TL;DW: EDIT: this refers to the video linked by another poster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYVJbupG3Xg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYVJbupG3Xg House

TL;DW: EDIT: this refers to the video linked by another poster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYVJbupG3Xg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYVJbupG3Xg House is 8m2, but it is a two level house so the bedroom is not taking up the ground space. She, apparently, lives alone. She lives in tokyo. 2016 minimum wage in Tokyo has been set to 932 JPY. For a 148 hour month, that's 137,936 JPY that currently means $1252 USD. Her house costs her about USD $600/mo. So that's about 48% of minimum monthly wage. Assuming she is getting minimum wage, doesn't sound bad at all. Now here's the deal: in my city the minimum wage is 850 PEN. 48% of that, is USD $123. With $123 here you couldn't afford to live alone renting any kind of house or apartment. You would have to rent a room. That is, no kitchen/washing machine/ clothesline, etc. And a very tiny one at that OR a well-sized one but located in a rather ugly part of the city. (Ugly as in, trash outside everyday, being robbed at gunpoint at night, etc.) So I guess all is fine in Tokyo.