Paulrus wrote:

> My wife is from Japan and she and I have been talking about the cost
> of living here in Indiana.

Cost of living in Japan

5 kilograms rice: 1780 yen
1 liter milk: 178 y
1 apple: 148 y
10 eggs, small size: 160 y
box corn flakes, 180 grams: 248 y
0.5 liter beer: 278 y

12 rolls toilet paper, 60 meters each: 228 y

(Above prices are for varieties on the lower end of the price scale.  Gourmet,
organic food can be twice as much or more.  1 ounce = 28 grams.  1 liter is
roughly 1 quart.)

1 liter gasoline: 100 y

Bufferin, 20 tablets: 598 y

Monthly subscription to Japan Times (daily newspaper): 3900 y
Newsweek Magazine (Eng.) at a bookstore: 800 y

Monthly NHK fee: 1395 y
(All television set owners are supposed to pay this.)

Add 5% sales tax to above.

On total costs the following survey of living expenses of college students may
be of help: 
http://www2.univcoop.or.jp/alacarte/waynow/gaman.html (Japanese text)

------
Wages:

Starting hourly wage for kitchen staff in McDonalds: 750 yen
(Convenience stores, supermarkets pay about the same.  Ads appear often,
indicating high turnover.)

Hourly wage, office work requiring high English proficiency: 1500 y
(TOEIC score 700, computer skills necessary.  I don't think they'd hire someone
without a college degree.)

> If possible - PLEASE CC me your answer by email.  Google groups makes
> it a real PITA to read newsgroups...

Email to your address bounced with this message:

+ This is the Postfix program at host smtp1.att.ne.jp.
+
+ I'm sorry to have to inform you that the message returned
+ below could not be delivered to one or more destinations.
+
+ For further assistance, please send mail to <postmaster>
+
+ If you do so, please include this problem report. You can
+ delete your own text from the message returned below.
+
+                       The Postfix program
+
+ <6oo2dy802@sneakemail.com>: host mail.sneakemail.com[207.106.87.13] said: 550
+    Sorry, could not complete relaying, Sneakemail account over quota.