Tokyo Most Expensive City For Expats

Above, the Ginza Mitsukoshi department store.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

If you're contemplating taking up permanent residence in Japan, you may want to read this article that News On Japan posted.

The topic is the "Tokyo most expensive city for expats."

It starts with:

Rents go down, grocery bills shrink, companies lay off workers and people move away to live in the countryside - and yet somehow Tokyo continues to be the world's most expensive city for expatriates to live in. 

Most of the blame can be placed firmly on the relentless strength of Japanese currency against the U.S. dollar, according to the annual cost of living survey by international human resources consulting firm, Mercer. 

The capital shot back to top of the chart, swapping runner-up position with the Angolan capital of Luanda, which came first last year. Other Japanese cities - Osaka and Nagoya - also placed in the top 10. The results show that, all in all, Japan is one of the most expensive countries on earth for expats.

To read the full article, go here.