Cost of living comparison

compared to

Japan vs. Tonga Cost of Living Summary

Japan is 5.0 times more expensive than Tonga overall.

Restaurants: pay 50.8% less in Japan
Groceries: pay 8.9% more in Japan
Transportation: pay 86.6% more in Japan
Housing: pay 34.2% less in Japan
Childcare: pay 27.3 times more in Japan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.6% less in Japan
Clothing: pay 2.7 times more in Japan

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

Japan vs. Tonga Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 50.8% less for restaurants

	Tonga	Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.31 TOP20.00	$6.60 ¥1,042	-20.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.38 TOP25.00	$5.10 ¥804	-50.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.84 TOP6.83	$1.07 ¥168	-62.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 TOP5.92	$0.76 ¥120	-69.1%
Average			-50.8%

Tonga vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 8.9% more for groceries

	Tonga	Japan
Bread 1 loaf	$1.04 TOP2.50	$1.50 ¥237	+44.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.50 TOP10.83	$5.07 ¥799	+12.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.92 TOP14.26	$5.67 ¥894	-4.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.09 TOP12.27	$2.08 ¥328	-59.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.67 TOP6.43	$2.93 ¥462	+9.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.26 TOP3.02	$2.14 ¥337	+70.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.26 TOP3.02	$1.12 ¥176	-10.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.32 TOP3.18	$1.69 ¥267	+28.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.70 TOP4.08	$2.13 ¥336	+25.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.44 TOP3.48	$1.22 ¥192	-15.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.19 TOP2.87	$1.15 ¥182	-3.3%
Average			+8.9%

Tonga vs. Japan - Cost of groceries

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pay 86.6% more for transportation

	Tonga	Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.50 TOP13.25	$4.39 ¥692	-20.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$41.53 TOP100.00	$59.14 ¥9,330	+42.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$5,814.53 TOP14,000.00	$22,599.51 ¥3,564,994	+288.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.69 TOP45.00	$25.32 ¥3,995	+35.5%
Average			+86.6%

Tonga vs. Japan - Cost of transportation

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pay 34.2% less for housing

	Tonga	Japan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$124.60 TOP300.00	$33.91 ¥5,350	-72.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$622.99 TOP1,500.00	$543.18 ¥85,685	-12.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	??	$353.61 ¥55,781
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$142.92 TOP344.12	$118.72 ¥18,727	-16.9%
Average			-34.2%

Tonga vs. Japan - Cost of housing

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pay 27.3 times more for childcare

	Tonga	Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$157.82 TOP380.00	$296.89 ¥46,833	+88.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$249.19 TOP600.00	$13,159.48 ¥2,075,862	+5180.8%
Average			+2634.5%

Tonga vs. Japan - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Tonga	Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.32 TOP8.00	$2.60 ¥411	-21.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.91 TOP7.00	$3.03 ¥477	+4.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.18 TOP24.50	$3.89 ¥613	-61.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.15 TOP75.00	$59.54 ¥9,392	+91.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$41.53 TOP100.00	$12.46 ¥1,966	-70.0%
Average			-11.6%

Tonga vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.7 times more for clothing

	Tonga	Japan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$14.54 TOP35.00	$44.79 ¥7,066	+208.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$17.65 TOP42.50	$32.04 ¥5,054	+81.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$20.77 TOP50.00	$57.37 ¥9,050	+176.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$29.07 TOP70.00	$87.37 ¥13,783	+200.5%
Average			+166.6%

Tonga vs. Japan - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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