Where is it most expensive to live as an expatriate? According to the latest Cost of Living Survey from Mercer you are going to spend the most in Japan. Tokyo owns the top spot with Osaka zooming up to second, up nine places since last year. In third place is Moscow which was first last year. Geneva rose four places to fourth position and Hong Kong rounds up the top five. The Mercer's survey uses New York s the base city for the index and scores 100 points. All cities are compared against New York and currency movements are measured against the US dollar. By this measure Tokyo scores 143.7 points and is nearly three times as costly as Johannesburg which has an index score of 49.6 and is at the bottom of the list of 143 cities across six continents. The list measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location and takes housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment into account. The survey is conducted to help corporations set pay rates for international employees.

Some cities fell dramatically in the rankings. Warsaw was down 78 places from 35th to 113th. London was down 13 places to 16th, Sydney has dropped 51 places from 15th to 66th and Mumbai went from 48th place to 66th. Meanwhile cities in the US, China, Japan and the Middle East went up in the ranks. In a press release, Nathalie Constantin-Métral, a senior researcher at Mercer said that the economic downturn has caused fluctuations in most of the world's currencies leading to the reshuffling of the ranks.

[via Bloomberg]

Mickey is 80 years old and Disney Tokyo (we say "Tokyo Disney") is 25 years old. As a kid I recall wanting to visit all the Disney Lands/Worlds around the globe. So far I have hit up two. Not very good follow-through. In celebration of the anniversary, Gerald Genta (who has partnered with Disney for a while to make Mickey Mouse watches) will release this limited edition Disney Tokyo Resort watch.

The timepiece features two classically styled Mickeys on the dial. The larger of the two on the top is reaching out and grabbing an actual diamond located at the "25" marker on the retrograde minute dial. You surely know what that 25 stands for. The hours are shown through a jumping hour widow located off center to the left of Mickey, while the seconds are displayed normally around the whole dial. The lower part of the dial is a retrograde date indicator with the hand being Mickey's arm. The case of the Gerald Genta watch is in titanium and inside is an automatic mechanical movement with a solid gold rotor. The strap is sporty and rubber. Certainly the cream of the crop for Disney watch collectors, and to a slightly lesser degree Gerald Genta watch collectors. Available in just 80 pieces.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Embattled insurer American International Group (AIG) might be getting a billion-dollar boost through a real estate deal. Bloomberg reports that AIG is involved in a deal to sell its Tokyo headquarters building, shown above, to Nippon Life Insurance Co., Japan's largest life insurer, for close to a nice round billion. The 15-story tower is located in central Tokyo's Marunouchi district, the most expensive office district in Japan, next to the Imperial Palace, and the price certainly doesn't suggest that it's an emergency sale. Commercial values in Tokyo did fall over six percent last year and office vacancy but it is still the third highest city in the world for office real estate. In March AIG was said to be looking to earn a far smaller number, around $100 million by selling its 66-story Art Deco headquarters at 70 Pine Street in Manhattan.

The first model of Leica's chic new limited edition all-white digital camera which we scooped the world on earlier this month has just been spotted at the Audi Forum Tokyo. It's pictured above with a velvet purple Audi R8 as a backdrop. The German Car Blog posted the sighting along with the news that the camera is expected to be available around the end of May for roughly 7,000 euros, or around $9,000. The special edition camera is based on Leica's M8.2 model with 10.3 megapixel resolution and the Leica ELMARIT-M 28 mm f/2.8 ASPH lens.

Luxury Japanese auto maker Infiniti plans to unveil a new concept car at next month's Geneva Auto Show that comes complete with a set of custom Louis Vuitton luggage. Infiniti design boss Shiro Nakamura is pictured above with one of the high-tech Vuitton designs at the LV store in Roppongi, Tokyo earlier this week. Regarding the vehicle, Infiniti has said only that it represents "a celebration of the brand and its 20 years of history as a creator of sporty luxury vehicles," and described it as an "exploration into the brand's future," MotorAuthority reports. The Vuitton / Infiniti partnership is the latest in a line of luxury label collaborations with car marques, including Hermes and Bugatti, Prada and Hyundai (and now Audi as well), Versace and Lamborghini, and Dunhill and Bentley.

It's always interesting to see what people are making out of gold, and this time it's a replica of the Tokyo Tower.

Made of 24 karat gold and true-to-detail in almost every way (except size of course) the replica even includes a representation of the four story shopping and dining center called Foot Town located at the tower's base.

The gold masterpiece stands about 26 inches high and weighs in at 11 lbs. Price? $510,000.

This is ridiculous.

Remember the $350,000 Swarovski-studded Mercedes-Benz at the 2007 Moscow Millionaire Fair? Well, they've done it again.

The above photo is from the Tokyo Auto Salon 2009, and it features a customized Mercedes-Benz SL600 (aka the Luxury Crystal Benz) covered in 300,000 Swarovski crystals. We don't know how much it costs, but frankly, we weren't about to purchase it.

Even Barbie wouldn't get in that gaudy thing.

[via Luxury Launches]

Earlier this month my colleague Deirdre Woollard reported that Louis Vuitton had cut its prices in Japan by 7 percent in an effort to boost flagging sales. Now parent company LVMH has scrapped plans for a brand new Vuitton flagship store in Tokyo's glamorous Ginza shopping district. The 10-floor luxury behemoth complete with restaurant had been slated for opening in 2010, Reuters reports. An official for the developer, Hulic Co Ltd, said the proposed building would probably still be constructed for a different high-end brand. An LVMH spokesman confirmed that Louis Vuitton had withdrawn from the project but "declined to explain the decision or comment on its plans."

Louis Vuitton collectors whose obsession knows no bounds may have a voyage ahead of them. As the NY Sun reports, the only way to get your hands on one of the Louis Vuitton handbags designed by Rei Kawakubo the avant-garde founder of Comme des Garçons is to visit the pop-up store LVMH has set up in the Comme des Garçons store in Tokyo. The store is open through December and only shoppers who go there can place an order for one of Kawakubo's six designs. You cannot order by phone or internet and can only order one bag per person. And you don't even get your bag until after the shop closes and the orders are put into production. At least you don't have to trek pack to Tokyo to pick it up, the bags will be sent to the customer's local Louis Vuitton shop.

We've covered a $150,000 hotel offer in New York but if your Christmas travels take you to Japan, you can hole up in the a luxury hotel in Tokyo for a one-of-a-kind Christmas that costs $130,000. The Mandarin Oriental Tokyo is offering a Christmas suite that is decorated with a small tree with diamonds. The package also includes a bath with fresh roses, vintage champagne, and a breakfast with truffles. The package comes with limo service, a spa treatment and a gourmet dinner that is served in the dining room of the presidential suite. Much of the money you spend you get to take home with you, in the form of diamond jewelry worth around $108,000.

Wow, way back in the 18th century they really knew how to bling things up. And unlikely things too, like this baby's cradle. Covered in gold and set with more than 2,000 gems including diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, it's currently on display in Tokyo at a special exhibit that includes about 140 other antique treasures from the Ottoman Empire (which came before the Republic of Turkey). The items will be on display through September 24th in honor of the birth of Prince Hisahito to the Japanese Emporer's son Prince Akishino and his wife Princess Kiko (got that straight?). No word on what the cradle's valued at, although since it isn't for sale I guess it's more about admiring it's gaudy beauty than hoping to get one for yourself.

If your Hello Kitty collection already includes the $30,000 dog bed, the one-of-a-kind platinum figurine, the $50,000 diamond pendant and the Fender guitar, then maybe, just maybe, you are ready for the $66,000 Swarovski crystal-encrusted Maneki Neko Hello Kitty doll. It's quite large and looks not at all cuddly, but how can you not want it? Those eyes, that red bow cocked just so on the enormous head - you are powerless to resist the cuteness that is HK. This sparkly version of the popular feline is posed as a maneki neko, which is a good money fortune symbol in Japan. Covered with with 62,000 Swarovski crystal beads, the sparkly kitty is currently on display at the Mitsukoshi Department Store in Tokyo. Buy her and she will bring you riches.

[via kittyhell.com]

Luxe City Guides are not your ordinary travel books. In fact, they aren't books at all. They are are beautiful, sleek, accordion-style guides that are small enough to fit in your pocket. These travel and style guides point the discerning traveler to only the best of the best in Asian, European and Australian cities.

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The guides are written in an opinionated and irreverent style and are beautiful to look at. With no paid advertising, the Luxe City Guides are updated twice each year with regular online updates.

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Last year we wrote about the influx of new luxury hotels in Tokyo. Now the Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo, a 248-room hotel in the city's tallest skyscraper is officially open. The hotel starts on the 45th floor and is home to Japan's most expensive Presidential Suite, at $20,000 per night, and a 200-year-old Japanese teahouse. The design scheme blends European inspiration with contemporary details such as four bold and colorful works by American painter Sam Francis. The hotel's lofty location provides views of the city and Mt. Fuji in the distance. The Ritz-Carlton Club, accessible only by elevator key, offers multi-lingual concierge service and round-the-clock food and beverage offerings. The hotel is also home to restaurants that feature sushi, tempura and Teppanyaki as well as a restaurant that serves Asian and French inspired cuisine.

The Washington Post reports that the hotel also offers a very pricey drink. The Diamonds-Are-Forever Martini is a $16,000 cocktail with a one-carat Bulgari diamond at the bottom that you can take to any Bulgari store in Tokyo and have a ring fitted to the stone for free.

Though there is still time to spare before summer, it might be difficult to get a reservation at one of the Travel Channel's picks for most expensive hotel suites. When you are spending upwards of $4,000 a night, however, the "necessity" of reservations may just turn out to be a minor inconvenience. Here is the list, with the rates listed per night:

10. Coco Chanel Suite, Hotel Ritz, Paris - $4,300 to stay in the room that Coco herself lived in for 37 years.
9. Presidential Suite, Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills - $4,700 for a chef, butler, kitchen, grand piano and a chance to live like the stars
8. Peninsula Suite, The Peninsula, Hong Kong - $4,875, including butler service and a chauffeured Rolls Royce
7. Royal Suite, The Lanesborough, London - $5,837, with private security and personal butlers for the 3 bedroom suite with a floor-to-ceiling view of Hyde Park
6. Royal Suite, Burj Al Arab, Dubai - $6,800 to stay in the world's tallest hotel, with a private screening room, views of the ocean and use of the hotel's helipad