On a Budget in Japan

Japan is notoriously expensive to travel around, the result often being that travellers skip it altogether, preferring the incredibly cheap East Asian alternatives next to the Land of the Rising Sun.  Shame – they’re missing out.  Japan is a beautiful, unique, friendly, safe and jaw-dropping place, with the individual eccentricities that you won’t find anywhere else in the world ranging from cutely quirky to downright bizarre.  If the reason you travel is to discover cultures that are a million miles away from your own, you will not find a culture further than Japan.  These differences are made all greater because Japan is so developed and advanced.  Tokyo has a reputation for being so cosmopolitan, and yet both the capital and its country are determinedly and resolutely...Japanese.
If the main reason stopping you visiting Japan is the expense, then this article is for you.  We’ve come up with several ways of cutting the budget down if you want to travel here.  We’ve attempted to cover all the main areas you’ll need:

  • Transport (Planes, buses, trains, ferries – earth, water and air...)
  • Eating (and how to do it without spending a fortune)
  • Drinking (If you feel the need, do it in a Japanese way)
  • Sightseeing (plenty to see without paying London prices)

Transport -
Flying
Hooray!  Japan now has a budget airline for domestic flights!  Skymark (www.skymark.co.jp/en/) is an absolute lifesaver for those who wish to go from one island to the other, travelling long distances in Japan.  You’re looking at about:

Tokyo (Haneda) to Sapporo:   12,000Y – GB £60 – US $120 (approx.)
Tokyo (Haneda) to Kobe:  10,000Y – GB £50 – US $100 (approx.)
Tokyo (Haneda) to Fukuoka:  12,000Y – GB £60 – US $120 (approx.)
Tokyo (Haneda) to Naha:  18,000Y – GB £90 – US $180 (approx.)

A really useful thing to know about this site is this:  If you can find out exactly when the tickets for each flight go online (using the Contact Us page on their website), and get ready to book tickets the second they come online, you can get tickets up to half the normal prices listed above.  Be warned – this is a well known technique among the Japanese, so there will be others doing exactly the same thing and you will have to act fast, but you can save a lot of money this way, so it’s definitely worth a try.  Skymark only sell their tickets as far as three months in advance.  Airport tax is always included in the plane ticket price.
Other discount Airlines are Air Do, Skynet Asia Airways and Starflyer – have a look on their website to get an idea of what they have on offer.

Buses
In general, buses are cheaper than trains, and to save money you can take the overnight buses if you are travelling long distance.  You can book and buy your bus tickets at travel agents.  A big, well-known travel agent is JTB (www.jtbuk.com, www.jtbusa.com  or www.accessjapan.co.uk).  It has offices all over the place and will help you buy your bus tickets.  You will find that there is little English spoken, but if you memorise the place-names of where you want to go from and to, and specify “bus”, they will understand what you mean. 

Trains – Long Distance
Japan’s famous Shinkansen, or Bullet Train, is a fantastic way of seeing loads of Japan in a short space of time.  The Shinkansen travels at speeds over 300km/h, making it one of the fastest trains in the world.  It is also known for being a pretty expensive way to travel, but there are two ways that you can make it financially worth your while. 

  • Japan Rail Passes – These passes are designed for foreign visitors to Japan, and provide unlimited travel for certain periods of time on all the Shinkansen lines.  It’s ideal if you want to travel the length of Japan.  It is owned by JR (Japan Railways) who also own most of the train lines within main cities too, as well as bus lines and even the Miyajima ferry, all of which are covered by the pass.  There are a few train lines that are not covered by the pass, but chances are this won’t make much difference to your trip anyway.  For a full look at destinations and train lines that you can use with a Japan Rail Price, check out www.japan-guide.com.   Bear in mind that you must purchase your rail pass outside of Japan and before you leave for Japan.  Below are the prices for the various passes.  We’ve only included the economy fares because the economy trains are perfectly nice!

7 Day Pass:                          28,300Y
14 Day Pass:                       45,100Y
21 Day Pass:                       57,700Y

  • Shinkansen + Hotel Deals – If you want to do only one long journey on the Shinkansen, perhaps down to Osaka, Kyoto or Hiroshima, then such deals are the way to go.  The best way to find out about these is within travel agents.  A good and well-known travel agent in Japan is HIS (http://his-van.com/en), and they have a subsidiary company based in Shinjuku especially for foreigners, called No. 1 Travel (www.no1-travel.com).    Their website has contact numbers on it – if you call the Shibuya office and ask about Shinkansen and hotel deals, although they tend to just do flights, they will usually suggest a few places that can help you.

Trains – Around Tokyo
This can be pretty daunting.  Japan’s absurdly extensive train network in and around Tokyo is a weird experience.  But we have good news!  Tokyo’s train system is about half the price of London’s, it’s more efficient and the people are generally have less of an every-man-for-himself attitude.  The lowest fare is about 130Y, which is about 60p.  Here’s a quick rundown of how you go about getting your tickets.
Go down into the underground and look for the green ticket machines.  These are the JR ticket machines, which means you can use these tickets for any JR trains.  More on that later. 
If you don’t know how much your journey is going to cost you, the best thing to do is get a ticket for the minimum fare.  These machines take notes and coins.  Get a minimum fare ticket, and go through the ticket machines. 
These machines spit your tickets out once you’re through on the other side (unlike London Underground), so don’t forget to pick your ticket up.
Go find your train – the English equivalents are almost always written on boards above the doorways to the platforms, and the platforms themselves have screens with the destinations running across them.
When you reach the other side, follow the crowd to the exit.  This is the important bit:  Just before the ticket barriers to get out, you will see some yellow machines, and these are fare adjustment machines.  If you put your ticket in, it will work out from the minimum fare that you paid how much more you owe, and you can just pay it off here. 
Here are the complications:  Not all trains are JR trains.  Most of the subway lines are run by other train companies.  If you buy a JR ticket and try to go through the barriers to another train company’s platform, the ticket won’t let you through.  The way to avoid this is to aim for the ticket machines that are closest to your ticket barriers. 

Ferries
This a good option for going out to islands.  As Japan has several thousand islands surrounding the main four, there’s a pretty extensive domestic ferry service.  Have a closer look at www.japan-guide.com/e/e2355.html.  The islands off the south of Japan are particularly beautiful.  A couple of suggestions would be taking a budget flight out to Okinawa, then taking ferries from there to the smaller islands.  It is usually cheaper to get ferries out to the popular Izu Shoto (Izu Islands) than to fly.  You could also consider a trip out to the islands in a package tour.

Eating -

  • All restaurants will bring you complimentary green tea and/or water.  Don’t feel obliged to buy a drink, the way you really should in the UK or US.  It’s not considered rude or cheap not to. 
  • Lunchtime is a great time to eat in restaurants, as most of them do Lunch Sets, usually involving two or three courses, and costing about half the price of the normal menu. 
  • Bakeries are widely available, with good quality, fresh and cheap snacks.  Conveniently, they are often found in the larger train stations.
  • Japanese fast food restaurants are possibly the best way to eat affordable Japanese food while having a very quirky cultural experience:  The way this is done is to go to the ticket machine in the restaurant, and look for a picture of something that looks tasty.  You pay for your meal in the machine, it spits out a ticket, and then you go sit at the bar and wait for your number to be called.  Brilliant!  Just like waiting at the Tesco meat counter!
  • For most Japanese restaurants, there are either pictures on the menu or plastic models of the food in the window.  In case you find yourself in a situation in which there really is no clue as to what the menu says, it’s best to memorise a few words, e.g. karage (fried chicken).  That should stop you ending up with something a bit weird.
  • Don’t tip.  Really.  It’s not the done thing.  They will run after you down the street with what they will assume to be your change that you’ve accidently left behind.   And if you do manage to force them to accept it, the management will only get it off them, anyway.
  • Two popular brands of Japanese fast food restaurant are Matsuya and Yoshinoya.  All cities and districts of cities will have some of these.  They also have very distinguishable logos.
  • Quite a cheap Japanese chain restaurant is Ootoya.  Recommended.
  • If you’re craving something Western, there a couple of good and cheap Western chains... Have a look for Caprichosa, a cheap and cheerful Italian chain, or Doutor do very good sandwiches and coffee for excellent prices.
  • Eating in train stations or on local trains, or walking down the street, really isn’t the thing to do.  It’s fine on long-distance trains or in parks, but not really anywhere else in public, and certainly not in very busy areas.

Drinking -

The drinking culture in Japan is very different to that of Western cultures.  It is often centred around a meal or snacks with friends.  There is far less drunk and disorderly behaviour than you would expect to find in the UK.  Indeed, excess drunkenness is most frequently associated with Japanese businessmen who work stupidly long hours and therefore need to drink away the day, usually while squatting in doorways, still in their suits, gazing blearily up at you as you pass.  Not a nice sight.  No wonder being drunk is far less cheered on in Japan.  However, there is nothing wrong with going out for a few drinks with your friends, so below are several nightlife options and how to do it on a budget.

  • Izakayas are Japanese pubs/bars.  You sit down around a table to drink, and there is usually eating involved as well.  Izakayas often have tapas style dishes to share.  You don’t really need to book these places, but you may have a short wait for a table at the weekends.  Some popular and good value chain Izakayas are Watami, Wara Wara and Shirokiya.  You can get well and truly wasted if you so choose in places such as these, as long as you don’t get too rowdy or aggressive.
  • A cheap chain restaurant called Bldy (yep, you read that right) has all-you-can-drink cocktails for 600Y (yep, you read that right, too).
  • If you’re feeling slightly more flush, and want somewhere a little nicer but still affordable, try the Za Watami chain.  They do bottled beer for about 450Y.
  • Clubs – Rappongi is the ex-pat choice of area, where you will find the most Westerners, so if that is what you’re looking for, this is the place for you.  We think it is only fair to warn you, though, that it’s also the most expensive, the most likely to break out into a fight, and the place most likely to have some sort of Bar-pimp pull you into a club and then allow the girls inside to rip you off all night.
  • As for Japanese clubs, they open and close so often that it’s pointless trying to keep up.  Instead, have a look at the local magazine Metropolis for Club listings.  You can pick these up in HMV.
  • Shinjuku is an area that is well-known for its hostess bars.  A good rule of thumb for Japan is if you see the word “Pub” or “Club”, don’t make the schoolboy error of assuming that the establishment in question is a pub or a club.  It’s not.  This is code for “Hostess Bar”.  And “Hostess Bar” is code for “You will not leave this building without parting with several hundred pounds”.  In fact, it is now such a common occurrence for foreigners to wander innocently into these places and then get very upset about the bill that several such places have stopped admitting non-Japanese people, to save themselves the hassle.  Shinjuku, incidentally, is also known for the dodgy Japanese mafia characters lurking about – if you see trouble, walk unobtrusively in the opposite direction.
  • Shibuya is generally a good area for clubs.  It also has a plus – if you end up getting out of a club and having nowhere to stay and no way to get home, there is the possibility of staying in Japan’s infamous Love Hotels.  These are exactly what they sound like – hotels bookable by the hour for Japan’s amorous young couples.  It depends entirely on the management, but if you need somewhere to crash for a few hours until the trains start again, they might not be averse to a couple of friends crashing here.  Shibuya is famous for its Love Hotel Hill.  Love Hotels can cost about 3500Y/4000 for a few hours, or a few thousand more for an overnight stay.
  • Karaoke bars area brilliant option for a night out, and are so popular with the Japanese.  Unlike their Western counterparts, Japanese karaoke bars involve a series of private rooms, so you’re only sharing your complete tone-deafness with your friends.  You can order drinks to be brought to your rooms.  Karaoke bars often have all-you-can-drink offers, for about 1000Y per person at the cheaper places.  The magic words you need to say to the staff are “no mi ho dai” = “all you can drink”.  If you’re just doing Karaoke, it’s about 500Y an hour. 
  • Ueno really doesn’t have much of a Club life.
  • Daikanyama and Ebisu are quite trendy areas for Clubs.
  • In Osaka, Americamura is the area to be for nightlife. 
  • Bear in mind that restaurants, bars, izakayas, karaoke bars and clubs are often on the upper floors of high-rise buildings.  You need to look up!  And if you see something that might be what you’re looking for, go and have a look – the worst that can happen is that you’re wrong!

Sightseeing -

Don’t worry, there are plenty of things to see in Japan that are either very cheap or free!  Here’s a few suggestions:

  • Asakusa – This famous temple area is completely free to access.  Have a wander around the beautiful, ancient buildings and pay 50/100Y to burn some incense or find out your fortune.
  • Ueno Park is free, huge and rather random.  As well as families strolling around, you often come across a few crazily dressed characters, or people casually strumming on guitars.  Nice place for a picnic.
  • Harajuku Station on a Sunday – so random that Gwen Stefani felt the need to write a song about it.  Just outside Harajuku station on Sundays, the alternative people of Tokyo gather.  Going to massive lengths, they dress up in the most elaborate costumes of all types, and then... just sort of hang around.  Providing you with some excellent photo opportunities.  Have a look:  www.photographersdirect.com/stockimages/h/harajuku.asp
  • Yoyogi Park is just by where the Harajuku kids hang out, and Sundays are best known for the local musical talent setting up here and giving it all they’ve got.  There are loads of them!
  • The Shinjuku Government Metropolitan Tower, known as Tocho, is free to go up, and has excellent views all over Tokyo.
  • Wandering around Shibuya at weekends will provide you with a look into the stereotype of fashionable Japanese women.  Just head to Building 109, the famous shopping centre, to see vast amounts of spectacularly made-up women largely there to be seen and admired.  A word of warning: you might want to make a bit of effort yourself, or else risk feeling like a  complete scruff-bag.  Shibuya is also home to the famous Orange girls – Japanese women who are so tanned and bleached that their skin and hair is orange!  Accentuated with silver eyeliner, they look like some kind of sexy Martians.  Worth a look. 
  • At night, head to the Red Light District, Kabukicho, in Shinjuku.  If you are in an all-male group you might be hassled to go into strip shows a bit, but if you are in a mixed group you’ll be left alone. 
  • Akihabara – the electronics district with a dodgy side!  This district is full of amazing department stores full of the latest technology and gadgets that Japan is so well-known for.  And you can browse, pick up and play to your heart’s content!  Have a go on the massage chairs you get in every store – they’re amazing.  And the dodgy side is Akihabara’s porn industry.  Tokyo has a surprisingly active porn industry, and there majority of it seems to centre on Akihabara. 
  • Cherry Blossom season – for two weeks a year, the cherry trees bloom, and it is a source of national pride for Japan.  Families flock to Ueno Park to have picnics under the cherry trees.  The whole feel in the park is that of a massive party, and it’s a lovely place to chill out.  Cherry blossom season tends to be at the beginning of April, if you find yourself there at that time.

Just Some Extra Stuff –

  • If you’re having any problems with any of the above, talk to people!  Ask them questions!  The standard of English is not high in Japan, so it might not work, but give it a go!  If you’re male, you might frighten young women a bit, so aim for men from about 30 to 50.  If you’re female, the men can be a bit sleazy, so aim for women from 20 to 40.  And older people probably won’t know any English at all.  If you get ignored, don’t take it personally – Japanese people fear showing their ignorance, and instead of displaying it they will sometimes take themselves out of the situation rather than feel embarrassed about not being able to talk to you.
  • Japan is famous for its Onsen – Hot Spring Baths.  You have to go out of Tokyo for this, so here are a few good places:  Izahanto (Iza Peninsula), Nikko, Fujigoko, and the Gunma prefecture have good baths.  Hakone is very popular with tourists, but is consequently more expensive and has less of a traditional Japanese feel.
  • For a trip out to the countryside, head up to Hokaido.  It is one of the few places to have unspoilt nature, and it’s spectacularly beautiful.  It’s only really good in summer.  You can stay in small towns or resorts.  One of the best places to go is Daisetsuzan National Park, and Asahidake is a lovely area within the park.  It is possible to stay in resorts within the park.  Be careful of the bears in the autumn!  To get here you can fly to Asahikawa or Sapporo, then hire a car and drive around.

 

We hope all of this is helpful in arranging your trip to Japan.   Have a fantastic time!