US Median Household Income Hits ¥13.5 Million — 5ch: ‘Walmart Has More Cheap Items Than Japan’

So what are we supposed to do about this?

That's what happens when you drain money out of Japan.
If the exploitation of Japan ever stopped, Japan would probably be down around ¥10 million too.

Re: #7
Switzerland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway: "Yeah, exactly" (smirking)

Re: #7
Far from ever ending, the exploitation's only going to grow — what are you gonna do about that?

Restaurants and eating out are pricey, but supermarkets are apparently not that different from Japan price-wise.

Re: #9
A carton of eggs is ¥800.

There's no way Japan's median household income is really only ¥4.5 million.

Re: #15
https://www.bk.mufg.jp/column/others/b0079.html
According to a 2023 survey by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the average household income was ¥5.242 million, with a median of ¥4.05 million.

Re: #15
For the median across all age groups, that sounds about right.
Break it down by age bracket and the numbers feel a lot closer to how it actually feels.

Re: #15
That figure includes part-timers (freeters) and the elderly too — don't let it fool you.

Factoring in the cost of living, Japan's actually better off.
Over there too, you can keep your spending down if you try.

Re: #20
People who say this —
back when Japan's average monthly income was ¥300,000 and Southeast Asia's was ¥30,000, 30 years ago,
were they saying 'Japan's too expensive, Southeast Asia's better' back then?

Based on the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' 2023 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (two-or-more-person households), household income works out to about ¥8.31 million for dual-income couples and about ¥6.35 million for single-income (husband-only) households.

According to a 2023 survey by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the average household income was ¥5.242 million, with a median of ¥4.05 million.

Quite a gap between the two ministries' numbers.

Re: #24
Re Re: #25 — the Health Ministry survey covers all households, including the elderly,
while the Internal Affairs Ministry survey seems to lean more toward the working-age generation.

Isn't America the place where even on ¥10 million a year you can only afford to live in a trailer home?
Comparing the raw numbers like that is just dumb.

Re: #27
This isn't about whether people's lives are easy — it's about the difference in currency strength.

Re: #27
Seriously, that's welfare-level living.

Re: #33
Why is the yen weak in the first place? Low interest rates?
But if inflation keeps up, Japan won't stay cheap forever either, right?

Re: #38
Sure, but the inflation is way too slow.
At this rate, even in 10 years Japan won't catch up to the dollar's current strength.
And the gap in national power just keeps widening in the meantime.

Re: #38
Low interest rates, terrible demographics, and finances stuck in a dead end.

Re: #34
Those countries are screwed the second their payment systems go down, lol

Re: #47
Actually, the more cashless a country gets, the more its government tells people to keep some cash on hand as a failsafe against outages.

I was on a business trip for about a month last month, and just ordering a drink and a main dish at a food court cost around ¥3,000.
Felt like prices were roughly 3 to 4 times higher.

Re: #57
Do you get a travel allowance for that?

America's full of adult sons and daughters still living at home (kidults), so household income figures end up folding in the kids' incomes too.

Re: #59
Having a big country with big houses really is the winning move.
With cramped 'rabbit hutch' homes and the nuclear family as the norm, there's no fixing the birth rate.

And then there's the cost of living —
this is a country where even ¥8 million a year gets called poverty-level.

Re: #68
Well, developed countries have high prices, that's just how it is.
Japan used to be the same way.
Now Japan's the bargain-bin king.

Re: #69
So would you be happy if both your income and the cost of living doubled?

Re: #76
Why wouldn't that make you happy?
A stronger home currency means cheaper overseas trips and cheaper imports too.

Re: #76
If Japan had America's tax-and-social-security burden rate, sure, people would be happy.
The US burden rate is around 30%.
Japan's is about 50%.

Why is it that people who trot out numbers like this never mention the other side's social security costs and taxes?

Re: #84
Why would you assume this was about quality of life?
This has only ever been about currency strength.

Re: #89
The moment nobody reads it that way, you've already lost the argument.
'In my head it meant X' — that's worthless.

Re: #89
Even though the thread title literally says 'household income'?

Why don't you guys invest in America while living in Japan?

Re: #90
I do, actually.
Invested ¥30 million and it's grown to ¥70 million now.

Re: #90
Japanese stocks are fine too.

People say prices are high, but when I went to Walmart in America I didn't think it was that expensive.
If that's the price level and the median income is ¥13.5 million, Americans must be living incredibly well.

Re: #111
Looked it up and turns out America's actually cheaper than Japan, lol


Converting at the weak-yen rate (about ¥159 to the dollar), when it comes to supermarket groceries, Walmart actually has more items that are cheaper than in Japan — that's the honest picture.

US (Walmart) vs. Japan Supermarket Price Comparison
*Exchange rate: $1 = ¥159 (as of August 27, 2026)
• Milk, 1L … US: about ¥116–153 / Japan: about ¥266
• Egg, 1 piece … US: about ¥23–33 / Japan: about ¥31
• Chicken breast, 100g … US: about ¥114–140 / Japan: about ¥156
• Rice, 1kg … US: about ¥280–350 (long-grain) / Japan: about ¥640
• Bread, per 1kg … US: about ¥700–900 / Japan: about ¥534
[Original dollar prices]
Milk (1 gallon) $2.76–3.65 / Eggs (dozen) $1.70–2.50 / Chicken breast (1 lb) $3.24–3.98 / Rice (5 lb) $3.98–4.98