Budget trip to japan?

[pubju]

Hey,

I was thinking of taking a trip to japan, but I don't have much money. I can probably only afford to use about £1000 GBP (about $2000 USD). Is this a good idea? I mean, I don't wanna get there and find that everything is expensive and spend weeks doing nothing cos I'm on a tight budget

I don't really mind where I stay, as long as it has a roof, and I aint fussy about food either. How far do you think a £1000 budget would get me?

How expensive are train tickets, sight seeing tickets, food .etc?

[Kisshu]

I'm assuming that you have £1000 plus enough for the plane trip?

[kayuu]

I intend to go for a week or so on £2,000 (inc flights) during the spring or summer, and that's a 'budget trip' for me. I wouldn't risk it on £1,000.

[Noob]

Personally, i'd wait and save up even more money. If your gonna go, the last thing you want to worry about is money. I plan on saving up around 5,000 USD or so to go with, not counting plain/train tickets.
That's just me though. Good luck to you either way.

[chikara]

pubju wrote:
... I was thinking of taking a trip to japan, but I don't have much money. I can probably only afford to use about £1000 GBP (about $2000 USD). Is this a good idea? I mean, I don't wanna get there and find that everything is expensive and spend weeks doing nothing cos I'm on a tight budget ....

If you only have about USD 2000 you probably won't be spending weeks in Japan.

How long are you planning on staying? Is your airfare in the USD 2000 or is that just your budget for in country expenses?

What time of year are you planning on going as that will influence the cost of accommodation?

pubju wrote:
How expensive are train tickets, sight seeing tickets, food .etc?

A 7 day JRail pass is 28,300 円　(~USD 260), 14 day is 45,100 円 (~USD 420).

Local train and subway fares from about 150 円. Tokyo Metro has a tourist day pass for about 600 円 (~USD 5.60). Depends what you want to do and where you want to go.

Sight seeing tickets? What do you want to see?

Food can be expensive but cheap options are available if you are happy to eat "local".

[pubju]

well the cheapest flight I found was £300 ($600) return, and the £1000 was just to spend when I got there

[Ken Pro]

You can do one week in Japan for $1500, including air fare.

Two weeks is more like $2500, three weeks $3000.

[BuddhaGeo]

Which area of Japan would be most interesting for me to saunter through? Tokyo?

[richvh]

Depends on what you're interested in seeing, I should think.

[chikara]

Which area of Japan would be most interesting for me to saunter through? Tokyo?

For a minute there I thought you were the OP. Thread hijack anyone?

As Rich-san said it depends on what you are interested in.

IMHO there is certainly plenty of interesting things to see and do in Tokyo. Have a look at this page on japan-guide.com

[mattius]

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My idea of a budget trip (leaving from Oz) is;
(note all prices are in AU$ which is alomst same as current JPY$);
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essentials = air ticket (arround $2000) + hostel money (around $100 per week) + health/property insurance (around $300)
[sub-total (a) = around $2700 (for 4 weeks stay)]

Because the initial ticket price is so expensive (from Australia), it`s best to stay as long as you can.

Now for travelling around (and eating), I use a daily budget of $100.
This breaks down to -> $10 breakky, $15 lunch, $25 dinner, and $50 to spend on trains, entry fees, and small presents.
You can EASILY find great food for under this limit. If you can`t youre either eating at too fancy a place, or your not trying hard enough.

If you see any "must-have" gifts you can just use your credit card (visa + mastercard mostly used). Always ask staff if the accept credit cards before you try and paye. Too ask say "kurejit to kado deshi harae mas ka?", and they`ll be able to tell you.

On a last note, I always carry $500~$1000 emergency cash (Japan`s so safe carrying large money is no probs). Just incase you get lost, or need to take extra transport or accomodation. It`s "just-in-case" money. You can always have it changed back to local currency at the airport.
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So for a normal 4 week budget holiday (let`s say 30 days), the costs end up being around;
$2700 flights+accom+insurance
$3000 eating+sight-seeing+presents
$1000 emergency
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$6700 (roughly) {or 14 days @ $5100 / or 7 days at $4400}
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Thats about it. Sounds like a lot, but living in another country for a month can be a bit pricy. Try and make friends, so you have a place to crash on subsequent visits

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-G

[maruichan]

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Thats about it. Sounds like a lot, but living in another country for a month can be a bit pricy. Try and make friends, so you have a place to crash on subsequent visits

I'm actually doing that. I'm trying to "budget" Japan (if that's even possible) as well because I'd like to go and do language school for three months. I have a really good friend in Japan that stayed with us during Thanksgiving last year. He's like family to me now. So hopefully I can get the funds to support myself there. I know that'll save me $2.9K in dormitory costs. It's about as expensive as my one bedroom apartment which is $900 (I live near DC, NSA, Ft Meade, all that stuff)

[Gaijin14]

Stay at a guest house. Cheap and easy.

For a list of them across japan see gaijinhousejapan.com