Food is cheap, but skilled labor is expensive. In the US, it's common to go out to eat because the reputation and wages of labor for food service have been crushed, but in Japan, asking another human to pour your beers and make you food and then clean up in an izakaya carries an appropriate cost. A friend who'd never left the US was shocked to learn going to teppanyaki cost almost $200/person... and the chef didn't even do any tricks!

The minimum wage seems impossibly low, but there's a human economy - no one who works doesn't eat. You can have fresh, nutritious meals and ingredients right from the field for pennies on the dollar practically wherever you go. The variety is mind boggling, as is the convenience.

> In the US, it's common to go out to eat because the reputation and wages of labor for food service have been crushed, but in Japan, asking another human to pour your beers and make you food and then clean up in an izakaya carries an appropriate cost.

Hmm, unless I'm not getting your point, this seems at variance with the lived experience of most East and Southeast Asians. (I've lived all over the world, mostly in Asia Pacific and North America)

America has relatively high labor cost (plus tax and tips, you're looking at at least $20/meal/person post-covid) and eating out is expensive and it is actually not that common to eat out -- at least not at a sit down restaurant. For most Americans, eating out is maybe a once or twice a week affair.

In most of Asia (including Japan) eating out is relatively cheap and most can afford to do it daily (many young people in Asia don't cook). I don't know if anyone goes to Japan to eat $200 teppanyaki or that izakayas are a daily affair, but most meals in Japan cost under US$10. An udon is under $5, and a gyudon (beef, soup, rice) at Yoshinoya costs under $5. No tax or tip -- you pay sticker price.

> A friend who'd never left the US was shocked to learn going to teppanyaki cost almost $200/person

Yes that is unfortunately true and sometimes they aren't even upfront about it. It's very common to have this fee in bars and izakaya[1].

But I would still argue that it's still quite affordable compared to other big cities.

I'm not arguing for the purchasing power of Japanese people inside Japan[2], but as a tourist it definitely seems like a first-tier destination without the price!

[1]: Japanese pub, basically

[2]: Trust me, they really did get the wrong end of the stick

Edit: After reading another comment, I actually misread Dollars for Yens and I think I was talking about something completely different!

Where on earth was teppanyaki $200/pp?

Tokyo, private room. I'm sorry, I made it sound like that's what it cost at a food court.

It just tickled me so much that he admitted he was a little disappointed that he didn't get an "authentic hibachi experience" like at the Japanese steakhouses back home.

Actually, I've read ¥200/person instead of $200/person but the original comment indeed mentions dollars.

Anyways, I think they were talking about the price of entering the teppanyaki restaurant of ¥200/person.