I want to know what Japan is like from people who actually live in Japan especially after seeing some misleading posts online from people who don’t live in Japan & people misunderstanding something resulting in people being misleadingly negative about Japan
I can only compare it to Sweden, but eating out at restaurants is way cheaper in Japan. Almost cheaper than cooking it yourself.
Groceries depend on where you live, and how local the groceries are. Cooking Japanese food is cheap, and if you can get used to the flavor of Natto (protip, add mustard) you can live dirt cheap. Import goods in general are pricy so you might want to cut down on Nutella.
Rent is cheap, but the hidden fees are annoying. Like renewing your contract, key money, security deposit etc. Moving is expensive.
Hospital fees are at around 330-2000 yen a visit, an MRI scan is around 7000 yen if I remember correctly. Physical Therapy is at 330 yen per visit. With this said, you get treatment fairly fast. (Same day, wait maybe an hour or two).
Children get free treatment, and medicine cost around 30 yen (less than a dollar).
It is easy to spend too much money if you’re not careful, especially with how many entertainment districts there are.
Alcohol is also cheap compared to Sweden, but Sweden has one of the highest taxes on alcohol, so anywhere would be cheaper than Sweden.
The bullet train is pretty expensive. It is cheaper to fly domestic. The subway is cheap if you buy a pass.
Trains in the UK are more expensive than flying as well. They are also slower. They only make finical sense when the journey is too short or you need to be in the centre of the city when arriving.