exactly...and Japan is only in the third place on my list...before that Singapore & Hong Kong...imagine that money...shiiiiiiiit ^^

Thanks for sharing these pictures with us They really made me feel the urge to visit Japan. I've always had a crush for that country. I just can't decide whether I should do a semester in Japan or the US.

Not as much as people seem to think. You can find return tickets from London from £450 (seeing you're British). Maybe with the yen so high it's gone to 500, but still.

As a foreigner, you can get a rail pass that makes travelling around so much cheaper. You can get it in Mitsukoshi near Piccaddilly in London, for example.

And once you're there you can rent small apartments for quite cheap. I got a tiny apartment for about 600 a month, half an hour away from central Tokyo by train. If you shop in supermarkets you can buy cheap food like instant soup, noodles, etc.

I stayed 7 weeks there and spent around £1200, flight included, though I was sharing everything with my girlfriend, which made renting and buying food so much cheaper. I went to Tokyo (many times), Kyoto, Hiroshima, Nara, Kamakura and Yokohama.

I'm sure you can spend a couple of weeks there for about £1200-£1500, or less if you go with friends. Yes, it's expensive, but not as prohibitive as they say if you know what to do.

Cost of living isn't too too bad. I eat decently well (could stand for more fruit and vegetables, but i'm like that in America too). The school provides me with no meal plans or anything, but it only costs me about 7-8000 Yen a week to feed myself. You can find decently priced restaurants too, so that you live on the cheap but are still "going out." Grocery stores really do reduce the cost of living, as this week i bought what i can get 6 dinners out of for probably 900 Yen: some instant yakisoba, hamburger patties, and dry rice.

Food is really not as expensive as many people think.
We (me, my wife and my 4 year old son) pay about 27.000 Yen per month for food.

manuel, I am going to live in Japan from August or so and I'll stay there for a few years at least. What do you think is the best way to get Western games there?

I realised some Western games release much later in Japan. Is it worth importing from elsewhere (price-wise too)?

Also, I'm studying Japanese but I still can't understand much of it when spoken and practically nothing when written. In order to get Japanese games in English I would have to import I guess. Is it very common for Japanese games to get international releases?

When I get American games I usually use play-asia or eBay. Or if you have relatives, have them send you games.

When you're surrounded by the Japanese language, you learn much faster, so within a few years you should be able to play Japanese games.

Many niche games are only available in Japanese, so it's never bad to learn the language as a gamer.

Thanks!

And yeah, I definitely want to be fluent before I leave the country. Not for the games, but I'm going to marry a Japanese woman and live there after all.

Nice!
With a Japanese fiance you should do well.

THANK YOU KHAN~

I was wondering what are your living arrangements (being a exchange student) are you sharing with other students, or do you have a room to yourself and only sharing certain amount of living space.