Cost of living for a couple in Tokyo, Osaka, or Nagoya?

Question:

My fiance and I are looking into teaching English in Japan. We found a company who will set us up as a couple sharing the same apartment. The gross salary for the position is equivalent to about $38,000. So together we'd be making around $76,000. Right now we live in a small city in the US, so $76,000 seems like a lot to us. However, we also realize that the cost of living in Japan (especially in major cities) is much higher than it is here. Can we comfortably live off of this salary and still save money?

Answer:

Live on the outskirts of Tokyo, with maybe a 30 min commute into the city, (Edogawa near Chiba fits the bill), and a two-room apartment cost 90,000 yen/month 15 years ago. Sorry for the old data. Now, that apartment would require a similar amount of non-refundable key money, and a similar amount for a security deposit. The costs for an apartment vary greatly according to location, but you should be able to find a small, clean apartment for 100,000 yen or so as long as you stay out of the heart of the city. Figure another 10,000 yen for elec, 5,000 yen for gas, a similar amount for water, phone service not sure but you'd want internet, right? You can get phone and internet in one package. I want to say about 6,000 yen/month but not sure. Cook out of your home.

When I lived there I got by on 60,000 yen/month for food and entertainment. Usually. That was with cooking a good bit at home mixed with going to my favorite Indian restaurant from lunch 3 or 4 times a week.

Your salary works out to about 250,000 yen/month, which sounds about right.

Others have questions about your offer. I looked quickly at the site, but didn't dig. On the up side, you're doing it all very legal and you have opportunity to just apply and see what happens. I like your post a lot more than:

I like wunt to teach the english in the Jpan. I'm 17 years old and am getting a apartment in Tokyo next year after I graduate. LOL How much will I make? And if I can't teach the english then maybe I cud just u know, be a manga artist, only part-time so I cud chill whenever u know?