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Favorite thing: Food:
Breakfast: 200~1000 Yen. This will generally be convenience food for 200, or Starbucks for 700 (including food). [Note that some hotels offer a free breakfast]
Lunch: 500~2000 Yen. If you head to the fast food Japanese shops such as "Yoshinoya" (Rice with thin slices of beef and onions on top - 300 Yen) or "Tenya" (Tempura on rice 500+ Yen), it will be roughly 500 yen. If you go to a restaurant, you can expect up to 2000 Yen.
Dinner: 2000~7000 Yen and up. I generally enjoy a nicer dinner when I travel. A cheap NICE meal would be roughly 2000 Yen, including a soft drink. Add around 500~700 Yen for a beer and you are looking at around 3000 Yen. If you go to a nice restaurant, the sky is the limit. All you can eat and drink menus tend to be around 3600~5000 Yen for 90 minutes. I rarely go over 5000 Yen per person for just a meal. If I'm going drinking after dinner, then I can spend up to 7000 Yen for a night out. [If you plan to eat cheap, Japanese fast food will be the same as lunch, and many department stores are usually just under 2000. I was erring on the safe side]
Mid day snacks/drinks: Due to the amount of walking you'll probably be doing, expect around 200~500 Yen for drinks and snacks. I tend to eat a lot all the time, and when I shop, I need snack breaks every few hours. :)
Note: Due to the heat in summer, expect to spend more for drinks.
Food Total: 7000 Yen average per day, but 3000 Yen or less if you are pretty frugal. To be safe, 10,000 Yen and you'll be happy to save money in the end.
Transportation (Tokyo): 400~700 Yen per day. I doubt you'd spend over 700 Yen a day. You would have to go to many places at the same time. I recommend using the Tokyo Subway guide or hyperdia.com to help plan routes to save money on transfers. Also, many stations are within walking distance of each other.
Return trip from the airport will also cost about 7000 Yen, depending on where you are staying and how you travel.
[Assuming you have a JR Pass, you will save a lot on trips between cities. Don't bother using it in the city. Transport in other cities can be a little more expensive than Tokyo.]
Admission: If you visit the temples and such, the average price in most major centres is no more than 500 yen. When you're in Tokyo, it is almost all free. Some of the parks are 200-500 yen, but I can't remember. It really depends on where you will go as some charge admission, and others don't.
Accomodation: Ryokan can be nice, but business hotels are the cheapest in terms of regular hotels. If you want a nice business hotel, Toyoko Inn and Super Hotel are nice. They have free internet machines and complimentary breakfast. Generally, rooms cost about 7000 yen a night. The only problem is that the hotels tend to be near the highways rather than the main station as they are more for drivers. However, they do have many locations within major cities. Also consider the Sun Route chain, but they charge roughly 9000 a night, at the high end of their chain. As for hostels, they can be extremely cheap. My favourite site for hotels is "jalan.net" but you must know Japanese as it's almost all in Japanese.
Updated Jan 9, 2012
Favorite thing: Japan Tourist is not a site that I am personally involved with, but it does have a lot of useful English language information particularly on Japan's regions.
It is a useful site to visit for anyone looking to visit Japan.
Written Nov 27, 2011
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Favorite thing: Until recently cultivating bananas in Japan with the exception of Kyushu, Okinawa, Izu Islands and Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands areas meant that of Japanese Fiber Banana we call "BASHO". Basho, musa basjoo, is said to have been brought to Japan from China more than 1,000 years ago and in Okinawa they are cultivated for the material of garments. Today many horticulturists are trying to grow wide variety of banana plants that bears edible fruits. They even try outdoor cultivation of subtropical species in their farm or home gardens. It seems that banana cultivation is becoming a growing fad here. The reasons they take up growing bananas vary. The most prominent reason may have come from recent banana diet craze that swept over Japan around 2009. It's natural that they want to grow bananas themselves. Another reason is that they want to enjoy tropical atmosphere right at home. Some expect its broad leaves may provide shade which also helps to conserve energy during summer. What contributed this prevalation is the introduction of container-cultivated species that helped ease some typical worries such as "I want to plant but our garden is too small" or "I am worried if my bananas can ever survive winter". Popular bananas grown in Japan include musa veltina, dwarf Cavendish banana, Miyazaki mimi-mimi banana for indoor container cultivation and Okinawan banana what we call" Shimabanana". With Japanese tech trait, the chances are they will be able to grow fruit-bearing bananas outdoors. The photo#1 is musa basjoo grown near Shirafuji Fall in Fujieda.
Updated Jun 27, 2011
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Favorite thing: Moriaogaeru, or forest green tree frogs are tree-living creatures that are known to lay foamy eggs to the trees during June and July. They are often associated with rural temples or shrines because these preccincts are usually rich in nature. Also shrines and temples treasured the arboreal amphibians because their foamy eggs symbolize vitality and prosperity. You may find the foamy eggs when you travel to old temples and shrines in Kyoto, Nikko, or Kamakura during rainy season in June. In Fujieda, Shizuoka-ken where I live they live in rural parts of the city such as Nishikata, Takizawa and Kurata areas. In Okabe areas they are more commonly seen. In many parts of Japan their habitats are heavily protected.
Updated Jun 26, 2011
Favorite thing: Most Japanese people do not speak English.
They do learn English for 10 years in school but it is almost exclusively reading and writing.
I found people very helpful, but to help them help me I needed to learn how to communicate.
Carry a small shirt pocket size writing pad. Print - in capitals is best - your question and you will be guided with eagerness. Sign language, pointing, and even an escort to your destination is not unusual.
A smile will go a l-o-n-g way!
Written Aug 4, 2010
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Favorite thing: Sake is one of the most popular alcoholic beverages made from fermented rice.
Today there are about 3000 manufacturers of refined Sake in Japan including
Fukuoka and Kyushu area.
Sake is made with steamed rice, yeast of rice, malted rice, and water.
This is placed in vat, additional amounts of those ingredients are added in three cycles,
and the mixture is left to ferment for 20 days.
After fermentation the mixture is ready for pressing, figuration, and blending.
The Sake is then pasteurized, butted, and stored.
The alcohol content of crude Sake is about 40 proofs; Sake on the markets is about
32 proofs.
A good-quality Sake has a subtle blend of so-called five flavors (sweetness,
sourness, pungency, bitterness and astringency) and a mellow fragrance.
Written Jun 13, 2010
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Favorite thing: I spent 4 years teaching, and whilst it's not as lucrative as it was, you earn enough to live, get some travel done, and save a little at the same time.
There are a number of different chain schools, and also a government sponsored program. There are also hundreds of smaller schools throughout the country that sponsor teachers.
Salaries tend to start from 250000 yen a month upwards, however salaries in the industry have been falling in recent times, and some companies (NOVA and GEOS) have gone under.
There's no real career path to any of it, so probably it is best to think of it as similar to a working holiday.
Updated May 3, 2010
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Favorite thing: Japan uses 100V throughout the country. Frequency is 50Hz in Eastern Japan and 60Hz in Western Japan.
Standard plug is the USA (NEMA) & Japanese 2-pin flat blade, types A & B
http://electricaloutlet.org/type-a
http://electricaloutlet.org/type-b
Updated Mar 26, 2010
Favorite thing: Hi there.
Went travelling around Japan for three months back at the end of 2008. Had the most amazing time and fell in live with the country. Visited numerous cities and towns and worked on a few farms under the WWOOF scheme.
Kept a diary of the whole trip which I finally managed to type up and also filled with other information, pictures and tit-bits. I'd like to share it with everypne in the hope that it will inspire others to have an amazing adventure of their own.
Japan 2008: Memoires of a Gaijin A.K.A. A Journey Through the Land of the Rising Sun
Written Jan 23, 2010
Favorite thing: I found that if I attempt to speak to them in my pathetic japanese phrases (which I had no previous knowledge of), they will attempt to reply in English. Works most of the time.
Most of them, it seems, know how to say numbers in English. I found this found when I always double check the platform to be when taking JR trains or metro subway by mentioning the destination station name and they would always says "Track ##".
Written Jan 3, 2010
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I found that if I attempt to speak to them in my pathetic japanese phrases (which I had no previous knowledge of), they will attempt to reply in English. Works...
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Q: Toyoko Inn Club Card - I read that the price for this membership card is 1500yen. When is the expiration for this card for...
A: Generally the price of the room listed on the website should be the price of the room, at least for Japanese hotels. I can't guarantee it though. Booking.com may add...
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