To whoever "random thoughts" is... wow, $2.53 a gallon for premium huh? That's mighty expensive. So what's the comparison to Japan? Right now, the yen to dollar exchange rate is about 120 yen to the dollar. So that would mean $2.53 a gallon would equate to about 300 yen. Now, if you drive down a road in Hokkaido, and you see a gas station, you'll see the that "hai-oku," or high octane premium gas is marked as costing about 120 yen (basically a dollar) on the price sign. Before you all start thinking about moving to Hokkaido... (or the "land of the never ending winter" as I like to call it), you have to remember that Japan like practically the rest of the world, runs on the metric system. Yes, the cursed metric system not only messes with the 1/4 pounder with cheese (which is called the "double burger" at the McDonalds' in Japan), but it also messes with things of volume.
When the gas price sign says "120" for hai-oku, it means 120 yen a liter. And a liter is pretty much the same as a quart. (And there are 4 quarts to a gallon, hence the name "quart").
So, the grand total comes to about $4 a gallon for premium here in Hokkaido. How people with SUVs here in Hokkaido (and there are a bunch) survive is beyond me.