Japanese Pride and Japan Today

Japan Today has become the go-to source of Japan-related news in English for the expat community. The quality of the reporting is fine when the articles originally appeared at Reuters, AP, and Kyodo News (among others), as opposed to inhouse productions. The comments section reveals many of JT's readers to be unable to understand Japanese, uninterested in learning the country's culture or history, and just plain uninformed.

An example from an article today re pride in Japan:

 That's been a concern for me ever since I came here. Everything in the supermarkets is so expensive. I can get most things for less than half the price back home. And I'm tired of eating bananas and moyashi. I wonder how many Japanese are proud of the expensive fruit.

The reader has exposed his flanks on this one, but I'll resist the urge. Instead, let's consider food prices (Walmart Grocery US for comparison).

green onions@ 98￥/ horenso spinach@ 128￥/ shishito sweet green peppers@ 74￥ (50% off)/ 3 nishin herring fillets@160￥ (20% off)/ aburage fried tofu@60￥/ oboro semi- soft tofu@70￥　(1USD=108￥)

I compared prices on similar items/ sizes (ones I could find) at Walmart Grocery (online): green onions (1 bunch) @$.50/ baby spinach@ $1.37/ herring fillets (tinned only) @$3.50/ tofu @$2.64

Total for the same 4 items puchased at a Japanese grocery store (pictured): $4.20

Walmart Total: $8.01

Dairy (cheese, cream, butter in particular) tends to be a bit more expensive in Japan. I purchased a liter (33 fluid ounces)of low-fat milk yesterday for 100￥. Walmart sells 64 oz. for $1.47. 

Fruit (domestic), also, tends to be higher: 1 apple, 100- 200￥

Walmart: $1. 10

1 pear: 100- 250￥

Walmart: $.69

(That said, Japanese fruit is worth every yen of extra cost.) 

So no, you don't have to subsist on a diet of bananas and bean sprouts.