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I'm currently in Japan and get paid in USD. Prices are insane, you can get a really nice lunch for like 5 bucks. A tall can of coke is 70 cents. It was even mor

I'm currently in Japan and get paid in USD. Prices are insane, you can get a really nice lunch for like 5 bucks. A tall can of coke is 70 cents. It was even more cheap a few weeks ago when 100 yen was 67 cents.

wodenokoto 4y ago
A 500yen lunch isn't unheard of outside Tokyo, so even at 1 cent to 1yen that was doable.
- aikinai 4y ago
  Even inside Tokyo, that’s very typical for a nice lunch set in an average restaurant.
  - conviencefee999 4y ago
    No it's not. I went there four years ago the average was 1000-2000 yen for the bare minimum at a small shop for below average food. Stop trying to make japan sound like a fantasy world, it isn't.
    - aikinai 4y ago
      I’ve lived here for years, not just visited. There are countless restaurants where you get a basic lunch set for ¥500. You’re either going to the wrong places or talking about dinner. The same places with the ¥500 lunch sets will cost far more at dinner. The cheap lunch is to capture some revenue from the daytime salaryman crowd.
      - conviencefee999 4y ago
        Again, it is not. I don't know why you're fabricating these claims but well I guess it's easy to confuse that with a cheap 7-eleven meal if you've only been there once. Which is probably where you're making up these claims. The reality is that the food quality of these meals are subpar and well for it's price you're paying for what you get. But it's easy to confuse food quality of dishes that are unfamiliar to you so I'll just take it as someone pretending to be an expert rather than maliciousness.
        aikinai 4y ago
        Maybe “nice” is what triggered you? I’m not talking about fancy meals here, just soba, basic fish set, rice bowl, etc. There were like four options within one block of my last office. And here’s a random list that comes up first on Google; there were plenty of more lists below it: https://retty.me/theme/100014608/ https://retty.me/theme/100014608/ Edit: Or maybe it was “very typical” that triggered you? That might have been too strong. You can’t expect it everywhere, but it’s common enough to be expected and not at all surprising.
      - danielscrubs 4y ago
        I live in Japan too. If you drop into a random restaurant it’s most probably going to be around 1000 jpy. You can find food for cheaper but as low as 500 jpy is going to take time to find.
petesergeant 4y ago
> "I currently in x and get paid in USD" is currently a great place to be
- NovemberWhiskey 4y ago
  ... for x != USA.
- nivenkos 4y ago
  For now. I think this will lead to the end of the petrodollar eventually. The world won't put up with it forever.
  - avbanks 4y ago
    https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/11/debunking-the-petrodollar-myth-pricing-oil-in-dollars-is-just-a-convention.html#:~:text=For%20at%20least%20the%20last,as%20the%20dollar%20becomes%20worthless%E2%80%A6 https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/11/debunking-the-petrod....
  - adamc 4y ago
    Unlikely in the foreseeable term, not because the world loves dollars, but because there are few good alternatives. Euros are probably the best alternative, but studies have suggested that the US is a better place for holding assets. See, for example, https://www.nber.org/digest/apr20/why-euro-hasnt-become-international-currency-stature https://www.nber.org/digest/apr20/why-euro-hasnt-become-inte... Money keeps flowing into the US because it is perceived as safer.
  - killingtime74 4y ago
    What will we use.... Euros? Renmenbi? Lol
    - nivenkos 4y ago
      China proposed using SDRs before.
Cthulhu_ 4y ago
Strange, I was always under the impression that Japan was super expensive. Maybe that's just getting there and the popular tourist destinations.
- triceratops 4y ago
  I've always heard the opposite - that things like food and housing are quite cheap for a developed country. As long as you aren't expecting those things to be Western-style.
  - pooper 4y ago
    I remember as a child (in the late nineties?) reading something about a new ferry transit or some kind of new transportation where a cup of coffee cost ¥300? I have never been to Japan so my math is JPY 100 = USD 1 so three dollars for a coffee which sounds expensive, right? It is one of the weird things that get stuck in my head for no reason. No idea why I was reading random local news from Japan.
  - ekianjo 4y ago
    > housing are quite cheap for a developed country you must be joking.
    - usui 4y ago
      No, the poster is not. We're talking about the world's third largest economy by GDP, and I have first-hand experience with being on the market for Japanese real estate, today. You want to hear a joke? Try San Francisco Bay Area. Then look at the price of a house in Tokyo. And my God, the construction, convenience, and technology of Japanese houses beats the living crap out of the shoddy construction you see in the Bay Area. Do you get less usable land square-meters wise to some degree? Sure. But if you can concede some of that, the deal is way better because of the quality of life you can achieve.
      - hooverd 4y ago
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
dawnerd 4y ago
I’ve got a two week visit end of Feb and the prices for hotels alone are pretty surprising.
oramit 4y ago
My brother is in Japan at the moment and has the opposite situation. He's paid in JPY and had saved up a fair bit of cash over the past couple years. The value has fallen tremendously and since he's moving back to the states in a few months he's trying to spend it all locally before he leaves. He floated the idea of buying a bunch of PS5s and stuffing his suitcase with them to resell when he gets back to the US. This would work but they are bulky and would likely raise some eyebrows at customs. We're still looking for ideas on how to get money out without too much of a haircut.
- yellow_lead 4y ago
  I think you're onto it with electronics, but maybe smaller higher-value ones like iPhones would work better. Also, watch out for electronics which only have Japanese language options (or can't be changed without flashing the ROM) - i.e some cameras.
  - marak830 4y ago
    Video cards would probably be a better option.
- quickthrowman 4y ago
  > We're still looking for ideas on how to get money out without too much of a haircut. Luxury watches. Buy a Rolex and then wear it home. You can probably move up to $100,000 in a single watch with something like a steel Daytona.

wodenokoto 4y ago

A 500yen lunch isn't unheard of outside Tokyo, so even at 1 cent to 1yen that was doable.

aikinai 4y ago
Even inside Tokyo, that’s very typical for a nice lunch set in an average restaurant.
- conviencefee999 4y ago
  No it's not. I went there four years ago the average was 1000-2000 yen for the bare minimum at a small shop for below average food. Stop trying to make japan sound like a fantasy world, it isn't.
  - aikinai 4y ago
    I’ve lived here for years, not just visited. There are countless restaurants where you get a basic lunch set for ¥500. You’re either going to the wrong places or talking about dinner. The same places with the ¥500 lunch sets will cost far more at dinner. The cheap lunch is to capture some revenue from the daytime salaryman crowd.
    - conviencefee999 4y ago
      Again, it is not. I don't know why you're fabricating these claims but well I guess it's easy to confuse that with a cheap 7-eleven meal if you've only been there once. Which is probably where you're making up these claims. The reality is that the food quality of these meals are subpar and well for it's price you're paying for what you get. But it's easy to confuse food quality of dishes that are unfamiliar to you so I'll just take it as someone pretending to be an expert rather than maliciousness.
      - aikinai 4y ago
        Maybe “nice” is what triggered you? I’m not talking about fancy meals here, just soba, basic fish set, rice bowl, etc. There were like four options within one block of my last office. And here’s a random list that comes up first on Google; there were plenty of more lists below it: https://retty.me/theme/100014608/ https://retty.me/theme/100014608/ Edit: Or maybe it was “very typical” that triggered you? That might have been too strong. You can’t expect it everywhere, but it’s common enough to be expected and not at all surprising.
    - danielscrubs 4y ago
      I live in Japan too. If you drop into a random restaurant it’s most probably going to be around 1000 jpy. You can find food for cheaper but as low as 500 jpy is going to take time to find.

petesergeant 4y ago

> "I currently in x and get paid in USD" is currently a great place to be

NovemberWhiskey 4y ago
... for x != USA.
nivenkos 4y ago
For now. I think this will lead to the end of the petrodollar eventually. The world won't put up with it forever.
- avbanks 4y ago
  https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/11/debunking-the-petrodollar-myth-pricing-oil-in-dollars-is-just-a-convention.html#:~:text=For%20at%20least%20the%20last,as%20the%20dollar%20becomes%20worthless%E2%80%A6 https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/11/debunking-the-petrod....
- adamc 4y ago
  Unlikely in the foreseeable term, not because the world loves dollars, but because there are few good alternatives. Euros are probably the best alternative, but studies have suggested that the US is a better place for holding assets. See, for example, https://www.nber.org/digest/apr20/why-euro-hasnt-become-international-currency-stature https://www.nber.org/digest/apr20/why-euro-hasnt-become-inte... Money keeps flowing into the US because it is perceived as safer.
- killingtime74 4y ago
  What will we use.... Euros? Renmenbi? Lol
  - nivenkos 4y ago
    China proposed using SDRs before.

Cthulhu_ 4y ago

Strange, I was always under the impression that Japan was super expensive. Maybe that's just getting there and the popular tourist destinations.

triceratops 4y ago
I've always heard the opposite - that things like food and housing are quite cheap for a developed country. As long as you aren't expecting those things to be Western-style.
- pooper 4y ago
  I remember as a child (in the late nineties?) reading something about a new ferry transit or some kind of new transportation where a cup of coffee cost ¥300? I have never been to Japan so my math is JPY 100 = USD 1 so three dollars for a coffee which sounds expensive, right? It is one of the weird things that get stuck in my head for no reason. No idea why I was reading random local news from Japan.
- ekianjo 4y ago
  > housing are quite cheap for a developed country you must be joking.
  - usui 4y ago
    No, the poster is not. We're talking about the world's third largest economy by GDP, and I have first-hand experience with being on the market for Japanese real estate, today. You want to hear a joke? Try San Francisco Bay Area. Then look at the price of a house in Tokyo. And my God, the construction, convenience, and technology of Japanese houses beats the living crap out of the shoddy construction you see in the Bay Area. Do you get less usable land square-meters wise to some degree? Sure. But if you can concede some of that, the deal is way better because of the quality of life you can achieve.
    - hooverd 4y ago

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

dawnerd 4y ago

I’ve got a two week visit end of Feb and the prices for hotels alone are pretty surprising.

oramit 4y ago

My brother is in Japan at the moment and has the opposite situation. He's paid in JPY and had saved up a fair bit of cash over the past couple years. The value has fallen tremendously and since he's moving back to the states in a few months he's trying to spend it all locally before he leaves. He floated the idea of buying a bunch of PS5s and stuffing his suitcase with them to resell when he gets back to the US. This would work but they are bulky and would likely raise some eyebrows at customs. We're still looking for ideas on how to get money out without too much of a haircut.

yellow_lead 4y ago
I think you're onto it with electronics, but maybe smaller higher-value ones like iPhones would work better. Also, watch out for electronics which only have Japanese language options (or can't be changed without flashing the ROM) - i.e some cameras.
- marak830 4y ago
  Video cards would probably be a better option.
quickthrowman 4y ago
> We're still looking for ideas on how to get money out without too much of a haircut. Luxury watches. Buy a Rolex and then wear it home. You can probably move up to $100,000 in a single watch with something like a steel Daytona.