Average Monthly Disposable Salary (After Tax)
Tokyo New York
312,241.52 ¥ 464,589.78 ¥
Everything appears "cheaper" up until that point, but that's never the whole picture. You could also assert that you're likely to be paid less living in Tokyo, and the costs of living reflect this. Property is the major difference there.
When I said "well-developed cities with good economies" the intent of the 'good economies' bit was specifically to exclude Tokyo. A bad economy will make anywhere cheap and Japan's had two decades of that.
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?coun...