[Housetek]

Hello there, i've been reading a lot of the same questions about japan in the travel guide over and over and over again.... and over again.

also please check out my http://www.japanforum.com/forum/japa...etiquette.html thread
[Rant]
*edit* also i dont want to see any more posts that go like this "im afraid to go to japan b/c im *insert race*.

i will totally flame you. =P

Japan is not a racist country i dont understand where people are gettin this idea, its just ridiculous and stupid.

Thers PLENTY of international travelers and trust me your not the first *insert race here* person to travel to japan. Soooo Get over your selves.
[/rant]

So i decided to kinda mix and mash all of my cumulative knowledge of traveling to japan into one post.

Lil background, im currently living in japan, and this will be my 8th trip.

I personally use fight benefits which scores me 500 dollar round trip business class/first class tickets to japan.

for the record my shortest and more inexpensive trip was 4 days and cost me 400 dollars total

my more expensive was around 16,000
which basicly was my first nub trip where i bought every thing and any thing.

and yes i know you hate me for it, and no i cant get you the same tickets.

But ill tell you cheap ways to get cheaper tickets.

Okie dokie lets start with the basics.

$Cash$
Common Question: How much Cash should I bring to stay in Tokyo?

Answer: how long you planning on staying, and are you a shopaholic such as my self?

First lets go with 2 weeks, its pretty safe to say you can pretty much jus double what ever number that comes out in the end.

Okay first off, Plane Ticket.

Average plane ticket will cost around $2,000 US economy round trip.
surprisingly it cost more for a one way trip, and also if your on a tourist visa which you most likely are, you cannot buy a one way trip unless its back to your country due to a emergency.

Later on I will explain how you can score tickets for around 700 to 1000 dollars.

2000 is the basic for heavy travel times such as summer and winter break.

so for the purpose of the MINIMUM you should bring lets leave it at $2,000 shall we?

I always take United, just my personal preference.

okie dokie so were at $2,000 right now.

Ill assume you have transportation to the airport so i wont add any thing there. But in case of emergency have enough money to get to and from your house from the airport.

So once you land in Narita you will want to take the skyliner to some where in Tokyo.
Remember this is a guide to TOKYO so i wont be touching base on places such as Kyoto or Osaka.

Price for one ticket to Center of Tokyo is 3,000 Yen basicly 28-30 bucks.

also your gona need money to get back to the airport when you leave so lets just say the traveling cost to and from the airport is $60 dollars US.

Right now we are at $2060

b4 you are going to Tokyo you will want to make living arrangements.

Hotels will run from 120dollars to 300+ dollars a night.

so 2 weeks, your looking at 1680 to 4200 for a hotel.

but this guide is for us cheapos who jus want to see Tokyo.

now... 1680 is ALOT of money for 2 weeks

for one week stay i may recommend a hotel, but for any thing longer then 2 weeks. Start checking out apartments for short term stays.

Hostels are the best for cheap prices

Guess T House in Tokyo, Japan

Guess T House 8 days maximum stay. around 25 dollars a NIGHT!
thats 200 dollars for a week!
problem is you better start booking those rooms ahead of time.

most of the time you'll be jumping rooms to what ever available.

so lets update our lil money chart

For one week it is possible to pull off 2260 for living and travel expenses IF you get a spot at Guess T House. around 2900-3000 dollars

For 2 week stay your looking at a hefty 3740. hey no one said Tokyo was cheap.

I recommend for best bang for your buck staying for a month and gettin a apartment or guest house with Tokyo apartment, Guest house, guesthouse room in Japan - Sakura House

my past apartments were 800 a MONTH for a single

so its worth your money staying longer then 2 weeks, the cost will be around 2860.

My current apartment is thru sakura house and cost me 140,000 Yen a month
thats around 1160 a month US.

It is possible to book for short term stay, just be sure to book in advance.

Its safe to say, if your staying in Tokyo for around a month or so 4 thousand dollars is a good amount to bring to cover your travel and living costs.

There are many variables, if you REALLY want a cheap trip i recommend sakura house.

They speak english, down load skype and call them up. if you dont know what skype is, it will be explained in the phone section of this post.

So i came up with the reasonable amount of 3,500 to 4,000 dollars to cover the Travel and living cost of Tokyo.

FOOD.
say you eat 3 meals a day
this just really depends on how you want to eat.

You can eat cheap at places like Yoshinoya or cheapo noodle places.
or you can choose to dine out at more expensive places.

if you eat 3 meals a day at cheapo places which run at around 4 dollars a meal, in 2 weeks you'll be spending 168 dollars
give or take a few stops for drinks and candy and whatnot.

so safe to say 200 dollars for 2 weeks. or 400 for a month.

other places can cost 1,500 to 3,000 yen for a meal, i find the average is around 15 dollars.

so you'll be spending around 630-700 dollars for 2 weeks or 1400 for a month.

I personally just eat Cheap breakfast, usually 3 dollars or so and 5 dollar lunches and 15 dollar dinners.

so over all food cost is very situational to the person.

ill average it to 300 for 2 weeks, guessing that you switch it up and what not.

I try to budget my self to 275 for 2 weeks.

i also make my own food for breakfast and usualy dinner so i never go over.

Drinking, well any where you go in Tokyo your lookin at 500 Yen drinks AT MINIMUM and average of 1000 or 1200 yen for normal drinks.

i wont go into that. its all up to you if you choose to drink or not.

Also they dont id people at bars but they do at stores, except a few high end night clubs they will id you to get in. cuz they dont want lil kids running around a grown up club.

but the legal drinking age is 20.

so averaging food cost to 300 for 2 weeks.

so new cost will be 3,800 to 4,300 for living, travel, and eating costs.

Transportation.

You wont be taking cabs every where cuz that can get expensive.

a 20 dollar cab ride can cost you 1.50 from train.

learn to use the subway systems.

lets say you like to go out ALOT and you want to see at LEAST 3 places a day.

20 minute train rides can get you pretty damn far. and will cost about 160Yen basicly a $1.33

so 3 trips a day front and back your lookin around 8 dollars of travel costs.

there will be some days where you may want to go ALLL over the place and what not or maybe out to late and miss the last train which is midnight and they dont open til 5am

so its safe to say reserve 15 dollars for train far which a extra 20 in your pocket for emergencies.

so around 230 dollars for 2 weeks of travel, and i mean ALOT of travel...

i dobut you'll spend that much at all in 2 weeks for train rides. but it gives you a lil extra slack money in case you want to take a train some where.

Buses are good 2... cept i hate busses cuz a 20 min train ride can take up to 1hour and 1/2 by bus cuz of traffic.

so new ground total is 4030- 4530 dollars.

This includes air travel, living, food, and daily travel.

This is a ROUGH estimate off the top of my head of your daily NEEDS.

as far as shopping is concern i will leave that all up to you.

But this is the amount you should be looking to spend for 2 weeks stay.

YOu can do the math for 1 week and 1 month or 3 month stays.

Tourist visas will be maximum of 3 month stay.


This ends the first part of this guide

I will be writing and posting more on the following topics:
Finding Apartments
Finding Better Air Travel Prices
Finding Good Phone Plans
Places to visit that I recommend
and maybe extra stuff when it comes to mind.

I hope you enjoyed reading the first part of this guide.

-Housetek

feel free to pm me any corrections or questions, or spellin errors or what not
*although i prolly wont go thru and correct it cuz im so tired from writing this*