🇯🇵 Japan · Utilities
Japan utilities
What it actually costs to live there.
¥31,000
Monthly utilities (5 items + extras)
Average per household, official sources.
| Item | Avg / month | Range | Social mirror |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electricity | ¥11,000 | ¥6,000—¥25,000 | 2016 deregulation opened the market — 700+ new retailers. Yet 74% of households never switched. The freedom to choose is also the freedom to stay. |
| City gas | ¥5,500 | ¥2,000—¥15,000 | City gas was deregulated in 2017, but rural Japan still uses LP gas at 2× the unit price. Infrastructure absence = geographic inequality. |
| Water + sewer | ¥4,200 | ¥2,500—¥8,000 | Municipal-run. Population decline strains budgets — rates keep rising. Privatization is debated but stalls politically. |
| Mobile phone | ¥4,500 | ¥1,500—¥9,000 | PM Suga's 2020 demand for a 30% price cut birthed Docomo's ahamo, au's povo, SoftBank's LINEMO. The Big 3 oligopoly cracked under Rakuten + political pressure. |
| Internet | ¥4,800 | ¥3,500—¥7,000 | Fiber penetration 95% — world-leading. But pricing stays sticky; real competition exists mainly in bulk apartment contracts. |
| NHK broadcast fee ★ | ¥1,300 | ¥1,225—¥2,200 | Owning a TV creates a legal obligation to pay. Terrestrial ¥1,225 + satellite ¥975. Japan's 'public broadcasting' duty is the strongest in the world. |
By household type
Single · 4-person family · elderly couple.
| Household | Size | Avg total / month |
|---|---|---|
| single | 1 | ¥16,000 |
| family4 | 4 | ¥31,000 |
| elder | 2 | ¥22,000 |
Share of income (households × income tiers)
9-cell matrix: how much of your salary goes to utilities.
| low ¥200,000 | median ¥367,000 | high ¥750,000 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| single | 8.0% | 4.4% | 2.1% |
| family4 | 15.5% | 8.4% | 4.1% |
| elder | 11.0% | 6.0% | 2.9% |
📚 Go deeper
Compare providers · Cultural context.