A basic budget for Japan? (20 days)

[godwine]

Originally Posted by nickm

Although it looks possible, your trip looks very ambitious. How will you start your trip in Hakata? Are you flying there from Kansai Kokusai? Make sure to eat some ramen... I have good memories of Hakata. Some of the nicest people and cutest girls I met in Japan.

Ambitious? How? We are taking the Shinkanzen to Hakata to start.....

[absolutebrutal]

Originally Posted by Housetek

i've spent nearly 8grand a month for a time.

then when my money started to dwindle down i lived on around 2 grand a month including rent.

it all depends on what you do and how you do it.



first timers always end up spending waay more then they plan due to the fact they wana bring lots of stuff back and buy every thing up.


my advice is stay within your price range you mentioned and give your self a lil space for spur the moment spending.

avoid using taxis cuz a 15 dollar taxi ride can be a easy 1.60 subway trip.

get accustomed to the railway system and such first few days and less dependent on the cabs

in short, your budget is absolutely doable.

there were times were i was staying in 20 dollar a night hostels and eating 300 yen meals at yoshinoya for a while haha. but thats what i get for spending most of my money on booze and partying



food- plenty of places to eat for cheaper if you wana save money. but spend at least a few nights enjoying the best japan has to offer its worth it.

visiting shrines and such is super inexpensive. be sure not snap pictures in places where its inappropriate.

great stuff! thanks very much

we're not bothered about buying tons of stuff. i think we'll totally resist spending loads of money on buying things, and then during the final week... if we have plenty of money left, we'll go nuts and buy things then. that way we won't run out of money at the start, and we'll only buy things if we have the money left at the end.

yeah, taxi's are a no-go for us. we'll be using subways or buses where possible.


where are there some good places to enjoy luxury japanese food? i'd hate to spend a lot in one place and then discover somewhere better

we're setting off tomorrow, YAY!

[taimoorh]

Great thread guys, very informative.

A few friends and me are planning to got to Japan in mid-August this year for 2 weeks. I'm planning the trip so that our first week's end coincides with Comiket (Aug 13-15).

The plan is to spend most of the time in Tokyo (about 3 to 4 days including Comiket) in various areas like Shinjuku, Akihabara, etc. We also plan to go to different cities for sightseeing like Nagasaki and...I dont know any other cities for sight-seeing lol.

I have two questions:

1- Each person is planning a budget of USD 5k for whole 2 weeks (with very little shopping). Is that amount enough? We're planning to have our hotel rooms in sharing (ie. 2 ppl per room) to save on accommodation expenses.

2- Are there any other festivals/ sight seeing areas during mid-August that we should check out?

EDIT: reading up on Houseteks guide, so ignore the first question. But second question still stands.