Meseems, some people believe that if they spend less than $100 per night in a hotel and refrain from additional excursions, they are having a 'budget trip' in Japan.
Now this is how one could travel if heis as poor as me wants an extremely cheap trip.
1. Staying
First of all, one may want to have a place to sleep during the night, or at least to write in the 'intended address in Japan' field of the foreigner embarkation card when entering Japan.
If that's really all one needs from his hotel, why bother with those luxury palaces? Two friends of mine were staying in a mixed dorm in Beijing with a farting guy sleeping just next to them, and they're still alive and well.
I prefer single rooms, because I simplylove to create a mess of my belongings using all the space available don't like being together with unknown people, lack of private space to relax, get changed or leave my bag without worrying about its contents, nor I want to make friends with those who live in the same hotel very much.
Ok, my perfect room is a single, with common amenities on the floor. And that would cost me some 2000-3000 yen per day, or even cheaper.
One may check hostelworld or any other website to get acquainted with cheap hostels. Many of them have fridges in the rooms which makes it even easier to have breakfast/lunch/supper, which I consider essential. Shower rooms are usually 24 hours, and those hotels where they weren't 24 hours tend to change that policy. They, and toilets, are pretty clean, though there may be exceptions, but again there's the whole community for you to leave ratings and comments when they spot a dirty spot (I'm a bit of a poet huh).
Guests are also given a yukata or some kind of it, a towel or two, sometimes toothbrush, toothpaste and tissues, and can lend irons and hairdryers to keep themselves neat, borrow phone chargers and use the PCs in the main hall to keep in touch, and Gundam mecha to conquer the world. Or free tea and hot water in the common kitchen in case they don't need the latter.
Sometimes one can even get a free breakfast, but that's not a widespread tradition, and here we come to...
2. Eating
A friendly guy at the reception said to me - 'do you know the Shimadaya? It's not far away from here. They offer a discount every evening, so you can buy some products cheaper if you come late at, say, 10'. And that's what many supermarkets do to maintain the circulation of their goods. Common knowledge, but important enough to be mentioned once again.
Also, one would not buy a new drink from the nearest vending machine every time one gets thirsty. Yeah I know they are all so cute and they are on every corner... But it's enough to buy a big pack of juice or big bottle of water and carry some drink in a smaller bottle or even some tea in a stainless bottle (luckily there are plenty of them everywhere now), especially if one is going to return to the hotel before going somewhere else, and can refill it.
When I first came to Japan almost 3 years ago, I was buying everything I wanted but gradually I learned to save money and could live on less than 1000 yen per day. Those who have and can use kitchen spend even less, but I can't don't usually feel like cooking anything. By the way, one could bring something small and light from home as well - for example I was bringing bread with me, since only white toast bread is available in usual supermarkets in Japan.
3. Sightseeing
I should have started with this because this is the best way to solve all of your problems - make friends. Make friends and you'll have home-stay, family meals, free guides and many more.
If one doesn't have this opportunity, he isn't to worry. There are plenty of places to go for free or for quite a small price.
A list of free observation desks is available on RocketNews. Websites like Countdown Tokyo are always at hand to help you compare prices. Many local administration-controlled websites promote the area by sharing info about festivals, celebrations, exhibitions, interesting places and all possible cultural events.
Most shrines and temples are open for public access and not only provide interesting sights themselves but also host markets and fairs. Big museums are rarely very expensive, but even private showrooms and halls have reasonable prices. The biggest profit I think is made from merchandise, so one would have to resist the temptation to buy a souvenir, since most items are not really necessary unless one needs exactly that particular thing or wants to present a local souvenir to someone at home.
Now this is how one could travel if he
1. Staying
First of all, one may want to have a place to sleep during the night, or at least to write in the 'intended address in Japan' field of the foreigner embarkation card when entering Japan.
If that's really all one needs from his hotel, why bother with those luxury palaces? Two friends of mine were staying in a mixed dorm in Beijing with a farting guy sleeping just next to them, and they're still alive and well.
I prefer single rooms, because I simply
Ok, my perfect room is a single, with common amenities on the floor. And that would cost me some 2000-3000 yen per day, or even cheaper.
One may check hostelworld or any other website to get acquainted with cheap hostels. Many of them have fridges in the rooms which makes it even easier to have breakfast/lunch/supper, which I consider essential. Shower rooms are usually 24 hours, and those hotels where they weren't 24 hours tend to change that policy. They, and toilets, are pretty clean, though there may be exceptions, but again there's the whole community for you to leave ratings and comments when they spot a dirty spot (I'm a bit of a poet huh).
Guests are also given a yukata or some kind of it, a towel or two, sometimes toothbrush, toothpaste and tissues, and can lend irons and hairdryers to keep themselves neat, borrow phone chargers and use the PCs in the main hall to keep in touch, and Gundam mecha to conquer the world. Or free tea and hot water in the common kitchen in case they don't need the latter.
Sometimes one can even get a free breakfast, but that's not a widespread tradition, and here we come to...
2. Eating
A friendly guy at the reception said to me - 'do you know the Shimadaya? It's not far away from here. They offer a discount every evening, so you can buy some products cheaper if you come late at, say, 10'. And that's what many supermarkets do to maintain the circulation of their goods. Common knowledge, but important enough to be mentioned once again.
Also, one would not buy a new drink from the nearest vending machine every time one gets thirsty. Yeah I know they are all so cute and they are on every corner... But it's enough to buy a big pack of juice or big bottle of water and carry some drink in a smaller bottle or even some tea in a stainless bottle (luckily there are plenty of them everywhere now), especially if one is going to return to the hotel before going somewhere else, and can refill it.
When I first came to Japan almost 3 years ago, I was buying everything I wanted but gradually I learned to save money and could live on less than 1000 yen per day. Those who have and can use kitchen spend even less, but I can't don't usually feel like cooking anything. By the way, one could bring something small and light from home as well - for example I was bringing bread with me, since only white toast bread is available in usual supermarkets in Japan.
3. Sightseeing
I should have started with this because this is the best way to solve all of your problems - make friends. Make friends and you'll have home-stay, family meals, free guides and many more.
If one doesn't have this opportunity, he isn't to worry. There are plenty of places to go for free or for quite a small price.
A list of free observation desks is available on RocketNews. Websites like Countdown Tokyo are always at hand to help you compare prices. Many local administration-controlled websites promote the area by sharing info about festivals, celebrations, exhibitions, interesting places and all possible cultural events.
Most shrines and temples are open for public access and not only provide interesting sights themselves but also host markets and fairs. Big museums are rarely very expensive, but even private showrooms and halls have reasonable prices. The biggest profit I think is made from merchandise, so one would have to resist the temptation to buy a souvenir, since most items are not really necessary unless one needs exactly that particular thing or wants to present a local souvenir to someone at home.
A more detailed overview of my experience will be provided in a new blog post very soon, but one is to remember that the more time he spends on searching for tips about how to save money, the more he saves. Well, try not to overexert yourself =)
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