Japan has always been a value. I don't understand why folks think it is expensive. Food is cheap, accommodations aren't expensive, transportation is affordable. The most expensive thing is airfare from the USA.
I believe that they never fully recovered after Covid and tourism never bounced back. The YEN has also taken a beating so you can get more for your USD.
I believe that they never fully recovered after Covid and tourism never bounced back.
Tourism bounced back as soon as they opened the borders. The 2023 numbers were at 2016/2017 level despite them not opening their borders until late 2022 (meaning lower ski-season numbers), and removing covid checks in April 2023.
Feb 2024 was reported as having 7% more tourists than Feb 2019 (2019 having peak tourism numbers).
Japan was seen as expensive when I first moved there; my rent there was certainly higher than it would have been in Canada at the time (Circa 2008).
Also, it's hard to directly compare stuff on shelves to what we have here. For example, Japanese peaches are much more expensive than Ontario peaches - but they are also incomparably better. However, if you only look at the price on the label, you would be rightfully shocked at the price difference.
Japan is mostly cheap, but on our trip my wife accidentally bought some grapes at a normal grocery store (she wasn’t converting prices in her head). I think it was $20 for a pound.
You should carefully check the price tag when you want to bug fruits and vegetables in Japan, especially those are produced in Japan. The Japan Agricultural Cooperation has a very long history in controlling the price of the local products. The imports usually cost less than domestically grown equivalents.
Ah, my in-laws are in Yamanashi and I will never forget when they took me to the vineyard and I was randomly shocked to find out how much the grapes cost..
Japan has approximately the same local price level now that they had in the early 1990s. One USD also buys approximately the same number of Yen as it did in the early 1990s. But the USD had quite a lot inflation in the meantime.
Ie Japan has gotten a lot cheaper comparatively. It used to be a lot more expensive.
That’s not the exchange rate, but the relative prices. Exchange rate in Argentina right now is 1000 pesos to 1 usd.
In 2021 it was between 200-300 or so to 1, and it’s almost twice as expensive today as it was in 2021.
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Why is that? What’s been happening on the ground?
Japan has always been a value. I don't understand why folks think it is expensive. Food is cheap, accommodations aren't expensive, transportation is affordable. The most expensive thing is airfare from the USA.
I believe that they never fully recovered after Covid and tourism never bounced back. The YEN has also taken a beating so you can get more for your USD.
Tourism bounced back as soon as they opened the borders. The 2023 numbers were at 2016/2017 level despite them not opening their borders until late 2022 (meaning lower ski-season numbers), and removing covid checks in April 2023.
Feb 2024 was reported as having 7% more tourists than Feb 2019 (2019 having peak tourism numbers).
There are a LOT of tourists at the moment.
Japan was seen as expensive when I first moved there; my rent there was certainly higher than it would have been in Canada at the time (Circa 2008).
Also, it's hard to directly compare stuff on shelves to what we have here. For example, Japanese peaches are much more expensive than Ontario peaches - but they are also incomparably better. However, if you only look at the price on the label, you would be rightfully shocked at the price difference.
Japan is mostly cheap, but on our trip my wife accidentally bought some grapes at a normal grocery store (she wasn’t converting prices in her head). I think it was $20 for a pound.
You should carefully check the price tag when you want to bug fruits and vegetables in Japan, especially those are produced in Japan. The Japan Agricultural Cooperation has a very long history in controlling the price of the local products. The imports usually cost less than domestically grown equivalents.
Ah, my in-laws are in Yamanashi and I will never forget when they took me to the vineyard and I was randomly shocked to find out how much the grapes cost..
(They are very good though)
How long back does your 'always' go?
Japan has approximately the same local price level now that they had in the early 1990s. One USD also buys approximately the same number of Yen as it did in the early 1990s. But the USD had quite a lot inflation in the meantime.
Ie Japan has gotten a lot cheaper comparatively. It used to be a lot more expensive.
When I went there, 1983, it was one of the most expensive places on the planet.
1 USD = 156 JPY
For years it has been 1 USD = 110 JPY.
Japan is also overrun by tourists right now.
Exchange rate doesn’t mean anything if the prices adjust for it. Have they not had any price changes following the devaluation of their currency?
Anecdotally I was in country not too long ago and the exchange rate meant fantastic dining was around the same cost as some fast food in the US.
That’s not the exchange rate, but the relative prices. Exchange rate in Argentina right now is 1000 pesos to 1 usd. In 2021 it was between 200-300 or so to 1, and it’s almost twice as expensive today as it was in 2021.
Chinese?