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02-21-2008, 03:32 PM
Well i havent been there and i haven´t tried it and maybe its not your thing, but if you´d really save money you could try Hitchhiking. There a Site with links and stuff here: Hitchhiking Japan in East Asia - Backpacking and Budget Travel | digihitch World
For overnight stay you could try couchsurfing (i´m not sure how many are there in Japan) CouchSurfing - Site Down Message or Free Accommodation world wide through Hospitality Exchange - Hospitality Club If you intend to stay more than 2 weeks at a place and want to safe money you could try wwoofing http://www.wwoofjapan.com/main/ (this will probably take more effort and time, but end up giving you 2 extra weeks in a Japanese Home/Farm/Inn for free (you will work some Hours a day for Food and Accomodation, check out some off the offers). Well thats as far as i got till now for cheap travel / Room. Some stuff may take some more time, but you may consider it interesting, thats why i posted this stuff. I will be going to Japan for 1 year Working Holiday, so im collecting usefull link right now  Firebird 
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02-21-2008, 05:01 PM
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Tokyo to Fukuoka is a very long distance by bus... in fact, I'm surprised it can make it in 1 day. By local trains, it takes at least 12 hours to go from Tokyo to Osaka, another 6 hours to Hiroshima, and at least 8-9 hours from Hiroshima to Fukuoka.The bus can do it in less time because it doesn't need to stop so often, and there's no changing trains, but you're still looking at a very long trip. I only passed through Nagoya, never spent much time there, so I can't really say what there is to see there. For other places to see, Himeji castle is considered one of the best in Japan, so if you want to see a Japanese castle, consider spending a half day there. Koya-san is a mountain in Wakayama Prefecture, south of Osaka, that has well over 100 Buddhist temples on top, it has the oldest and most famous cemetery in all of Japan (which may not sound like fun, but believe me, it's impressive!), and was the home of the monk who invented the Hiragana writing system. You can spend the night in a Buddhist monastery there, which is a neat experience. Here are some pictures from the Koya-san cemetery [IMG]  [/IMG]
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02-21-2008, 05:20 PM
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For food, never order drinks in a restaurant. It will be at least 3x more expensive than the vending machines right outside. And even better than the vending machines, find a super-market or 7-11 and get drinks and snacks there. I usually ate breakfast by going to a supermarket, getting a carton of OJ or iced coffee or whatever, some pastry, and a banana, peach, orange or whatever is local and in season (imported fruits and veggies are expensive there). That's a cheap way to eat, usually just $3-4. For lunch and dinner, if you want a restaurant meal, many places have plastic food in the window showing what they serve and what the price is. This lets you "window-shop" for a place to eat, and you can usually find a good meal for not too much money... ramen, zosui, yakisoba, okonomiyaki, donburi, etc
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02-22-2008, 01:16 AM
Thanks Firebird and Samurai!
Firebird, I will look through those links. I looked through the Hospitality Club link before and I'm wondering if I should really look into it doing it. Just having a place to stay for free seems tempting. This is the option I'm most interested in. I also looked through the Wwoofing link and it looks interesting. It may be something to look at in the future but not on my first trip to Japan. I want to move around to different cities throughout Japan during my first trip so I'm thinking on maybe seeing if I can work at some youth hostels or maybe find a host from the Hospitality Club site. I was thinking about the whole hitchhiking aspect but I'm not sure if I should attempt it during my first trip to Japan. Perhaps when I'm a bit more experienced with Japan. I was thinking about ordering The Hitchhiker's Guide to Japan by Will Ferguson and maybe even Hokkaido Highway Blues which he also wrote to get a glimpse of what hitchhiking in Japan is all about. Samurai, those pictures look great. I would definitely want to experience something like that and just be out in nature. I want to balance my stay in Japan by experiencing the traditional, rural and modern/city side of Japan. I will definitely visit the Kansai region but I'm still deciding if I should go beyond that distance. Maybe I should since I'll have such a long time to explore Japan. I read about drinks being more expensive in bars and restaurants but thanks for the tip about buying drinks at supermarkets and convenient stores. I really want to save as much as I can since things can add up fairly quickly if you're staying for over a month.
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02-22-2008, 02:12 AM
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I think you'd enjoy a hike in the Japan Alps, a visit to the Hida Folk Village and Takayama, the beautiful park in Kanazawa, and much more.
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02-22-2008, 02:56 AM
The others have already posted their own experience with travelling from Tokyo -Osaka and here's mine.
The shinkansen is the fastest way to travel, it will only take about 2-2.5 hours from Tokyo - ShinOsaka but its only the most expensive . Right now i think it is around 13,000yen (one-way) Bus: The cheapest I've known so far is the Seishun Mega Dream Bus by JR which cost around 4000yen ( one-way) but note that the bus does not have a CR but it will stop at a service area for 15minutes every 2 hours. I should warn you though the seats is so narrow, and you can't reclined it much. The 8000yen one is the one that is comfortable. Seishun 18-kippu is actually fun to use ( although have not use it personally since I don't have much vacation ). If you are on an adventure, stopping at every place along the way, this is really cheap way to go. My friends started from tokyo around 4am and stops by at Nagoya for about 1-2 hours before finally proceeding to Osaka. They arrived around 8pm cause they keep missing their train. So if you are going to use this ticket, be prepared to with your map and train schedules. If you want to travel chep around Kansai and without Seishun Kippu: Himeji- get the one-day ticket from Hanshin. it cost 2000yen and you can stop anywhere from Osaka to Himeji using Hanshin Line. Kyoto - going to Kyoto take Hankyu, its the cheapest 390yen one way. Then get one-day ticket for bus for only 500yen and use it to all city bus within Kyoto. Osaka - try to your osaka on a friday cause the one-day ticket is cheaper its only 650yen from 850en. and you can use it to all subway, city bus and new tram all over osaka. There are still lots of cheap ticket, especially since you are a tourist. The suretto kansai has a 3000yen ticket for 3days ( i think ) which you can use to travel in Nara, Himeji, Osaka and Kyoto. How to eat cheap? Do not rely on mcdonalds. They are expensive. Try eating in Yoshinoya or matsuya. A bowl of Gyudon, botadon and other food range from 300-500yen and you get really full. Rather than convenience store, look for a dept store on where you are staying. Sometimes after 7pm they will start putting discount on their food, so you can buy them 10% -50% less.
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02-22-2008, 05:20 AM
I was set on landing in Narita but I may even land in Osaka or Nagoya because these alternative airports may possibly provide some cheap discounts on airfare. Thanks for the initial recommendation on landing in Osaka, Samurai.
Awesome picks Samurai! I'd definitely like to visit those places you recommended. Samokan, thanks for the tips. I really appreciate the advice because I'm learning more and more. Who says Japan has to be expensive!? I see that experiencing the best aspects of Japan can very much be affordable.
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02-22-2008, 09:20 AM
To the hospitalityclub Topic again: Till now i didnt hear any bad stories abour couchsurfing or hospitalityclub. It seems to work pretty well and i heared awesome stories from people traveling. Japan doesn´t have so many People invinting you to stay at their place, but there are some! If you want to be sure to stay at a save place, just choose someone with a lot of comments. They are very open minden people and mostly traveled alot by themselfes. I think Japan is expensive in a "touristy way". But if you have a bit of time and watch the money, it will be not so expensive (at least i hope so : )
Firebird
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02-22-2008, 10:39 PM
Crap, I spelled traveling wrong. Anyway, yeah, I'll look at the Hospitality Club thing. Right now I'm trying to do some research on Skype. Will I be able to use Skype effectively in internet cafes? Don't you need to be quiet in those places? I may have to only use it in the hostel. I want to occasionally call home to a landline.
Also, are there lots of electrical outlets in public places in Japan in case I want to recharge the battery of my camera?
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