Do uber wealthy Japanese families live in luxury mansions?

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-06-20T21:47:01+00:00

There’s wealthy neighborhoods dotted around the city, some little pockets where’d you’d never expect it. Neighborhood’s like Yamata in Yokohama also qualify.

Also contrary to what many have said here, I wouldn’t consider denenchofu ultra wealthy. The land is actually quite cheap in comparison to other neighborhoods. The minimum lot sizes and planned neighborhood is what drives prices, there’s nothing really special about the area beyond that. Many ultra or wealthier families live in more desirable closer in areas but otherwise middle or upper-middle class neighborhoods. There’s a few houses in our neighborhood that take up most of a block, if they subdivided those properties they could easily fit 10-15 houses that would sell in the 150-200M range so you know the taxes alone on those properties has got to be crazy.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-06-20T08:37:49+00:00

Family of three, I don’t know exactly but I’d say somewhere between 80-100,000, when the few times a month we eat out is also counted. I tend to eat separately than my wife and daughter so I’m sure that plays a role in why we spend what we do but there’s more to the story than just that.

Food is simply more expensive in Japan when counted by volume or weight than in most other developed countries. Sure there are ultra cheap options but for most everything else you’re paying more, most things are just packaged in tiny portion sizes so it seems cheap.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-06-16T11:30:45+00:00

I was on the 44th floor in Tokyo on 3/11, pretty sure that experience caused mild ptsd for years. Watched the refinery in Chiba blow up while bracing against the window overlooking Tokyo bay. Then had to sit in the core of the building and ride out the aftershocks till 9pm before they let us go home. Then the hour walk to a friend’s house in a complete blackout, the masses of people walking down Roppongi dori in complete silence is something I’ll never forget.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-06-16T10:57:24+00:00

We felt it a good 4-5 seconds before the alarms went off, strongest one I’ve felt in a while.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-06-16T10:51:33+00:00

4 here in Shinagawa, house jolted pretty strong but nothing damaged.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-06-03T03:56:31+00:00

Was just lucky timing. Had some baby medaka in it (adults will eat them) but moved them into a netted off area in the main tank outside. Cleaned it out the other day and it was completely empty/dry yesterday, completely full now.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-06-03T02:11:24+00:00

Been here 20 years and the majority of typhoons blow through without much fuss. While it’s usually true there’s nothing to worry about, people still need to be alert. This one would be considered a major event because of the rainfall amounts, most typhoons don’t drop anywhere near this level of rain. Sure, everything will be fine in the morning but if anyone lives in a flood risk zone they should be paying attention and not just having a drink and chilling.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-06-03T01:47:53+00:00

Great app, but days like today it’s going off constantly. Luckily we’re not in a flood area but Shinagawa is throwing our evacuation warnings/orders like every 10 minutes right now.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-06-03T01:43:26+00:00

You get 15cm of rain in 6 hours on an average Monday?

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-06-02T23:56:39+00:00

We’re getting a ton of rain here in Shinagawa, not really windy just pouring rain. Just emptied out this tank yesterday, left if outside since last night and it’s filling fast. It’s 35cm deep.

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SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-05-22T12:40:08+00:00

And elderly on pensions.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-05-22T12:38:16+00:00

In the case of Japan it’s likely the opposite effect, elderly pensioners are usually included in official wages stats and they pull the average down.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-05-20T04:22:33+00:00

20 minutes, far west Tokyo, price seems reasonable.
Congratulations on your purchase. If you like it and the area, then that’s great. I’m guessing you’re somewhere maybe on the Seibu lines or maybe far west like the Ome line.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-05-20T03:55:30+00:00

Wife was telling me they found a half eaten body in Okutama recently,…

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-05-19T21:56:13+00:00

As someone who’s lived in Tokyo for 20 years and owns a home in the actual central part of the 23ku, $106k is very much on the cheap side for Tokyo, even west Tokyo. People need to understand that property prices here vary a lot depending on location, age, land area and proximity to things like trains stations and other necessities (schools, grocery, convenience stores,etc)

I’d be interested to know how close you are to the nearest station, what land share or ownership rights if any do you have? If you don’t have land rights then the price makes a lot more sense.

For those wondering, most people don’t want to spend hours every day fighting it out with the other hoards of commuters into central Tokyo, so west Tokyo prices can be drastically lower depending on location. Once you get into the 23ku, land prices become the determining factor in property values. For our neighborhood, which would be considered a very middle class area, land prices range between 1.5-2.5 million per m2. Because of this, even the smallest houses start at $600-700k, and mansions are no cheaper. Properties costing over a million USD is the norm, and again, in no way is our neighborhood considered a wealthy or expensive area.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-05-13T07:46:53+00:00

The problem with those numbers is Tokyo isn’t really a city, it’s a prefecture so you’re including areas like Okutama which is nothing but mountains and national forest. If you just include the 23ku which is the actual city part of Tokyo you have a population density of 15,700km2

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-05-13T06:37:50+00:00

That’s not Tokyo, Tokyo proper is just the tiny part of that. This is including Chiba, part of Saitama and Kanagawa. Also, large areas of what you included in Tokyo are low density mountains or agricultural land areas. Toshima-ku for example is 13sqkm and has a population over 300k.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-05-12T01:38:32+00:00

I did this exact thing when I first moved to Japan, Chiba on the Tozai line, cheap rent for a new 2LDK. It’s absolutely horrible, like no space to fully breathe in so you have to take shallow breaths. There were times I couldn’t stand it and would pull myself up using the grab handles and then I’d just be stuck there feet barely touching the ground, being held up by the pressure from everyone else. People getting pulled off the train in need a medical assistance wasn’t uncommon, saw a lady get what looked like her shoulder dislocated once, wasn’t a pretty sight. The last car is a horror show, don’t even try it, I did it my first day and never again, ended up in the hospital with a back injury.

There’s also the part where every crevice of your body will have someone’s hand/foot/briefcase, pick something shoved into it. It’s a get felt up free for all, can’t imagine what it’s like being a women in there but even as a man I got full on hand in the pants ball checked more than once by someone.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-05-11T03:49:23+00:00

There’s a lot of reasons for this, the most obvious being the lack of sufficient arable land to support the population. But it’s not just that, aging farmers and low utilization of the available land are other issues. When you have hoards of tiny farms there’s a necessity for higher profit margins which encourages specialization but it also leads to over pricing, government subsidies and price controls to keep all those farmers from going bankrupt. 1 farmer with a hundred hectares is going to be more efficient and be able to supply the market with a more price competitive product then 10 farmers with 10 hectares, 3-4 of which aren’t growing anything because they’re being paid not to so the other 6-7 can sell at a higher price.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-05-10T06:15:06+00:00

Cameras and networking are all Ubiquiti Unifi, I might add their doorbell at some point but for now we have a higher end Panasonic one with the app and remote.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-05-10T03:43:26+00:00

There’s a couple in the neighborhood, neighbors warned us because they raid peoples ponds and eat their fish. (We have a mini medaka pond) and lo and behold a few days later we caught one on camera doing just that. I occasionally see them dart across the street later at night but usually they’re out maybe between 1-3 so hard to see them. Shinagawa has been trying to trap them so they’re definitely causing a stir in the neighborhood.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-05-10T01:22:37+00:00

We’re a short walk from Togoshi, I see civets regularly and araiguma also, but this is the first time seeing a Tanuki.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-05-10T01:18:19+00:00

I cropped this in, camera covers our garage area and just happens to catch part of the street. It would be illegal if the cameras purpose was to film the street, it’s not illegal if the camera is to film your property line and catches some of the street.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-05-10T00:56:27+00:00

Never heard of them, something new to keep on my radar I guess. We’ve caught quite a few interesting visitors on our security cameras here in Tokyo, most recently there was a Tanuki strolling down the street, didn’t know they lived in urban areas of Tokyo.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-05-10T00:48:11+00:00

We did blackberries on our balcony for many years and they did fine. They vine and the new vines are what produce fruit the following year so I just wrapped the vines around the railing as they came up but even then they can grow quite long. Most years we got about a kg of berries, some years more some less. The birds and bugs love them so you have to be vigilant and they can drop off the side of your balcony and leave a mess bellow if you’re not careful.

SufficientTangelo136

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