you could find a mom and pop bento place (mines at the beginning of Ai Road on the right in Nakano) and pay $2.90 for some super, super tasty futomaki-type sushi with ikura, tuna, egg, pickled veggies, and an unidentifiable white-ish fish. (haha. I gotta get better at remembering the names of fish.) At least that what I had for lunch today, but they obviously have a variety.

5) You could buy your books at Tsutaya Books or some other pretty and new book store (perhaps one in a major station might catch your eye?) and pay full price for your brand new perty book, OR you could find a Book Off and get your book second hand, and even sell your old books to help pay for another.

6) If you want to get into the Tokyo fashions, or get some nice presents for friends back home, you could go to 109 in Shibuya and swim in a sea of jewelry and accessories that are cute, but supremely overpriced, OR you could go to the 500円 store ($5) about a little more than halfway down Takeshita Street on the right when coming from Harajuku Station and get two earrings for $5. Just as cute. ^^

7) When traveling from Tokyo to either Osaka or Kyoto, you could spend more than $100 on a Shinkansen ticket, OR you could go here and get discounted Shinkansen tickets, OR you could go here and ride a night bus for $50, OR you could spend like 9 hours on local trains. I don't recommend that last one unless you are really that poor, or it's a clear day and looking at pretty farm scenery doesn't get boring for you after the first 3 hours. That's about how long I would last I think. I suppose it's still better than the 11 hour plane trip from California to Tokyo though...

8) When your glasses unexpectedly break and you are forced to string them together with floss until you can buy new ones, (because that happens to everyone who travels to Tokyo) you could go to a nice, fancy glasses store in Shibuya or Roppongi, or really any of the major shopping hubs and get some glasses for hundreds of dollars, OR you could skip down the street because you are happy with excitement since you're about to get some sushi at your favorite bento place around the corner (see number 4. haha) and do a double take at a little glasses store shoved in between two overflowing sake shops, and on a whim decide to duck your head in only to walk out 20min later with $45 glasses that look "oshare" to you. I choose option number 2 onegaishimasu~

There's more, but either it's obvious or I don't know it. The obvious ones are like carts or stands of vendors selling food or fans or something in parks or at a train station entrance. Those things are usually cheaper than other places. One guy was selling umbrellas for $3 at Harajuku Station, he just had a handful of them and was yelling "Umbrellas for 300 yen!" I'm pretty sure I saw the exact same umbrellas in a store a little earlier for $6. He started yelling right when a sudden downpoor caught everyone. I'm sure he did pretty well for himself.

Anyways, those are Hiroko's words of cheapskate wisdom. ^^