[Basic Knowledge] Cost of living in Tokyo, average and breakdown basis, for your great life in Tokyo

With reading of this page, you will get above listed knowledges as well as Japanese have. I will be very glad if you could read this article to the end.

Thank you !

Average living cost in Tokyo per month

The average cost to live in Tokyo without any housemates is approximately JPY 142,000 per month. This is average cost and it could be changed with various factors effective on each detailed item. I would like to explain each items and factors which can be make impact, in next paragraph.

Items	Average Cost in JPY
House rent	76,000
Utility Cost	8,700
Communication cost	8,400
Food expenses	43,400
Others	5,500
Total	142,000

House rent cost in Tokyo

Area (Ward, not station)	Market price in JPY
Edogawa, Katsushika	65,000
Suginami, Ota	77,000
Shibuya, Shinkyuku	93,000
Chuo, Taito	100,000
Minato, Chiyoda	117,000

The average cost is 76,000 per month. It’s really changeable, with factors, like location, built years, square meters, floor height, security systems, etc. And in general, there’s no equipment in apartment for rent. If you need to have rent with equipment, like TV, refrigerator, wash machines etc, you have ask brokers to find living place with your request.

The most important factor is location. House rent cost is quite different in each area. Here is a brief comparison of market price in each areas, for room with kitchen, bathroom, and toilet.

Utility cost in Tokyo

Item	Cost in JPY	Supplier
Electricity	4,500	TEPCO
Gas	2,500	Tokyo Gas
Water	1,700	Local government

Utility cost in Tokyo consists of expenses of electricity, Gas, water and sewer services. In most of cases, these utility costs are NOT included in house rent cost. If you want to find house including utility cost, you need to tell it to broker.

In Tokyo, Electricity is supplied by TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power), and water is by local government. As for gas, in most of cases, it’s supplied by Tokyo gas, as piped gas. However, in some case, Propane gas is used, which is quite higher than piped gas. So I would recommend you to check type of gas in advance.

Communication cost in Tokyo

Communication cost is essential to live in society in 21st century. This cost is mainly for cost of mobile phone. Cost depends on provider of mobile phones. Currently, three mega providers, NTT docomo, SoftBank, au have large market share. And other providers, and MVNO also provide mobile phone network.

Currently, as per the request by the government, three mega providers have plan to decrease fee of data communication through mobile phone network. It is expected that the amount of this item will be decreased in near future.

• Mobile phone fee : JPY 8,000 in mega providers
• Mobile phone fee : JPY 3,000 in MVNO providers
• Fixed internet line : JPY 2,500 – 5000 (in some case, included in rent fee)

Food expenses in Tokyo

Food expenses is approximately 30% of living cost in Tokyo. The amount can be easily changed. It depends on what kind of life you will have in Tokyo. The cost of eating out is less than other developed countries. However, if you eat out everyday, the cost can be higher than the average.

Just for your easier understanding of prices about food relevant cost. I would like to describe the list of food, which we can get all over the world.

• Big Mac : JPY 390
• Big Mac meal : JPY 690 (with French Fries, Drink)
• Starbucks coffee: JPY 290 (Drip coffee, short)
• Starbucks Caramel Macchiato: JPY 390 (short)
• Coca Cola 500 ml plastic bottle: JPY 140
• Kellogg corn frosties 240g : JPY 300

Other costs

Needless to say, there some costs other than above listed, transportation, to study something, clothes, hotels in travel to other areas, etc. You might have better to make some buffer in your plan, for this item.

Summary

Now you got knowledge about average cost per month to live in Tokyo. I hope Tokyo will be your strong option of city where you will start new life.

In the end, I would like to summarize the points of this article as follows

Thank you very much for your reading and see you again !