>> |
Anonymous
http://www.japanrail.com/ buy a train pass. easier then figuring out the confusing ticket system. train pass covers all government rail, including bullet trains. does not cover subway costs (though those are minimal and easy to understand) daily food can be very cheep if you avoid expensive chains. go to the local convenience store and get yourself supplies for cheep sammies, etc. Some local chains have english menus, most stores have picture menus or plastic food displays so you can point if you want something. If you are going to tokyo then there are a couple youth hostels that are cheep/safe. I was at tokyo backpackers hostel (just google it. it's in Minowa area) and a few years ago the price was about 1300¥ (~15us$) a night for the bunk bed rooms. there is a shared bathroom/shower/bath and laundry machines. as well as a kitchen, livingroom, and computer area. Minowa is a pretty good place to be based. It's near popular shrine/temple areas, Ueno station, Tokyo station, and Akihabara (anime/manga/maidcafes etc). While being a fairly quiet neighborhood and business area.
I'd say if you want to stay for a week you could do it easily for 2500 us$ if you don't want to go too far outside tokyo (forgo the train pass, it's not cheep but very useful if you plan to travel a lot) I'd say if you go one place outside tokyo but don't want to go all the way to kyoto, check out Nikko. It's a small town and the last stop on it's train rout, not too terribly far from Tokyo but worth the day if you are into historical stuff and monkeys and hotsprings.
|