YEN USURPS GODZILLA AS JAPAN'S FAVOURITE HORROR

  "Endaka," the strong yen, has usurped
  "Godzilla Versus the Sea Monster" as Japan's favourite horror
  story.
      The yen's 40 pct surge against the dollar over the last two
  years has frightened foreigners with tales of the 40 dlr melon,
  the 120 dlr taxi ride from the airport and rents of 15,000 dlrs
  a month.
      But "endaka," like many Japanese products, is for foreign
  consumption, locals and long-time foreign residents said.
      "It's not really that expensive. I don't pay attention to
  the cost of living," said Cheryl Richmond, a 25-year-old
  Canadian teacher of English in Tokyo.
      Richmond said she earns 1,635 dlrs a month by "chatting" 40
  hours a week in English to Japanese who hope to learn the
  language. For 326 dlrs a month she rents a sunny, quiet
  two-room flat some 20 minutes by train from Shinjuku, one of
  Tokyo's prime business and entertainment districts, and has
  managed to send home an average of 320 dlrs a month.
      She spends less than 6.50 dlrs a day on food despite eating
  out once a day.
      "For lunch I buy the teishoku (daily special) which comes
  with soba (buckwheat noodles) or pork cutlet, pickles, miso
  soup, rice and tea," although she takes only coffee for
  breakfast and a sandwich for dinner.
      No one argues that Tokyo is cheap, but long-time residents
  see no need to spend the 2,000 to 15,000 dlrs a month spent by
  foreign firms to house executives in Western-style homes.
      The companies feel otherwise. They say they must pay the
  price to bring over the best people needed to back up their
  push into Japan's increasingly lucrative markets.
      "You can't expect people to move from New York or Sydney and
  trade down. It's not reasonable," said a spokesman for
  International Business Machines Corp (IBM), which supports
  Western lifestyles for more than 350 foreigners in Tokyo.
      Tokyo is the world's most expensive city for business
  travellers, a survey issued this month by Employment Conditions
  Abroad said. It found that businessmen visiting Tokyo spend on
  average more than 300 dlrs a day.
      While the businessmen have little choice but to come here,
  many tourists, especially those from Europe, are opting to
  visit sunnier and cheaper climes in Southeast Asia.
      The Japan Tourist Bureau estimates "endaka" caused an 11.5
  pct drop in the number of foreign visitors to Japan last year.
      Those who came tried to cut back on expenses, chiefly by
  curtailing shopping, it said.
      To help combat "endaka" and the slump in tourism, the Tourist
  Bureau prepared a pamphlet, "Economical Travel in Japan."
      It gives budget-saving tips on finding medium-priced
  business hotels and Japanese-style inns, cheap sushi and public
  baths while getting a "revealing glimpse of Japanese in their
  daily lives."
      Residents of Okubo House, a transit hotel in Tokyo's
  Shin-Okubo love hotel district, offer even more savvy advice.
      For 9.80 dlrs a night, Scott Perry, a 23-year-old budding
  English teacher from New Zealand, shares an unheated,
  berth-sized twin-room in the Japanese "flop house."
      Perry has budgeted 26 to 33 dlrs a day while he looks for
  work. "Normally I eat 'teishoku' for 400 yen but sometimes I'll
  splurge at Shakey's where for 550 yen you can eat unlimited
  pizza for at least two hours."
      Still, there are the extras that dent the budget. "I had to
  spend 600 yen today to dry-clean my suit coat," he said.
  

