Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

Japan

Tokyo vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 15.6% more expensive than Cape Town.

Restaurants: pay 22.5% less in Tokyo
Groceries: pay 55.6% more in Tokyo
Transportation: pay 16.4% less in Tokyo
Housing: pay 11.3% more in Tokyo
Childcare: pay 3.7 times more in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 33.7% more in Tokyo
Clothing: pay 22.0% less in Tokyo

The cost of childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, and housing in Tokyo are more expensive than in Cape Town. Expenses including restaurants, clothing, and transportation are lower in Tokyo. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Tokyo.

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Tokyo vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Tokyo instead of Cape Town, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 22.5% less for restaurants

	Cape Town	Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.02 ZAR198.53	$7.59 ¥1,202	-36.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.01 ZAR99.27	$5.06 ¥801	-15.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 ZAR21.48	$1.64 ¥260	+26.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.99 ZAR16.40	$0.89 ¥140	-10.8%
Average			-22.5%

Cape Town vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 55.6% more for groceries

	Cape Town	Tokyo
Bread 1 loaf	$1.23 ZAR20.38	$1.71 ¥271	+38.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.39 ZAR72.52	$5.29 ¥838	+20.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.99 ZAR82.49	$5.75 ¥911	+15.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.14 ZAR51.87	$2.26 ¥358	-27.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.07 ZAR50.73	$3.08 ¥488	+0.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 ZAR14.01	$2.15 ¥340	+153.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 ZAR14.38	$1.07 ¥170	+23.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 ZAR12.74	$1.96 ¥310	+153.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 ZAR15.73	$2.39 ¥378	+150.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR11.53	$1.53 ¥242	+118.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.31	$1.46 ¥231	+113.4%
Average			+55.6%

Cape Town vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries

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pay 16.4% less for transportation

	Cape Town	Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.86 ZAR96.77	$4.08 ¥646	-30.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$60.09 ZAR992.66	$63.27 ¥10,014	+5.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,391.94 ZAR585K	$21,725.38 ¥3M	-38.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.62 ZAR208.46	$28.47 ¥4,506	+125.6%
Average			-16.4%

Cape Town vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation

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pay 11.3% more for housing

	Cape Town	Tokyo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.98 ZAR660.43	$30.33 ¥4,801	-24.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,017.49 ZAR16,809.04	$1,280.34 ¥203K	+25.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$706.64 ZAR11,673.68	$692.48 ¥110K	-2.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.53 ZAR1,462.58	$113.45 ¥17,957	+28.1%
Average			+11.3%

Cape Town vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing

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pay 3.7 times more for childcare

	Cape Town	Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$262.39 ZAR4,334.61	$1,341.43 ¥212K	+411.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,820.14 ZAR113K	$18,252.10 ¥3M	+167.6%
Average			+269.9%

Cape Town vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare

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pay 33.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Cape Town	Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.00 ZAR49.63	$3.80 ¥601	+26.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.43 ZAR40.10	$3.56 ¥564	+46.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.61 ZAR59.56	$3.92 ¥621	+8.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.37 ZAR815.55	$66.31 ¥10,495	+34.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.01 ZAR148.90	$12.65 ¥2,003	+40.4%
Average			+33.7%

Cape Town vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 22.0% less for clothing

	Cape Town	Tokyo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.49 ZAR916.75	$55.50 ¥8,785
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.30 ZAR533.55	$32.95 ¥5,216	+2.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.84 ZAR1,979.80	$65.04 ¥10,296	-45.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.58 ZAR1,744.24	$70.74 ¥11,197	-33.0%
Average			-22.0%

Cape Town vs. Tokyo - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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Cape Town is about 4 times bigger than Tokyo.

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