My anecdotal experience 3 years ago living in Japan (near Tokyo, for 2 months doing an internship) was that the prices on average were similar to what I experienced back home in California. Occasionally some things were surprisingly more expensive, and others were surprisingly cheap. The 100yen (~$1) stores were better stocked than in the US and I could get most things I needed from them. They also were located in malls and were very nice to shop in. Things like sushi that I expected to be cheaper were about the same price as back in the US (which was seriously disappointing!), and cheaper food was seriously cheap and relatively healthy. I lost like 20 lbs eating all those beef bowls and noodles. Trains were not super cheap, but not overly expensive. It's way way waaaayyyy cheaper than Europe and unlike in Europe they privately owned, aren't subsidized and make a profit which was a relief to hear (I can't think of another country that has an unsubsidized public transportation system) I think the bus from Tokyo to Kyoto was about 40 bucks (my memory is a bit hazy). . Owning a car and driving places from what I understood is extremely expensive. I think most of my coworkers didn't own cars. A relatively short drive on the freeway can easily set you back $50 (tolls roads everywhere). I didn't get any hard figures for wages, but I think generally people didn't make a killing, but people lived comfortably and it seemed they could support a family on one wage. They did however work 12 hours a day... so I don't think they got to enjoy whatever income they made.