Cost of living comparison

Japan

compared to

South Africa

Johannesburg vs. Tokyo Cost of Living Summary

Johannesburg is 24.9% cheaper than Tokyo.

Restaurants: pay 35.0% more in Johannesburg
Groceries: pay 35.6% less in Johannesburg
Transportation: pay 25.8% more in Johannesburg
Housing: pay 39.3% less in Johannesburg
Childcare: pay 76.7% less in Johannesburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 37.3% less in Johannesburg
Clothing: pay 37.7% more in Johannesburg

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

Planning a move to South Africa? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Johannesburg vs. Tokyo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Johannesburg instead of Tokyo, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 35.0% more for restaurants

	Tokyo	Johannesburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.59 ¥1,200	$12.02 ZAR198.22	+58.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.06 ¥800	$7.21 ZAR118.93	+42.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.64 ¥259	$1.20 ZAR19.75	-27.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 ¥140	$0.89 ZAR14.70	+0.6%
Average			+35.0%

Tokyo vs. Johannesburg - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 35.6% less for groceries

	Tokyo	Johannesburg
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 ¥270	$1.25 ZAR20.56	-27.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.29 ¥836	$4.31 ZAR71.09	-18.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.75 ¥909	$5.00 ZAR82.53	-13.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.26 ¥358	$2.67 ZAR44.10	+18.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.08 ¥487	$2.50 ZAR41.25	-18.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.15 ¥340	$0.93 ZAR15.38	-56.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.07 ¥170	$0.83 ZAR13.71	-22.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.96 ¥309	$0.83 ZAR13.63	-57.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.39 ¥377	$0.94 ZAR15.50	-60.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.53 ¥241	$0.76 ZAR12.57	-50.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.46 ¥231	$0.84 ZAR13.80	-42.7%
Average			-35.6%

Tokyo vs. Johannesburg - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 25.8% more for transportation

	Tokyo	Johannesburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.08 ¥645	$5.77 ZAR95.18	+41.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$63.27 ¥9,997	$90.13 ZAR1,486.64	+42.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,725.38 ¥3M	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	+62.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$28.47 ¥4,499	$8.05 ZAR132.81	-71.7%
Average			+25.8%

Tokyo vs. Johannesburg - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 39.3% less for housing

	Tokyo	Johannesburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.33 ¥4,793	$35.90 ZAR592.10	+18.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,280.34 ¥202K	$498.84 ZAR8,227.92	-61.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$692.48 ¥109K	$425.42 ZAR7,016.95	-38.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$113.45 ¥17,926	$174.98 ZAR2,886.07	+54.2%
Average			-39.3%

Tokyo vs. Johannesburg - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 76.7% less for childcare

	Tokyo	Johannesburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,341.43 ¥212K	$242.74 ZAR4,003.77	-81.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$18,252.10 ¥3M	$5,468.16 ZAR90,191.79	-70.0%
Average			-76.7%

Tokyo vs. Johannesburg - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 37.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Tokyo	Johannesburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.80 ¥600	$2.25 ZAR37.17	-40.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.56 ¥563	$2.44 ZAR40.27	-31.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.92 ¥620	$3.30 ZAR54.51	-15.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.31 ¥10,478	$36.60 ZAR603.73	-44.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.65 ¥1,999	$7.81 ZAR128.84	-38.3%
Average			-37.3%

Tokyo vs. Johannesburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 37.7% more for clothing

	Tokyo	Johannesburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.50 ¥8,770	$57.63 ZAR950.55	+3.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.95 ¥5,207	$45.77 ZAR754.99	+38.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$65.04 ¥10,278	$108.45 ZAR1,788.73	+66.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.74 ¥11,178	$105.86 ZAR1,746.13	+49.6%
Average			+37.7%

Tokyo vs. Johannesburg - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: Tokyo vs. Johannesburg

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Johannesburg?

Size Comparison · See true size

Tokyo is about 2.7 times smaller than Johannesburg.

More cost comparisons

Tokyo vs.

Singapore

Tokyo vs.

Los Angeles

Tokyo vs.

Lima

Tokyo vs.

Madrid

Tokyo vs.

Vienna

Tokyo vs.

Paris

Tokyo vs.

New York City

Tokyo vs.

Berlin

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Japan vs. South Africa. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Japan and South Africa.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Tokyo

Add prices for Johannesburg

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Johannesburg or Tokyo. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.