Time passes quickly and slowly in Tokyo. The weeks are over before I realise it, but looking back it feels like I’ve been here longer than four weeks. Time to evaluate living in Japan’s capital.

The good

Get in my belly!

The food of course! Restaurants of all types are available in every nook and cranny you could imagine. The options are endless and there’s usually a cheap option to be found. Eating for the sake of ingesting foodstuffs can be done rather cheaply: a set menu (which tends to include soup and some small side dishes) costs 500–900yen (4–7€). Eating out with friends in a place that has some modicum of charm however will quickly triple that for a minimum price, if not more.

Part of what makes going out more expensive is because drinks are more expensive. Alcohol is taxed higher than back home (count 500yen minimum for a beer, though 700 and upwards are common), and I think they set the other drinks at an equivalent price in order not to cannibalize the sales. I’m just guessing though.

There’s a fair share of international restaurants in the more expensive parts of town, which haven’t been immune to the gourmet-burger craze. One dish that’s particularly cheap though, is pizza. For some reason there’s a trend among restaurants everywhere in Tokyo to serve 500yen pizza. They vary in sizes, and none are the size you’d get back home. I have found servings that quench my hunger for 500yen though.

Equally cheap are Tokyo University’s canteen menus. Ranging from 400–550 yen, the canteen serves hot ramen noodles, cold soba noodles, rice with toppings, and menus with all trimmings. It’s practical and some of it is not entirely fast food, so I don’t have to feel guilty eating there almost every day.

Home cooking has taken some time to get used to, but there’s a few regulars on the menu now. I tend to make large amounts whenever I do cook, so I don’t need to find another idea for the next couple of days. Shopping for ingredients could be simple: almost everything is available in either the supermarket or the nearby department store, Seibu. However, the price of imported foodstuffs put them off my list of options. There’s some imported French cheese for example, mostly the milder varieties, that sell for well over double the price in Europe. Once in a while we’ll indulge though, and buy a baguette and brie as a meal. Like yesterday. I didn’t think I’d miss basic things so soon.

Getting around

The train and subway network is incredible. You can get everywhere in very little time. Our house is also well located, in a triangle between three lines, and in walking distance of Ikebukuro, where another 7 lines depart. Zipping across town is usually possible in about 30mins, and often there’s several options to get to your destination. Google maps handily notes the price, so you can find the cheapest route.

I usually take that cheapest route. Our little neighborhood doesn’t offer a lot so a trip is almost always necessary. The trains are usually the cheaper option, getting further in less time and money. A round trip to Shinjuku only sets me back 340yen, whereas going to Todai (Tokyo University) costs me 540yen a day.

It all adds up quite quickly, and it feels rather expensive spending around 90–120€ per month just to get around. It’s possible to get slightly cheaper fares on a single trajectory (between two specific stations), but it only really becomes advantageous if you use it every day.

We did however inherit bikes left by previous residents. Once they’re sorted the trip to Todai should be doable in 30mins, so there’s that option as well. Thing is to first get them mechanically in order, then legally. It’s obligatory to register your bike here and have a number engraved. Then, once you have it, you can’t actually leave it just anywhere: you have to pay for parking by buying a sticker to attach to the bike. It’s a bit of a shame, because it strongly discourages people to use their bike. On the other hand I can imagine that having a city of 13 million leave their bike any where willy nilly wouldn’t work either.

to be continued in a next instalment…