Yep! Makes sense. But like, if you are working remotely with a British employer, are you still drawing a London salary (£50-70k) instead of a Japanese salary (¥3M-6M)?

If you were earning ¥3-4M a year (roughly the average salary in Japan), would you feel the same about Japan?

Like, to me London is great, but I also know if I was working remotely in the UK or for my employer I could demand a £90k-150k salary and live in Chelsea or Belgravia, so I would be living my best life - but it's also not an "authentic" London experience.

That's why I see plenty of Japanese doing a similar thing - take a ¥4-5M salary and live in Shanghai, Bangkok, or HCMC.

As individuals, it makes sense for us for rationalize the arbitrage, but we can't deny we are also causing affordability issues as well.

I guess what I'm getting at is at the median, the vast majority of developed countries are facing the same issues, but at a micro-level, we can use currency arbitrages to give us a better life - but it's only exacerbating the problem.

> If you were earning ¥3-4M a year (roughly the average salary in Japan), would you feel the same about Japan?

I can’t answer that question since I haven’t experienced it, but I did qualify I said above by saying that I’m aware I wasn’t getting the full picture working for a London-based employer.

I wasn’t living in Japan so to be there forever, I was living there to have a good 6 months. So what my life would be like as an ‘average salaryman’ isn’t really pertinent. Apples to apples as an average London salaryman (average not anywhere near £90k) vs average Tokyo salaryman I think I would be happier as the latter.

>a £90k-150k salary and live in Chelsea or Belgravia

Last I checked that salary range is not Chelsea or Belgravia money.