Rich and Strange Aeons

Sushi prices here seem cheap... less than a mid-level typical sushi restaurant in San Diego or Seattle. It's an especially good deal when you consider the quality and variety - most of it is incredibly fresh.

Actually restaurant and entertainment prices on the whole seem pretty reasonable here - or at least about the same as the US. A latte at Starbucks is $3-4 and a large Yakiniku bowl at Yoshinoya is about 450 yen or $3.90-ish. Okinawa has the cheapest beef prices in Japan so you can go out for a really nice steak or Teppanyaki dinner for about the price of Stuart Anderson in the US.

Grocery prices and home improvement/housewares stuff aren't great but not too bad either. Rent and gasoline are real killers, and cell phone service is also really expensive for some reason. OTOH internet is decent - I pay about $45/month for DSL which includes unlimited free long distance calling (including international).

Cost-of-living is kind of a mixed bag here and I'm still trying to figure it out.