Are Japanese people rich? The ones who stay in Japan and don't move to America or somewhere else.?

Question

They don't move cause of choice not because they can't

Answer 1

If you look at their base salary, they would seem to be considered "Rich", but if you take into account the cost of living, they are average, on the whole. For example, the average size of Japanese house is the size of lower class homes in the USA. A lot of apartments, are the size of dorm rooms, OR SMALLER, at two or three times the rent, depending on where the apartment is. So, in the end, it all evens out.

I will say one thing, the exchange rate is at about 1$=117yen. But even when it was more like $1=145yen I was spending their 100yen coins like quarters. Was I rich? hardly, but the demands of the culture and living situation required it.

About the "moving" thing. Land in Japan is at a high premium, since there is so little of it. I just bought a small piece of land and built a house. The size of the land is just about 2000 sq/ft but I paid more for it that my parents paid for their 4 acres in Michigan. I was depressed.

Answer 2

Well there are poor people and rich people in any country.
But I guess in Japan the income gap between the poor, the middle class and the rich are not as huge as, for example the US.
In Japan it's hard to become crap poor (ie: Can't go to school etc) but also very hard to be filthy rich (Ride in a limo to work, have a beach house etc).

Celebs are considered wealthy but they do not make as much money as or even close to what the stars in Hollywood or professional musicians make in the US.
So I guess it's a matter of perspective.
For example, not all families in Tokyo have a car, and even if they do it's very rare to find a family that owns 2 cars. In the US, the majority of the people have at least 2 cars in a given household. But that doesn't mean they are rich right?

Also the popular streo-typing that Japanese people are rich is a total myth. Most of the Japanese people that you see in the US are not your regular business people that you see in Japan. These people are sort of a chosen elite who are fronted with lots of company money to learn and work overseas. Just like the ex-pats from the US who work in Japan. Most of the North Americans I know in Japan are filthy rich but we all know they are successful professionals that went to schools like Harvard and Yale and do not represent the majority of the US public.

Also as people have said, the lifestyle in Japan may seem expensive and so it may seem logical to think that if they can afford living there they must be rich, but that is not so.
And personally I think Tokyo is the only truly expensive place in Japan. Live in other places and the living expenses go down quite alot. For example rent will go down by 50% or more if you moved from Tokyo to....say up north in Hokkaido. But of course finding a job in that area that pays Tokyo equivalent salaries will be close to impossible.

Also I live in LA right now but I can tell you with absolute certainty that the rent here is alot higher than in Tokyo.
If I paid what I pay now in Tokyo, I could probably live right smack in the middle of the city and walk to work. Of course in Tokyo the sq footage will be alot smaller though.

Answer 3

Some are, and some aren't - OBVIOUSLY!!

What is your point? Are you suggesting that they must be so poor they can't leave such an awful place? Or are you saying that they are so rich they can choose, and WANT to stay?

WHY would the Japanese people who LEAVE Japan be noticeably different from the ones who stay? And why do you suppose that ALL Japanese people who stay in Japan do so for the SAME reason?!!

Look at your own country - some people leave because they want to explore, some because they want a better way of life, some because they're having problems caused by their own behaviour or attitude, some because they can't afford to buy food and think the wages are higher on the other side of the fence! Some people stay in your country because they love it, some because they can't afford to move away, some because their probation conditions say they HAVE to stay, some because they have sick relatives whom they don't want to leave ... the lists of reasons why people stay or leave is literally ENDLESS! But to put it simply, people in Japan have freedom of choice - so if they DO want to leave, usually they can - but if they DON'T want to leave, usually they don't HAVE to!! Of course there will be exceptions, but most people can move to wherever the hell they like (visa conditions permitting..!)

Oh, and by the way, a single onion - medium/large size - usually costs anything from 29 yen to 50 yen, depending on whether they're on special offer etc. That's anything from 25 cents to 42 cents - not $9...!!

Answer 4

Yes there are rich people in Japan as there are any where in the world. The Japanese, seems to be what we refer to as middle income people, they work hard and earned what they produce. Their standard of living is very high and therefore the wages are high also.

Answer 5

Ya, some of them are really rich and have high paying jobs and just don't want to move... others aren't. Sometimes rich Japenese people move to States too. It's like that everywhere, there are always different classes of people.

Answer 6

You know usually if the life is expensive then the salaries are higher. In Japan the life is very expensive so it is normal to have higher salaries and for China it is the opposite. Life is very cheap so salaries are rather low.

Answer 7

I'm sure every country has rich people. And Japan is pretty modern, so yes.

Answer 8

They are not only rich but they are extremely rich and most of them have absolutely no interest in moving to the US or anywhere else. They like their little crowded islands.

Answer 9

I guess they must be because the prices over there are very expensive- it's about $9.00 for an onion.