Tokyo prices remain highest

By Lily Nonomiya
Bloomberg News Service

TOKYO — A bottle of Coke in Tokyo still costs more than in any other major city in the world — even after the general consumer price index in Japan's capital city fell 1.1 percent last year.

And that's not the only thing that costs more. Overall, the prices of most goods and services in Tokyo remained higher than in other major cities overseas last year.

A report released by the Cabinet office compares the prices of 38 goods and services in Tokyo, ranging from tea to movie tickets, with those in seven major cities — New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Geneva, Hong Kong and Sing-apore.

Food items generally were most expensive in Tokyo. A Coke cost 141 yen ($1.17), about 18 percent more than in Paris. At 292 yen (about $2.43) for a pack of 25 teabags, the cost of tea was triple that in London and 1 1/2 times that in New York.

A can of beer cost 204 yen (or about $1.70), almost 1 1/2 times that in New York and about 5 percent more than in London.

A round of golf in Tokyo cost 14,720 yen (about $123), almost six times the price in New York, and triple that in London. Hong Kong was the only city where it was more expensive, at 10 percent more.

Among other items, a liter of regular gasoline cost 2 1/2 times that in New York and a desktop computer cost 255,290 yen (about $2,127), 1.8 times that in New York.

The average price of a Tokyo movie ticket was 1,800 yen — about $15 — 50 percent more than in New York, and a third more than in London.

Only two items were cheapest in Tokyo — color film and tissues. A box of tissues cost 68 yen (about 60 cents), about a third of the price in New York and half that in Hong Kong and Singapore. A roll of color film cost 284 yen (about $2.35), about a third less than in New York and half the cost in London.