My apartment is about $980 at the current JPY-USD rate, just one bedroom and 280 square feet. It's not big by any stretch of the imagination but it's located in Shinjuku ward which is one of the "central" city areas of Tokyo (there are many such as Shibuya, Ikebukuro, Ueno, Roppongi, etc.). Keep in mind this is living as a single person, I can't comment on the cost of living as a family in Tokyo.
Food is fairly cheap here and not having a tip system is a big cost saver in my opinion. Fruits and veggies are fairly expensive, unfortunately, but I still think I can confidently say it costs a lot less to live in Tokyo compared to NYC or SF. There are details of national insurance and city taxes and all that which can make individual cases cheaper or more expensive than the average but I don't feel like getting into all the details.
I'm paying about the same in Stuttgart (Germany), and NYC or SF is definitely two or three times the price for comparable apartments to mine. I rented a small hotel room in Tokyo (a bit outside, but good metro connection) and it was about the same price as in Germany as well. I really think Tokyo is by far cheaper. But the salaries are probably also not on SF or NYC level.
I'm not OP but the biggest cost driver for foreigners in Japan is actually living like a foreigner. If you adapt to the Japanese lifestyle it can be good value; otherwise, you're gonna be paying $15 for a bottle of mustard.
Food can be a surprisingly large component if you try to eat a western diet, even if you aren't specifically buying foreign foods. Other things off the top of my head:
- A centrally-located western-style apartment can easily run 2-3x what it would cost vs. compromising on one of those axes (live Japanese style or move farther out)
- Taking taxis or Uber instead of trains
- Going out partying / drinking often (especially to more western-style places if you can't speak Japanese)
