I am currently thinking of applying to Toyo university, Tokyo for an 11 month study abroad program. I know living costs vary from person to person, but I was wondering if anyone know what the average figures are or could share personal experiences? I will not have to pay tuition fees, flight should cost about $900, my monthly rent including internet and utilities will be 40,000 yen. Accommodation will be in walking distance from the university. What I really need to estimate is the basic cost of food, living, and some entertainment (probably won't be taking too many trips for financial reasons). I know this it really does vary a lot, but even guideline figures would be very much appreciated.

I made a detailed summary of my trip costs when I came back from Japan and in almost every month (3 total) I spent around 1.6k$ for all expenses, living mostly in Tokyo. That doesn't include flight, insurance etc. but does include my rent (62k yen if I remember correctly) and local transportation (expensive as hell).

What is worth noting I was in tourist mode almost the whole time so I wasn't really holding back on a lot of stuff. Another thing is, my costs actually went down a lot when I learned some "street smarts" and optimized my life/expenses but I just blew it all on entertainment Its an important factor you have to consider during every kind of relocation, first months are not representative of your actual costs.

If you have a huge chunk of money and know a big portion of commuting will be between the same points everyday (home and school) then the best thing to do is buy a commuter pass for those points. It will save you money.

vix86 Wrote:If you have a huge chunk of money and know a big portion of commuting will be between the same points everyday (home and school) then the best thing to do is buy a commuter pass for those points. It will save you money.

Thanks for the advice - will certainly do that is commuting is required, but as the dorm is a 15 minute walk from the university I think it should be okay.

thurd Wrote:I made a detailed summary of my trip costs when I came back from Japan and in almost every month (3 total) I spent around 1.6k$ for all expenses, living mostly in Tokyo. That doesn't include flight, insurance etc. but does include my rent (62k yen if I remember correctly) and local transportation (expensive as hell).

What is worth noting I was in tourist mode almost the whole time so I wasn't really holding back on a lot of stuff. Another thing is, my costs actually went down a lot when I learned some "street smarts" and optimized my life/expenses but I just blew it all on entertainment Its an important factor you have to consider during every kind of relocation, first months are not representative of your actual costs.

Thank you very much for your reply - it's great to get figures from people who have actually done study abroad.

I imagine that if you were only there for 3 months you would try to pack a lot in and so end up spending quite a bit

I didn't live in Tokyo, but I lived in Kyoto (which is definitely cheaper). I was there for four months, and I think the first month I went crazy cause I guess I felt the need to go out and experience the city everyday (including the nightlife). If it wasn't an izakaya, it was a tabe/nomi houdai... and if it wasn't that it was a night out at out a couple bars. Typical daytime (tourist-y) attractions tend to be fairly affordable (under 1200 yen?) if not free, assuming you don't buy souvenirs. There were probably several days in my first month where I spent 4-5000 yen per day. Eventually, I started cooking a lot more of my own food, which drastically reduced my costs. Eating on campus, meals often cost less then 600 yen. Plus, a lot of my friends had apartments that were accessible, so we'd often cook dinner together, etc.

Since you'll be there for 11 months, you'll certainly get into a groove after a month or two. You'll have your regular costs (Apartment/Utilities, Food, Transportation, Cell phone). I had a very basic softbank prepaid phone that I only used for email/text. (signing a phone contract didn't make sense for me since I was only there for 3 months). Perhaps you'll invest in a bike, depending on where you live. I bought mine used (in Kyoto) for 5 or 6000 yen and sold it for the same price when I left. They can get much more expensive though.

One difference for me was that I didn't pay rent/utilities/books/etc, so virtually all of my money was spent on food, transportation, entertainment and moderate travel (Osaka, Nara, Kobe, and one week in Tokyo). I easily spent $800-1000USD on my trip to Tokyo (including ~$300 shinkansen).

You already seem to know how much your biggest expenses (rent, utilities, daily transportation) will be. The only thing that's left really is food which can be as cheap or expensive as you make it really. I spend 30,000 yen a month for myself, my husband and our 10 month old. A good friend of mine who has two toddlers spends 120,000. We both live in Chiba but I really don't think the cost of food is that much different in Tokyo. The main thing that makes Tokyo so expensive is the rent and you already have that taken care of. My cell phone bill is only 3,500 yen a month but you can easily spend 15,000 yen +. After that it's really just up to you on how much you decide to go out drinking/shopping/go to the movies/ go to museums, whatever. Trains are actually pretty cheap and I think you can go roundtrip from pretty much any point in Tokyo to any other point in Tokyo for under 1,500 yen. A meal at a "typical" restaurant will be between 1,000 to 3,000 yen per person.