i assume those areas u quoted are further south than nagano...is that where ur pow is?  if so, then ur one lucky guy...
and ur right, some things are cheaper here than back home...but the same could be said whether u were in monaco or or mexico.
used cars are way cheaper than back home...but i assume u must know why.   after ur original registration expires on a new car the cost of re-registering is so high that some japanese simply buy a new car for a few grand more.
i happen to think this is a government scheme to encourage people to buy new cars frequently (after all what country are honda, toyota, nissan, subaru, and mitsubishi from???)
and if ur making a 'ton' of money that's great... as for me, because japan is an expensive country, even though i made more money than i would have back home (20-30%more) the NET amount of cash i've saved would be roughly the same as if i'd stayed back home....
i came to japan to see the sights and absorb the culture...if u only wanna make money, south korea and taiwan or even china would be the way to go (this is advice to other readers, u sound pretty settled in fattwin)  but then, u wouldnt be skiing as much.
looks like we'll have to agree to disagree on the topic of JP's cost of living.