Moving to Japan from Singapore

I'm a 19 year old Singaporean female. Graduated from a polytechnic with a Diploma in Business. I'll be going to Tokyo to study Business for 4 years, so I'm just wondering what should I prepare to bring to Japan? And roughly how much are expenses over there?

Rent: 400k-800k
Food: 300k
Transport: 200k
Phone bills, utilities: 200k
Would this be accurate? I am damn stingy even in Singapore so... all the more in Japan since I'm a broke student.

I'm quite fat, UK 14-16 so I'm thinking of bringing more clothes over there, but since my country is tropical, our winter clothings here are quite limited, would Japan still stock my size?

Another thing is my feet are ridiculously huge, US 10 so i should be bringing as many pairs of shoes as I can fit as well.

Regarding phone bills, i need data plans... does anyone have any recommendations?

Thinking of getting a new laptop before I depart as well, or should I just get one in Tokyo?

And does anyone have any information on moving service/sending boxes of stuffs to japan? Cheap, if possible.

Any tips on insurance would be great as well.

Sorry for the many questions and thanks for reading!

Regarding your finances, I think you need to be more specific.

Which city will you be located in? Rent in Tokyo is very different to rent in Okayama, I think.

When you say 400k, what do you mean? 400,000 yen? Per year? Will you be living in dorms?

For clothes you should probably be ok, but definitely bring plenty of underwear - that'll be harder. I would definitely bring a few pairs of shoes.

Regarding cell phones, you can either use one of the big carriers (although you may need a guarantor, since you are not yet 20), or buy a SIM card - for example, Rakuten mobile. The SIM card option will be cheaper.

I assume you're talking in annual terms? I think is still kinda low. For a single person in Tokyo, I always advise to at least plan for a 150k JPY monthly expense. As long as you're conscious about how you spend your money, that's a number that I'd say allows you to have a decent lifestyle in Tokyo.

Of course you could live on much less than that. I know students living on 8k, but that means making lots of sacrifices like staying at a crappy guesthouse, never eating out, etc.

I was living in SG for 3 years before moving to Tokyo which i already lived in (6 months Working holiday visa + multiple trips).

Shot version :

-less than 150K JPY : if you want to live like a vietnamese or a nepali : go for it .... forget about any luxuries like buying new clothes or such

-150K JPY/200 JPY : u live like shit

-200/250 K JPY : u can use air con and heater

-250K/300K JPY : you can indulge yourself some treat from time to time

300K JPY : you can start to live "normally" in a capitalist country.

Long Version :

Big difference.
You might be stingy but Tokyo and SG are way different.

Since you are 19 and you are student, i will assume you never had to rent anything in SG and were living in your parent's place.

Comparison between SG and JP (tokyo in this case).

1 SGD = 80 JPY roughly

-Food :
Forget about your chicken rice for 3/3.5$.
Food is not so expensive here, but you will not have anything under 400 JPY (5 SGD) which is really the cheapest.
Count more like 500/800 Jpy and 1000+ for a better meal.
Cooking home can slightly decrease your spending if you eat a lot of rice. Veggies and fruits are awfully expensive.
Budget at least : 30K/month

Rent :
Tokyo is a little bit cheaper than SG, especially if you live a bit further like saitama or chiba (your local woodlands and tampines). yet its way further away to center than tiny SG...
between 60K to 80K : prepare to have a tiny place and beware of high utilities : add 5K at least ....

Transportation : what you save by living far will cost you big bucks : in SG you pay max 2$ for the longest trip, here it can be as much as 500JPY (6S$).
Budget : 8K/15KJPY. if you work you can get reimbursed ...

Everything else : well ... its up to you
I would say minimum vital will be around 20-40K.... this can skyrocket if you indulge yourself a lot.

Total : at least 130 K JPy.... and this is the minimum to "survive"

130 K JPY = 1600 SGD.

All the best.

I'll be studying at Waseda for the next 4 years too - and this is what I can tell you:

1) Stay at the dorms. They give you more value for money than renting your own apartment. IDK about your school, but Waseda's dorms range anywhere from 624k yen - 1.4mil yen a year, depending on what standard you want. Even if you select the most expensive one, the services and facilities offered are very value for money.

2) I think 45k a month is doable for food.

3) Apparently student train passes are like 10k yen per 3 months or something (I saw it in the brochure). I'm not sure how much it really is.

4) I have no idea about how much plans will cost, but I heard Softbank is the best option for signing up a contract, plus I'm sure there's internet at your dorm and campus.

5) You're better off buying plus-sized shoes and clothes in SG. You know where to find them here anyway.

6) May as well get your laptop there. Since it'll most likely break down there, it's more convenient to get it fixed with a Japan-based warranty.

7) Just use Singpost lah.

Tbh Japan is not ideal if you're planning to go super budget for university. Their cost of living is higher than ours, coupled with their pricier currency. Unless you wanna eat onigiri 3 meals a day, 365 days a year for 4 years and never have fun, you really need to up your budget.

Tbh Japan is not ideal if you're planning to go super budget for university.

If you go to a private university in Tokyo, absolutely true.

If you are willing to work hard, and up for an adventure somewhere out of a major city, there are plenty of exceptional deals out there.