"So is it expensive to live there?"

We were really worried about the cost of living in Japan, especially because it was hard to find data for our region. Here's where I'm going to surprise you: because of our unique situation, no, it's really not expensive.

Kind of a bombshell, right? Everyone, it seems, has heard horror stories of tiny apartments in Japan costing over a thousand dollars. Yet here we sit in one of the largest homes we've ever rented, and we're shocked to discover we still have money in the bank at the end of the month. We've checked three times to make sure we didn't forget to pay someone.

So, how? We're living in subsidized housing, so my husband's work is paying for 2/3 of the monthly rental costs. Our utility costs are low because our water is heated on-demand and we haven't bought one of those fancy, energy-hogging heater/air-conditioner units. The biggest cost saver for us, though, is the fact that we don't have a car. Gas, monthly payments, maintenance, insurance and taxes always cost us more than we were willing to admit when we were back in the US, especially since we had two vehicles.

Probably the most tofu I will ever be able to buy
for less than 50 cents US

What about food and necessities? Clothing is comparable, and food really depends. I can buy a large enough block of tofu to put in a dinner for 4 for about $0.50, but the price of meat is higher and the portions for sale are much smaller (no family packs of chicken thighs, for instance). A liter of milk is a little less than $2, so it's equivalent to about $9/gallon US (I know, right? Yikes). A carton of 10 eggs is about $2. But fish is incredibly cheap.

So really it just depends on what we buy. We're paying through the nose for milk (well that's a yucky visual...sorry), but we're coming out ahead by the end of every month. And we're still checking to make sure we haven't forgotten a bill because, really, we still can't believe it ourselves.