In a revelation no less stunning than if Mount Everest was suddenly surpassed as the world's tallest mountain or the Nile outstretched as the world's longest river, a July news report announced that Tokyo is no longer the world's most expensive city.
What is more, it is not even a close No. 2. First and second place now belong to Hong Kong and Moscow, respectively. This is especially enlightening to us Tokyoites who routinely see our salaries slip through our fingers like soup through a sieve.
You mean, there are places more expensive than this? Half of me wants to howl, "My gosh, what could be the price of haircuts in Hong Kong!?" While my other half can hardly help but gloat: "Heh, heh. So what if it takes thousands of yen to have the barber hack up my hair. It could be worse. I could be having it done in Moscow!"