heres a qoute from an article i read on yahoo. ill have the link as well
"The main constant in these rankings, since Mercer's first set was released in 1994, is Tokyo's place at or close to the top. Osaka has only fallen outside the top 10, once, when it slipped to the No. 11 spot last year. While the value of the yen is strong against the dollar, Japan--and Tokyo in particular--has always featured prominently due to the high cost of international goods, says Mercer senior researcher Nathalie Constantin-Metral. One can count on Japan being expensive in good times and bad alike for the yen."
World's Top Five Most Expensive Cities To Live
1. Tokyo, Japan
2. Osaka, Japan
3. Moscow, Russia
4. Geneva, Switzerland
5. Hong Kong
World's Most Expensive Cities To Live - Yahoo! Real Estate
i think when people were talking about the high prices of DVD's and such in japan, its probably normal for the japanese.