Which is cheaper, Nara or Shizuoka?

Nara and Shizuoka cost about the same: roughly $2,700 per month for one person.

Is Nara or Shizuoka safer?

Nara and Shizuoka score the same on safety (94), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.

Where is the internet faster, Nara or Shizuoka?

Shizuoka: a measured median of 88.3 Mbps versus 82.8 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

Nara vs Shizuoka

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Shizuoka edges it, 64 to 63, winning 3 of the 9 factors. Neither leads on any factor by 10 points or more. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Nara

out of 100

Deer park, giant Buddha and quiet evenings between Osaka and Kyoto

Full Nara profile →Plan a trip to Nara →

Shizuoka

out of 100

Green tea, Mount Fuji views and a mild coast an hour from Tokyo

Full Shizuoka profile →Plan a trip to Shizuoka →

Where they differ

Where they are close. Within five points on getting there & around, internet, air quality, cost of living, safety, healthcare, visa ease, climate, quality of life.

Pick Nara if you want

no clear edge over Shizuoka in the data

Pick Shizuoka if you want

no clear edge over Nara in the data

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

Metric	Nara	Shizuoka
Cost of living	26	26
Safety	94	94
Healthcare	92	92
Internet	88	89 ✓
Visa ease	65	65
Getting there & around	37	40 ✓
Climate	0	0
Air quality	91	92 ✓
Quality of life	74	74

Cost

Metric	Nara	Shizuoka
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city	$2,700	$2,700
Central one-bedroom rent	no data	no data

Safety and health (country-level)

Metric	Nara	Shizuoka
Homicides per 100k	0.23	0.23
Political stability (0–100)	87.7	87.7
UHC service coverage (0–100)	86	86
Life expectancy	83.9 yrs	83.9 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

Metric	Nara	Shizuoka
Download	82.8 Mbps	88.3 Mbps ✓
Upload	89.6 Mbps ✓	86.8 Mbps

Visa

Metric	Nara	Shizuoka
Nomad visa	Digital nomad visa (Designated Activities)	Digital nomad visa (Designated Activities)
Minimum income for the visa	$5,285/mo	$5,285/mo
Entry, US passport	90 days	90 days
Entry, EU passport	90 days	90 days
Entry, UK passport	90 days	90 days

Getting there and around

Metric	Nara	Shizuoka
Non-stop airport destinations	81	101 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)	4	4
Transit (1–5, editorial)	3	3

Climate and air

Metric	Nara	Shizuoka
Comfortable months per year	0	0
Annual mean PM2.5	9 µg/m³	8.6 µg/m³ ✓

✓ marks the better value in each row; ties and missing data are left unmarked.

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Nara or Shizuoka?: Nara and Shizuoka cost about the same: roughly $2,700 per month for one person.
Is Nara or Shizuoka safer?: Nara and Shizuoka score the same on safety (94), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Nara or Shizuoka?: Shizuoka: a measured median of 88.3 Mbps versus 82.8 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

More comparisons

Sources: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows); 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level); Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100); Victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population (national data, latest year); UHC service coverage index; Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes; M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024); Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables); NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means); WHO Ambient Air Quality Database, June 2026 update (V8); SatPM2.5 satellite-derived annual PM2.5 (V6.GL.02.04); Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023); EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band); Walkability and transit ratings (editorial); Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations); OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API); Nostos long-stay visa guides; Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.11.2. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.