Trip to japan

That's what I said exactly 3 years ago, and now I'm getting fisted harder by the yen.

Doing that on 30,000 yen for 30 days is still not possible. That's also not the smartest plan in the world. There are more boring spots of the country than interesting spots. Getting to said spots is a challenge w/o some type of rudimentary exposure to the language as well.

 

ASSEMbler - Japan expert.

 

My daily expense would be $600-700 for food,etc
and $2K for toys lol
I wonder if a R-34 would be legal to import when i go

 

If I were you I'd decrease my daily expenses by 50% and stay at least one week longer.

 

But of courshe.

 

Don't see why that would make you crazy to travel, just means you have ask yourself whether you can afford it or not. And I still don't understand why people keep on recommending to eat at the konbini's, just go to the cheap restaurants.. Doesn't make any difference in price really, but a big one in taste.

 

Where do you think you'd like to visit when in Japan? I think if you just stay and travel in Tokyo, then the Suica & N'EX package might be best. At this moment, it just costs ¥3,500, and you get ¥2,000 (with a ¥500 yen deposit) on the Suica card, and then you can just top it up when you need to.

http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/suica-nex/

If maybe you'd like to visit other places like Kyoto or Osaka, then maybe it is best to buy a Japan Rail Pass which you can then use to travel there on the Tokaido Shinkansen (though it is not valid on the Nozomi, just Hikari and Kodama).

I think using a Japan Rail Pass you can save much money over buying normal tickets when there. I think you can reach most places by traveling on the different shinkansens.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2018.html

I think for a normal hotel in Tokyo, maybe just for now budget about ¥7-8,000 a night as a guide for saving (you can always change it).

 

It's unforgivable really. One thing Japan really does well is offer a cheap, high quality dining experience. By eating at the conbini you're missing the main attraction of the trip.

 

I spent a little over $3200 US for flight and hotel in Shinjuku for three weeks when i went in '09 yen was 0.011 at that time.

Food and transit under $800, bus to and from Narita was 3000-3500 yen each way

Stuff I bought well I spent a a fair bit

For a first time I would never recommend doing it cheap, once you've been there then you see how you can cut corners. I agree with GP food is pretty awesome and cheap in Japan and it would be a shame to miss it.

I didn't travel anywhere outside Tokyo with the exception of Yokosuka and Yokohama and pretty much walked everywhere sometimes taking the train back. It runs about 200 - 350 yen one way depending, Yokouska was 1000 not sure if that was both ways or one and Yokohama was cheaper.

Cool thing about restaurants in Japan, you don't tip !

As for guide books ... Lonely Planet is okay, it's interesting reading but pretty useless, although some of the maps were helpful, I got a lot more use out of the Time Out Tokyo guide plus it's a heck of lot more portable

 

You can get your own crappy room at a gaijin house for about 65,000 a month. You'll get to live like most people do in this country, in a very small room with a bathroom including toilet and shower that's probably as big as your closet at home. It'll also be at least a 15 minute walk from the station which will be on the outskirts of Tokyo. Getting to somewhere like Shibuya will likely be 30-45 minutes on the train and that's if you know how to get through stations like Shinjuku which are true labyrinths for first timers.

You can eat at Japanese chains for 1000-1500 yen a meal if you don't buy drinks. If you like alcohol and don't have money, you're coming to the wrong country.

 

I wouldn't say that alc is very expensive in Japan. F.E. they have splendid whiskies for not so big bucks. And where in the world can you order your own bottle of Whisky in a restaurant (Izakaya) for almost the street price?

Beer might be, because of its ridiculous extra beer tax, a little bit more expensive than in other countries. But still, you can fill you up with various of alcoholics and wouldn't pay more than 40~50 bucks an evening (inkl. tons of foods).

 

I found beer to be the same price in Tokyo as it here Canada.

Although I'd damned if I could find a store that sold six packs, so i would grab it out of the vending machine.

The coffee in a can though was pretty awesome.

 

It might be the same price but it's usually not the same size. They sell kids beers here. What I love about the summer is I often grab a chuhi or two and head to the park and chill out before I get to the bar. In the winter... not so much.

 

So a namadai is a kids beer here?

 

It's not a pint, now is it?

I should have pointed out bars, not restaurants. Restaurants actually aren't that bad. It's ridiculous in bars. Japanese are awful bartenders as well, for the most part.

 

Then again an American pint is not a proper pint, what with the 20% less beer

Then again, there is a head and then there is a head, seems like a 1/3rd of the glass is just head in a Japanese poured beer.