At the peak of the Japan’s economic bubble in late 80’s, the value of whole Tokyo land was once said equivalent to that of whole United States.  Do not get surprised yet, as the land value of the imperial palace which is only 12 times the area size of Alamoana Shopping Mall in Hawaii, was equivalent to that of entire California at that time!  Not only the land, the price tags for everything in Japan was sky-scraping back in those days.   A cup of American coffee at Okura Hotel lounge was 15 USD back then, when it was offered at 5 USD at Ritz Carlton New York.  A can of Budweiser at Seven Eleven in Tokyo was about 3 USD back then, when in New York only about 1USD.  Tokyo was by far the most overpriced city in the world to live by all standards in late 80’s through mid 90’s.

 

 

How does it look today?  Tokyo has become one of the most value-for-money cities in the world at least in terms of rent after decades of deflationary pressures (please read Economist for more details!)  —  Tokyo now merely ranks at 13th from the top in terms of the apartment rent/Sq Ft, with it’s rent only leveling at 50% of Manhattan’s  (See the table below).

 

Apartment Rent/ Square Foot:  Tokyo vs Other Cities

Rank	City	Rent/Sq Ft	Rank	City	Rent/Sq Ft
1	Manhattan, US	$5.42	8	Boston, US	$4.18
2	London, GB	$4.98	9	Stockholm, SE	$3.58
3	Zurich, CH	$4.78	10	Singapore, SG	$3.34
4	San Francisco, US	$4.75	11	Los Angeles, US	$2.83
5	Hong Kong, HK	$4.67	12	Sydney, AU	$2.79
6	Paris, FR	$4.67	13	Tokyo, JP	$2.79
7	Geneva, CH	$4.40	14	Washington DC, US	$2.76

   Source:  rentcafe.com 

 

If you are moving to Tokyo and are getting worried about the rent being at premium, it is just a hype nowadays.  Tokyo has become one the most-value-for-money cities at least in rent.  If you are looking for an apartment in Tokyo and do not know where to start, check out this blog as well.  Also visit KaguAruoo, if you are looking for an apartment in Tokyo.