nateintokyo

I am in Tokyo....
I find things are actually pretty cheap here compared to other big cities in the world.

Some things get ridiculously overpriced--mostly neat American toys that some enterprising youngster has imported to sell to the slavish trend following horde. Oh, and LV and such.
Transportation (trains and planes) is pricey. Used cars are super cheap, used motorcycles not as cheap. Bike parts and anything domestic is generally cheap....unless you mean homegrown produce. That said, even here, 20 minutes from Shinjuku I can buy veggies direct from farmers, never really go over $50 at the grocery store for a bunch of good stuff. I always spent more at Trader Joe's back home. Going out can be more or it can be quite a bit less. Depends on how you entertain yourself. You can buy a few nice Belgian beers and hang out in the park or at the river with friends drinking and making a little BBQ till late. I wouldn't be able to do that in lots of places.....

But outside of Tokyo??? Rent-wise things are massively cheaper. Rent in the sticks for a brand new large three bedroom place is basically the same as what i pay in Tokyo for a old n' smallish two room apartment. And you can rent an apartment *by yourself* in central Tokyo for far cheaper than you can in New York. Everyone I know in the NY area is forced into shared places (which can be fun or nightmarish).