traveller5

I usually have a "proper" trip (not business, that is) to Japan in October/November every year and have set myself a task to see if it is possible to do a low cost trip to Tokyo and/or Osaka. Flights are not the issue as I will use miles, but I'd be interested on any opinions re low cost Japan, accommodation etc.

edgewood

of course you can do low cost japan, it's just a question of comfort

(millions of japanese live "budget" every day)

you can eat noodles for every meal- with broth, or many different toppings, hot, cold, etc. available also at chain outlets for about US$3.00

you can sleep in a capsule hotel for $25 to $40, depending on area

but will you be happy? will you enjoy yourself? depends on how much of a "budget" traveler you are

for example- go to any major department store food hall and fill up on free samples of all the noshes available- you never have to buy a meal!

greg999

Check out the Japanese Inn Group site for hotels. (http://www.jpinn.com/)
When I was in Japan in 2004 I stayed at a number of their hotels. They are traditional Japanese inns with tatami mats, sleeping on futons, and most include a Japanese style breakfast. They are sort of like low end ryokans, and rooms for two people are under $100 US.

If you want to do even more low budget Japan does have a number of hostels. One useful book is "Japan for the Impoverished" It is old (1995) but you can order it from amazon.

LapLap

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=488906

It is absolutely possible to have an enjoyable budget vacation in Japan.

Please realise that many, many people there live on an income of 1,000yen an hour or less. As long as you shift your needs and expectations so that they are in synch with those of the general population, things are surprisingly cheap.

The following link shows you places in Tokyo for under 3,000 yen a night (with kitchen facilities so you can save money on food) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=488906

There�s this place in Kyoto which is a similar price: http://www.kyotojp.com/

More links to other places here: http://www.j-hoppers.com/link_f.htm

I stayed here: http://www.flyertalk.com/reviews/rev...?review_id=176 in Osaka. Just checked - you can get a single here for 5,900 yen inclusive ($50) in Oct. The location is in the heart of the city action. This hotel at this price is amazing value!

Eating out is amazingly cheap as long as you stick to �home style� Japanese food (forget pizzas and steak and fries during your stay). You can get by very well spending about 800-1,000 yen on an excellent seat meal (several courses) at lunch � and in the evening (when restaurants charge high prices) you can find a huge bowl of noodles for about 600yen.

Travelling can be inexpensive if you forgo the bullet trains: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2362.html

In the cities, count on a budget of 5,000 yen per day for food, accommodation & drinks (you can reduce this to 4,000 if you�re REALLY motivated).
Add another 400-800yen per day for travel whilst in Tokyo or Kyoto.
The link I gave you (: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2362.html) means that you�d only have to pay around 2,300yen for each leg/day of travel.

Outside of the cities, 7,000yen will get you a night in a lovely inn with breakfast & dinner (you can find them for about 5,500yen per night).

(My first trip to Japan about 4 years ago was on this kind of budget - I had a marvellous time, met my Japanese fiance - we�re getting married in just over a week - and I've returned many times. Many things in Tokyo are much cheaper than in London... and the food is so much better, especially when you are on a budget)

Make sure you arrive in Tokyo/Osaka and leave in Osaka/Tokyo - this will cut down the travel budget by a huge margin.

EDIT: More useful advice in this thread (from Travelbuzz forum): http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=551784

EmailKid

Thanks LapLap, I was sure that we had a thread along these lines here before (but being at work didn't have time to do a search).

EmailKid

Roaming Ryan

Hi traveler5,

I just returned from my first trip to Japan and I completely agree with the posts above. I was in Japan one week (left BOS on a Saturday and flew to KIX, return out of NRT the following sunday) with two of my friends and we found it to be quite affordable. Even though we had a group of three people traveling, I suspect that you could hold a similar budget when traveling solo.

Our itinerary included the following cities: Osaka (one day), Kyoto (two days), Hiroshima (one day), Tokyo (three days) with a day trip up to Nagano.

My basic budget:

• Airfare w/two nights hotel: $600 (had to use that $250 Expedia goodwill voucher, now I'm done doing business with them...grumble grumble)
• 7-day JR rail pass: $260
• Souvenirs: $250 (wonderful handmade kitchen knifes!)
• Daily expenses: Averaged $62 each day including housing, food, transport (subways and busses not included in JR pass). Tokyo was quite a bit more expensive than the other cities.
• Total Cost of Trip: approx $1600

We ended up staying at a mix of youth hostels, inns, and capsule hotels in addition to the two nights of hotel room included in our Expedia package. The youth hostels in Japan are *much* nicer than the ones I have stayed in within Europe...absolutely no complains there. As for our food budget, we generally splurged on one nice meal each day and ate from streetside vendors or cafes for the other meals.

Some specific recommendations on places to stay:
Kyoto: The Hanakiya Inn is a quaint little inn that's a great value. The proprietor, Eimi, will give you some great restaurant recommendations for Kyoto. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Hiroshima: The Aster Plaza Youth Hostel - very new, rooms are just as good as standard hotel rooms. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Tokyo: Capsule Inn Akasaka (3500 yen the first night, 3000 every night after that). This is a good place to get the capsule hotel experience.

I'd be happy to get you more infornation about our expenses but I don't have my travel journal with me here at work. Let me know if you'd like more details.

Hope this helps,

Ryan...

civicmon

A chain of small but numerous business hotels is www.toyoko-inn.com/eng - they're standard business hotels so they have real beds and japanese style baths. For Tokyo the seem to be a good deal, but for the outlying areas, it seems sorta expensive compared to a Ryokan.

Compared to most major cities in the US, Japan isn't -much- more expensive. A standard katsu meal at a local restaurant shouldn'tbe more than 700Y. A bottle of diet coke is 125Y. Its just that a nice night out in tokyo will cost an arm and a leg.

I'm going for my 3rd trip in less than 3 weeks. Got the Crowne Plaza in Ikebukruo for sub-$100/night (splitting with a friend), and plan to eat at smaller, local joints and department stores.

LapLap

Whatever you do, DON'T eat at the Seibu department store in Ikebukuro - a trip 'behind the scenes' and you start seeing filth of the kind normally witnessed in London's Underground tube/rail system. Grey, dank, dirty walls riddled with huge holes known to be used by rats. MrLapLap has had to work there a few times and is still shuddering at the recollection (and he also hates the department store as the management are arrogant fascists who treat contract staff with contempt).

civicmon

i won't.. thanks for the tip.

EmailKid

LapLap, please don't hold back, tell us how you really feel

EmailKid

LapLap

You lot just got the brief edited version - I had MrLapLap recounting his experiences in the most sordid details for over half an hour!

Q Shoe Guy

Toyoko Inn just recently brought up on charges for building violations !

peachfront

I am almost embarrassed to say how cheap, but I did a budget trip to Kyoto and had a blast.

I won't go into it here in case you've already done Kyoto or for whatever reason eliminated it from discussion, but you can check out my diary here if you want more information:

http://peachfront.diaryland.com/kyotobudget.html

retien

Any ideas on low cost accomadation in Nagoya? I'll be there next week and wouldn't mind hearing some ideas. Thanks!

civicmon

but then again, you get what you pay for.