Cost of living comparison

Romania

compared to

Japan

Japan vs. Romania Cost of Living Summary

Japan is 25.0% more expensive than Romania overall.

Restaurants: pay 33.9% less in Japan
Groceries: pay 76.2% more in Japan
Transportation: pay 15.1% more in Japan
Housing: pay 39.2% more in Japan
Childcare: pay 17.0% more in Japan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 27.3% more in Japan
Clothing: pay 16.6% less in Japan

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

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Japan vs. Romania Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Japan instead of Romania, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 33.9% less for restaurants

	Romania	Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.82 RON46.44	$6.75 ¥1,066	-31.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.22 RON34.13	$5.10 ¥805	-29.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.87 RON8.86	$1.13 ¥179	-39.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.57 RON7.43	$0.76 ¥120	-51.8%
Average			-33.9%

Romania vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 76.2% more for groceries

	Romania	Japan
Bread 1 loaf	$1.10 RON5.19	$1.53 ¥241	+39.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.76 RON17.78	$5.55 ¥877	+47.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.36 RON25.36	$5.56 ¥879	+3.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.91 RON13.77	$2.01 ¥318	-30.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.69 RON12.72	$2.85 ¥450	+5.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.51 RON2.42	$2.16 ¥342	+323.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.67 RON3.18	$1.08 ¥171	+60.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.65 RON3.08	$1.54 ¥243	+136.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.89 RON4.19	$1.92 ¥303	+116.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 RON1.66	$1.10 ¥174	+213.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.36 RON1.70	$1.08 ¥170	+199.0%
Average			+76.2%

Romania vs. Japan - Cost of groceries

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pay 15.1% more for transportation

	Romania	Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.55 RON30.98	$4.11 ¥649	-37.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.38 RON110.58	$63.20 ¥9,986	+170.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,083.66 RON128K	$21,047.50 ¥3M	-22.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.64 RON31.43	$24.65 ¥3,895	+271.0%
Average			+15.1%

Romania vs. Japan - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.2% more for housing

	Romania	Japan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.56 RON40.50	$33.54 ¥5,300	+291.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$371.73 RON1,758.50	$546.58 ¥86,367	+47.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$281.26 RON1,330.53	$360.78 ¥57,008	+28.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$107.14 RON506.84	$113.26 ¥17,897	+5.7%
Average			+39.2%

Romania vs. Japan - Cost of housing

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pay 17.0% more for childcare

	Romania	Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$482.75 RON2,283.68	$417.01 ¥65,893	-13.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,125.14 RON33,706.19	$11,300.14 ¥2M	+58.6%
Average			+17.0%

Romania vs. Japan - Cost of childcare

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pay 27.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Romania	Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.18 RON10.31	$2.57 ¥406	+17.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.45 RON11.57	$3.06 ¥483	+24.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.71 RON27.03	$3.83 ¥605	-33.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.73 RON183.19	$53.31 ¥8,424	+37.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.13 RON33.75	$11.73 ¥1,853	+64.4%
Average			+27.3%

Romania vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 16.6% less for clothing

	Romania	Japan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.00 RON293.30	$46.32 ¥7,320	-25.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$35.53 RON168.09	$31.33 ¥4,950	-11.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.18 RON365.11	$59.45 ¥9,394	-23.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$85.19 RON402.98	$81.04 ¥12,805	-4.9%
Average			-16.6%

Romania vs. Japan - 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

Compare further: Romania vs. Japan

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