Don't you just hate it when people tell you outdated facts? If I hear the outdated statistic that "Tokyo is the MOST expensive city in the world" one more time...
The story? During Golden Week I hung out with a friend visiting from Tokushima. She's new to Japan, having arrived only 2 months ago now, and it was her first visit to Tokyo. We hung out, did a little shopping and explored a few Tokyo Pockets and all of that good stuff. It took her a while to adjust to the Tokyo scene, understandably.
Anyway, though she enjoyed her week and trip, she didn't really like Tokyo. Aside for the superficial aspects commented on often, she found the prices to be outrageous-- which I often do, but have shockingly adjusted since I have a great job :).
So we're out in Tokyo, along with my boyfriend and one of them makes the comment, "You know, Tokyo IS the most expensive city in the world." And I respond, "Not anymore, it's in the top 5 but it's no longer the top city... I think it's Dubai now." And they both respond to some degree, "Nah. Tokyo IS." And I respond, "That's outdated news. The latest stats show that Tokyo is no longer in the lead." Anyway, this little game of verbal ping pong ended peacefully (with the two of them feeling that I was probably wrong... and with me making a mental note to blog about it to show both of them that I wasn't making it up).
So who was right? I was of course :). I'd just read this information a month ago. Here's the link... World's Most Expensive City
Oh and here's the chart...
Of course, the purpose of this post is NOT to demonstrate that I was right (heheheh!). Instead, it was to simply clear up any confusion as to whether or not Tokyo really IS the most expensive city in the world...
**(Satisfying Sigh....)***
XoXo
I agree. Although if people were aware that Tokyo isn't as expensive as they think it is, we'd be REALLY inundated with tourists. So maybe it's not such a bad thing?
Visitors are always amazed at how cheaply they can do Tokyo if they try. Especially given just how crap the yen is right now.
Posted by: Jo | May 14, 2007 at 02:41 PM
hey, its good to see you're back! damn i never knew tokyo was just under london. thats why i never go anywhere because i can barely afford to live here. but i will go tokyo now with a better outlook.
Posted by: maashallah | May 14, 2007 at 05:44 PM
Here is the list I saw recently:
Top 10 most expensive cities
1. Moscow
2. Seoul
3. Tokyo
4. Hong Kong
5. London
6. Osaka
7. Geneva
8. Copenhagen
9. Zurich
10. Oslo, New York (tied)
Posted by: fish | May 21, 2007 at 03:18 PM