Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

Japan

Okinawa vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary

Okinawa is 17.5% cheaper than Istanbul.

Restaurants: pay 14.4% less in Okinawa
Groceries: pay 76.3% more in Okinawa
Transportation: pay 20.8% less in Okinawa
Housing: pay 38.7% less in Okinawa
Childcare: pay 73.5% less in Okinawa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.6% less in Okinawa
Clothing: pay 18.3% less in Okinawa

Expenses including childcare, housing, transportation, clothing, restaurants, and entertainment and sports are lower in Okinawa. Notably, groceries is significantly more expensive in Okinawa.

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Okinawa vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Okinawa instead of Istanbul, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 14.4% less for restaurants

	Istanbul	Okinawa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.19 TRY603.79	$9.99 ¥1,578	-18.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.35 TRY462.91	$6.99 ¥1,105	-25.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 TRY85.71	$1.49 ¥236	-13.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.58 TRY28.65	$0.97 ¥153	+67.5%
Average			-14.4%

Istanbul vs. Okinawa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 76.3% more for groceries

	Istanbul	Okinawa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 TRY45.58	$2.10 ¥332	+128.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 TRY261.28	$8.88 ¥1,404	+68.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.69 TRY231.97	$6.07 ¥959	+29.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 TRY119.39	$1.80 ¥284	-25.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.54 TRY125.71	$2.20 ¥348	-13.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TRY42.16	$1.69 ¥266	+98.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 TRY50.86	$1.20 ¥190	+17.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 TRY28.34	$1.00 ¥157	+74.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 TRY41.37	$2.32 ¥366	+177.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TRY15.36	$1.10 ¥174	+254.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 TRY14.17	$1.15 ¥181	+301.2%
Average			+76.3%

Istanbul vs. Okinawa - Cost of groceries

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pay 20.8% less for transportation

	Istanbul	Okinawa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.43 TRY269.03	$4.10 ¥648	-24.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	$66.02 ¥10,432	-1.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,810.11 TRY3M	$21,143.33 ¥3M	-58.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.40 TRY416.09	$31.70 ¥5,008	+277.2%
Average			-20.8%

Istanbul vs. Okinawa - Cost of transportation

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pay 38.7% less for housing

	Istanbul	Okinawa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.15 TRY799.42	$52.72 ¥8,331	+226.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	$405.22 ¥64,030	-59.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	$327.24 ¥51,709	-49.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	$121.76 ¥19,239	+76.8%
Average			-38.7%

Istanbul vs. Okinawa - Cost of housing

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pay 73.5% less for childcare

	Istanbul	Okinawa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	$332.14 ¥52,484	-67.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,999.20 TRY1M	$5,598.72 ¥885K	-78.5%
Average			-73.5%

Istanbul vs. Okinawa - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Istanbul	Okinawa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.78 TRY236.49	$2.00 ¥316	-58.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.31 TRY213.63	$4.16 ¥657	-3.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 TRY115.73	$3.92 ¥620	+67.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	$71.70 ¥11,330	-5.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.13 TRY402.53	$12.02 ¥1,899	+47.9%
Average			-4.6%

Istanbul vs. Okinawa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 18.3% less for clothing

	Istanbul	Okinawa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	$49.67 ¥7,848	-6.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	$23.41 ¥3,699	-40.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	$80.24 ¥12,679	-19.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	$96.22 ¥15,204	+0.7%
Average			-18.3%

Istanbul vs. Okinawa - 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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