Name: Shocking Prices in Japan vs USA
Uploaded: 2025-07-25T18:18:08.000Z
Duration: 15 min 56 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Adverbs of manner

So I recently traveled to the U.S. with my family from Japan

And I'm not gonna lie, I was a little bit stunned about how much things cost in the U.S. compared to Japan

Adverbs of degree

Granted, I was somewhat expecting it given the current exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and Japanese yen at the time

But when I was actually there and saw the pictures firsthand, it really hit me

I still remember the days when everything in Japan was expensive and the U.S. was actually cheap

So in this video, I wanted to share with all of you my own personal experience

And I think you may be a little bit surprised

But before I start, I should mention that I was staying in Los Angeles

More specifically, Venice Beach of all places

So the prices may be higher or lower depending on the prices you're referencing in the States

Definitely let me know if it's different from where you live or where you visited

Anyway, I'll try to compare L.A. prices with Tokyo prices

But for some of these, there may not be a one-to-one comparison

And by no means am I suggesting that these are the average prices in the U.S.

But basically, it's just what I saw when I was going to the places I was normally going

So let me show you how the prices stack up

Let me start with some grocery store items for those daily essentials that we all commonly purchase

And yes, in Japan, items tend to be sold in smaller quantities

Since homes tend to be smaller with less storage space

So sometimes, I'll have to do the per item price in a little bit of math to get the fairest comparison possible

But I do know that buying bulk is generally cheaper

While in Japan, you usually see it in a carton of 10

In this case, $3.69 in the U.S. and $1.79 in Japan

Given the exchange rate that I had when I was there in mid-July

In case you guys want to do the math, I'm using 155 Japanese yen exchange rate to the dollar

Which worked out to be about 31 cents versus 18 cents

Now you know the rules, let's continue on

If you want to wipe your butt with some toilet paper, it's about 70% cheaper in Japan

I don't know, maybe rolls are thicker in the U.S.

Paper towels though are only, you know, 61% cheaper in Japan

If you want to do some laundry, Japan again is far cheaper

Interestingly, in the U.S., detergent is measured by the volume in fluid ounces

While in Japan, bottles are measured by weight in grams

The only common factor that I could find was a load count

But maybe that doesn't tell the entire picture

And Ritz crackers? Offered in the U.S. in larger quantities in Japan

It ends up being about 29% cheaper in Japan

But on the other hand, there are more expensive items in Japan

For starters, good old white bread, which is offered in smaller loaves in Japan

Well, at least based on the brands I randomly selected

And bananas at 69 cents a pound in the U.S.

Actually work out to be 94 cents a pound in Japan

Interestingly though, in Japan, bananas are not sold by weight

But rather in bunches, so maybe I could have picked a lighter bunch

As far as Crystal Geyser goes, which is a U.S. company

While a bottle of domestic Japanese water costs 51 cents per bottle

It's a bit cheaper, but still more expensive to the ones in the U.S.

Granted, the bottles were slightly bigger

And holy cow, milk is 45% more expensive in Japan

Maybe it's because the U.S. has more cows to source from

Or maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about

Then drinking local beer probably makes the most sense

So in the U.S. supermarket, I can only find these Japanese Sapporo bottles

Interestingly in Japan, they really don't sell the standard one-person size bottles in the supermarket

But rather the bigger one to share with each other

As Japanese in general prefer drinking cans individually

But I could purchase the smaller bottles online

Whereas foreign beers in Japan such as Budweiser and Corona

Were marginally more expensive by 7% and 1%

But since we're already speaking about hot sauce

If you want that real deal fire made only in Japan

Then look no further than my Paolo from Tokyo original premium Kaminari hot sauce

But with all the umami goodness of the original

Get it on the website paolofromtokyohotsauce.com

Or click on the store link just below this video

And right now, if you use the code HOTSUMMER for the month of August

Alright, let's move on to convenience stores

And luckily, 7-Eleven exists in both countries

But they are quite different when you go inside

The 7-Elevens may become more like the Japanese ones

But I guess we'll have to see how much so

It would be dope though if the U.S. started welcoming their customers

So let me try to compare apples with apples

Or should I say egg sandwiches to egg sandwiches

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Shocking Prices in Japan vs USA

equivalent

slightly

basically

experience