japan for under ¥5,000 a day...

many people have the misconception that you need to spend lots to go to japan... i went there and found that you can basically spend around ¥5,000 a day and not break your bank balance...

how much is ¥5,000??? well, it is roughly less than US$50.00 a day... so how do i accomplish that?

first, you need to subtract the cost of your airline ticket and, if you bought the JR Pass which cost range as below, please do not count these into the equation.

on a side note, please consider buying a JR Pass if you plan to travel around japan using its bullet train/shinkansen...

Type:	Green		Ordinary
Duration	Adult	Child	Adult	Child
7-day	37,800 YEN	18,900 YEN	28,300 YEN	14,150 YEN
14-day	61,200 YEN	30,600 YEN	45,100 YEN	22,550 YEN
21-day	79,600 YEN	39,800 YEN	57,700YEN	28,850 YEN

how to spend less than ¥5,000 a day? one of the things you can save on is accommodation... in osaka, i stayed at this little hotel called hotel chuo which charged ¥2,500 per night... do your research beforehand... this hotel was listed online... you'd find that japan is very internet savvy so most things are available online (the information)...


hotel chuo...



i found that if you stayed in tatami-styled rooms, it would be cheaper by a few hundred yens.. hahha... but quite comfy if you are used to sleeping this way...

but be warned, these hotels usually don't have a lot of luxuries... for example you need to share a common bathroom... but you get your own personal room and high speed internet connection...

meals are not that expensive... on average, you are looking at around ¥500 - ¥800 for a normal meal sets... some are cheaper and some are more expensive...





but japan is filled with chained food stores which offer good prices for their value meals...



this is one of them... all operated by one person... we were kind of amazed that one person did the welcome/cooking/serving/washing... you have got to visit to experience...

so far, ¥2,500 (hotel) + ¥1,500 (3 meals), it takes you to ¥4,000... how about your travel? well... the JR Pass lets you ride all its trains for free because you have paid for it beforehand, so you don't need to worry about that... unless you travel on its subways, you are looking to pay around from ¥160 for the trips..

if you want soft drinks, they cost ¥150 (in general)...



most of these soft drinks are available from the vending machines...



obviously, if your budget is higher, then you can spend on other luxuries...

more to come...