There is a program in Japan where masters of important cultural practices receive recognition, and a small stipend for practicing and passing on important traditional skills. It is an excellent idea, and worth emulating.
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To be clearer, it’s really not like most of these craftspeople actually could earn a “middle class living” otherwise. The demand for these items here isn’t exactly large. People mostly view this stuff as old fashioned.
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Well, these chocolate bars aren’t quite on the same level, but one feels better about eating them…
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In Japan, traditional craftsmen are often sons of or begin as apprentices to master craftsmen. They learn their craft early and diligently. It’s not a hobby. Fine wares can command impressive prices. I remember my initial sticker shock when I first started shopping for a handmade Japanese sword. What I came to realize is that the price wasn’t simply for the end result, but the decades of experience and skill that went into it.
But there is some truth to your question. Many daily things cost considerably less in Japan than in the United States. That’s actually true of a lot of places in the world - the US is an expensive place to live - but Japanese workers take home comparable after-tax salaries, so the difference gives them more spending power. They also, in my anecdotal experience, tend to be much more financially conservative and careful than Americans. It’s not a culture that embraces waste nearly to the extent that we do.
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Not food, rent (price per area), gas, cars, electronics, cameras, musical instruments, clothes, having kids and many other things.
Really? What do you base that on?
Depends. Some still embrace the idea of motainai but will then buy some bags of snacks where everything inside is individually plastic wrapped. Many embrace the disposable gadget thing as well
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Sorry for the double reply but one advantage here is they generally live/work on the family property which is long since paid for.
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Interesting. I find food the about two-thirds what I pay stateside. Admitedly I don’t really have to buy groceries or gas.
What I’m pretty sure my academic colleagues take home.
That’s actually another thing I wanted to mention, which is that community and family are way more emphasized than in the West.
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I cook for myself & my wife so I do buy groceries. I dont go for fancy stuff but it definitely costs more to make a veggies and fish dinner here than even NYC. For the same money I could even get a wider variety of groceries there.
I dont buy gas too often, we have a car in my wife’s home town but ¥120/L aint cheap.
Hmm… The few academics I know tend to live like monks due to their pay. YMMV.
Even that I’m less sure of as the years pass.
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I’ve made this same comment on a few related threads in the past, but what the hey. I love making stuff, but get really intimidated and paralyzed by project / craft commitment, or working with expensive materials that could be “wasted” if the idea doesn’t feel good enough or I’m unsure of my execution. I heard a podcast about the history of the adoption of soap, and the role soap carving played in popularizing ivory in the US, and it inspired me to grab a package of like 30 bars for less than a $1/bar and a set of cheap-ass clay carving tools.
It’s fast work, you see results quickly, and can work on it easily in your spare time. Cleanup is, well, included in the price of admission 
The variety of tool shapes that come in a clay carving set realy makes you feel crafty, as you switch around to get the angles and shapes you need at different stages. I made a valentine’s day gift for my wife, mysteriously left some dinosaurs at the communal kitchen at work, and then got ambitious and made an octopus that sits on my shelf. I want to try some bas relief next. It’s meditative, but not intimidating, and you only have to stick with one idea for a limited time. Also, at the end, if you wash with it, it has a sand mandala-like impermanence.
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