KANAGAWA, Jul 21 (News On Japan) –
A 43-year-old American male, who has been instructing English at elementary and junior excessive faculties in Kanagawa Prefecture for 18 years, is voicing his struggles with dwelling bills.
Jesse Ali: ‘This shirt (from a thrift retailer) was 500 yen. Everything on the wall can be 500 yen. When the grocery store has reductions, I purchase expired objects at 20% off and retailer them within the freezer.’
On the nineteenth, the Japan National Tourism Organization introduced that the variety of international vacationers visiting Japan within the first half of 2024 reached a report excessive of roughly 17.78 million. Additionally, the quantity spent by international vacationers in Japan from April to June totaled about 2.1 trillion yen, marking a report excessive for any quarter, fueled by the traditionally weak yen.
The spending per international vacationer amounted to 239,000 yen, and if this tempo continues within the second half, the full consumption may attain 8 trillion yen.
Meanwhile, some foreigners who’ve lived in Japan for a few years are additionally expressing their monetary difficulties.
Jesse Ali, a 43-year-old from California, works as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT), instructing English dialog courses at elementary and junior excessive faculties.
Jesse works 5 days per week, with a month-to-month take-home pay of round 180,000 yen. However, his take-home pay decreased to about 76,000 yen in March because of the spring break and was about 110,000 yen in April.
Jesse lives in a share home with shared tub, bathroom, and kitchen amenities, paying 83,000 yen together with utilities. March was a deficit month for him.
Jesse Ali: ‘I like the corporate. It’s a very good firm, however the wage is inadequate. I would like them to lift the wages.’
He cuts down on meals bills, consuming just one meal a day, generally relying solely on faculty lunches.
In 2011, 5 years after Jesse began working in Japan, the yen alternate price reached 75 yen per dollar. However, in 2024, it surpassed 160 yen at one level, marking a major depreciation of the yen.
Jesse Ali: ‘The yen was robust again then. It was simple to repay college loans and money owed. Sending a small sum of money to the U.S. lined my month-to-month funds. But because the yen weakened, I’ve actually been combating cash.’
Jesse, who additionally has money owed, plans to tackle a aspect job to extend his earnings sooner or later.
Source: FNN