Here’s the thing. I moved from Vancouver, Canada, to Tokyo, Japan. In Canada, I used to make more money, yet my quality of life is somehow better across the Pacific ocean. This is largely in part due to the cost of living being cheaper for my family. How could this be, in one of the most expensive cities in the world?
Information Sources
– Most expensive cities in the world https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-15/singapore-still-world-s-costliest-city-paris-a-close-second
– Tokyo no longer in the top 10 most expensive cities https://www.ft.com/content/505424e6-1455-11e5-9bc5-00144feabdc0
– Tokyo most expensive city https://soranews24.com/2016/12/22/tokyo-ranked-as-most-expensive-city-in-the-world-for-expats-three-other-japanese-towns-in-top-10/
– Average home by size of country https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-15/singapore-still-world-s-costliest-city-paris-a-close-second
– Zoning in Japan http://urbankchoze.blogspot.com/2014/04/japanese-zoning.html
– Japan’s love affair with the automobile stalls https://www.ft.com/content/6951ec5e-a1d8-11e7-8d56-98a09be71849
– City of Edogawa childcare costs http://www.city.edogawa.tokyo.jp/kosodate/kosodate/hoiku/nitijou/hoikuen/aa08002020171006114117928.html
– City of Edogawa childcare rate sheet http://www.city.edogawa.tokyo.jp/kosodate/kosodate/hoiku/nitijou/hoikuen/aa08002020171006114117928.files/hoikuryou.pdf
– Edogawa childcare points system https://bestlivingjapan.com/navigating-japanese-hoikuen-system/
– National Health Insurance https://yosida.com/forms/nationalins.pdf
– City of Edogawa NHI 2018 http://www.city.edogawa.tokyo.jp/foreign/index.files/2018_e.pdf
– National Health Insurance Japan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Health_Insurance_(Japan)
– Free Daycare Program in Japan https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/12/08/business/abes-free-day-care-pledge-may-appealing-solution-wrong-problem/#.W0XD19IzYuU
Images Sources
– New York Skyline by user:AngMoKio – Own work (Original text: selfmade photo), CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2802416
– Bread basket By Daniel Sone (Photographer) – This image was released by the National Cancer Institute, an agency part of the National Institutes of Health, with the ID 8374 (image) (next)., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24034743
– U.S. Dollar Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=196446
– Yodobashi Camera Akihabara By MiNe – https://www.flickr.com/photos/sfmine79/16474357009, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46901296
– Flag of the United States By Dbenbenn, Zscout370, Jacobolus, Indolences, Technion. – SVG implementation of U. S. Code: Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 1 [1] (the United States Federal “Flag Law”)., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=318418