I think visitors to Japan who found Japan to be expensive is usually try to live every day like way they live back home. If you eat and go about every day like what middle class Japanese do, then the cost will be lot less than what one might expect. I understand that some may be on a vacation, hence staying at a hotel like Four Seasons, Hyatt, etc. and having Starbucks in morning with English style breakfast at a hotel. Not to forget about the post about having sushi at Sukiyabashi-jiro on this forum.

But middle class Japanese do not live like that every day, and cost of going about every day in Japan like Japanese can be quite cheaper than you think. But I understand that due to language barrier, preference on food, etc. can make such little difficult.