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Originally Posted by kawaiineko
I have been told on more than one occasion that Japan is one of the most expensive places in the world to live... How true is this?
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That is indeed true, and the closer you are to the big cities, the higher the price goes. Just out of curiosity, why are you intending to move to Tokyo? Many westerners who move to Japan end up feeling a lot more comfortable in one of the [relatively] smaller cities, as they are away from the hustle and bustle Tokyo.
I lived in Nagoya for 1 year - it's the fourth largest city in Japan, and it is big enough so that a westerner can still integrate into Japan without being totally cut off from what they are used to back where they came from. Plus, Nagoya has many many parks, and the city is very clean and much nicer looking than Tokyo. Tokyo is a mess of concrete and people - it's a great place for shopping and having fun, but man, I wouldn't wanna live there.
I would also like to say, do your best to make a trip to Japan prior to moving there. You absolutely must experience Japan first-hand before you make one of the biggest life-altering decisions in your whole life. You can learn every bit about the Japanese language and culture, but you can never,
ever be completely prepared for life in Japan. When westerners move here, they first experience the euphoric feeling of living in some place completely foreign and exotic to them, and they love it. However, after the feeling wears off they realize that Japan is just another country - a country that has just as many ups and downs as the United States or Australia or anywhere. It is at this point where people will either go through a severe depression and leave, or they take things as they are and begin living their day-to-day life in Japan.