Cost of living comparison

Russia

compared to

Japan

Kyoto vs. Moscow Cost of Living Summary

Kyoto is 24.5% cheaper than Moscow.

Restaurants: pay 25.0% less in Kyoto
Groceries: pay 45.4% more in Kyoto
Transportation: pay 14.0% more in Kyoto
Housing: pay 53.8% less in Kyoto
Childcare: pay 55.4% less in Kyoto
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.8% more in Kyoto
Clothing: pay 43.1% less in Kyoto

The cost of groceries, transportation, and entertainment and sports in Kyoto are more expensive than in Moscow. Expenses including childcare, housing, clothing, and restaurants are lower in Kyoto.

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Kyoto vs. Moscow Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kyoto instead of Moscow, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 25.0% less for restaurants

	Moscow	Kyoto
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.70 RUB939.35	$9.49 ¥1,495	-18.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.02 RUB563.61	$5.06 ¥798	-27.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.62 RUB129.90	$0.85 ¥135	-47.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 RUB67.12	$0.71 ¥112	-14.7%
Average			-25.0%

Moscow vs. Kyoto - Cost of restaurants

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pay 45.4% more for groceries

	Moscow	Kyoto
Bread 1 loaf	$1.02 RUB81.72	$1.62 ¥255	+59.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.14 RUB573.15	$4.32 ¥681	-39.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.61 RUB370.44	$5.81 ¥915	+25.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.86 RUB149.70	$2.14 ¥337	+14.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.98 RUB239.58	$3.55 ¥560	+19.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.93 RUB74.84	$2.30 ¥362	+146.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 RUB65.34	$1.05 ¥166	+29.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 RUB72.42	$2.30 ¥362	+154.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.79 RUB143.43	$1.63 ¥256	-9.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.41 RUB32.63	$0.86 ¥136	+111.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.32 RUB25.98	$0.77 ¥121	+136.6%
Average			+45.4%

Moscow vs. Kyoto - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.0% more for transportation

	Moscow	Kyoto
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.31 RUB265.91	$4.10 ¥646	+23.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$40.65 RUB3,264.22	$63.27 ¥9,969	+55.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$38,895.19 RUB3M	$21,725.38 ¥3M	-44.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.06 RUB807.84	$33.69 ¥5,309	+234.9%
Average			+14.0%

Moscow vs. Kyoto - Cost of transportation

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pay 53.8% less for housing

	Moscow	Kyoto
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.88 RUB793.40	$30.84 ¥4,860	+212.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,454.91 RUB117K	$564.23 ¥88,911	-61.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$804.40 RUB64,593.79	$327.84 ¥51,661	-59.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$142.85 RUB11,470.69	$78.16 ¥12,317	-45.3%
Average			-53.8%

Moscow vs. Kyoto - Cost of housing

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pay 55.4% less for childcare

	Moscow	Kyoto
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$809.00 RUB64,963.13	$649.00 ¥102K	-19.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$26,421.03 RUB2M	$6,550.09 ¥1M	-75.2%
Average			-55.4%

Moscow vs. Kyoto - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Moscow	Kyoto
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.68 RUB375.74	$3.16 ¥498	-32.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.70 RUB297.04	$3.30 ¥520	-10.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.45 RUB277.11	$3.92 ¥618	+13.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$42.01 RUB3,373.59	$52.76 ¥8,314	+25.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.36 RUB751.48	$12.34 ¥1,944	+31.8%
Average			+3.8%

Moscow vs. Kyoto - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 43.1% less for clothing

	Moscow	Kyoto
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$108.46 RUB8,709.83	$56.15 ¥8,848	-48.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.47 RUB5,016.10	$45.86 ¥7,227	-26.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$145.30 RUB11,668.01	$69.69 ¥10,982	-52.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$180.19 RUB14,469.53	$103.33 ¥16,283	-42.7%
Average			-43.1%

Moscow vs. Kyoto - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Moscow vs. Kyoto

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Size Comparison · See true size

Moscow is about 3.1 times bigger than Kyoto.

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