Tokyo on a budget

[bikkuri bahn]

Ok, so the article gives nothing new (it even misspells Toyoko Inn).  But it mentions the widespread yet erroneous belief that Tokyo is a hyper-priced capital (people seem unaware that deflation has been the norm for a while now, even though as the popular meme goes, everyone knows Japan is in decline).  I always wonder if anyone who says Tokyo is expensive stays at the Ritz-Carlton and dines every night on Kobe Beef.  London's underground is hideously overpriced, as are many other things there, but people seldom mention "overpriced" when asked to describe that city in a sentence.  Go figure.

 

http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Tokyo+budget/4156770/story.html

[westfalen]

Paying that price for a hotel room in London got me a pokey little room in a hole in the wall place down a back street with a creaky floor and a colour TV being the only modernization done to the place since Churchill was a lad, accomodation in London is hideously expensive. luckily I spend most of my time on vacation riding trains. Japan is not only a cheaper holiday destination than most places but you also get better value for what you do spend.

[disturbman]

That's what I always say, "Japan is quite inexpensive". You can find a bed for 2.000 Yen per night, you can have a meal for 500 to 800 Yen. The only problem is beer, it's damn expensive (and good).

[Tecchan]

That's what I always say, "Japan is quite inexpensive". You can find a bed for 2.000 Yen per night, you can have a meal for 500 to 800 Yen. The only problem is beer, it's damn expensive (and good).

 

Oh yeah, the only thing that is really expensive with Japan is transportation: going there (at least from Europe) and on location. Even if you have a great great use of a JR Pass, it's still a big part of the budget. The subway is OK.

Come one time in Switzerland and you'll see an expensive country: standard meal in a restaurant: 2000¥-3000¥ and don't think about finding a stay cheaper than 4000¥-5000¥ and with this price you will only stay in youth hostels. I've payed meals less than 500¥ and beds at 1000¥ in Japan.

 

So yes, from my point of view, Japan is cheap. But it's long and expensive to get there!

[Mudkip Orange]

What's the legroom like on All Nippon? They always seem to undercut JAL by a significant margin on the travel sites...

[cteno4]

Yeah i have always been battling that myth when i talk travel with friends. really is cheaper i think than getting around the US on travel. you cant get a cheap motel under 5000Y and thats suspect at best! you can use priceline to get some deals, but its a total crap shoot!

 

in japan i found even the ratty little inns i stayed in when a poor grad student were not near as horrible as some of the rat traps i have been in here in the states!

 

meals as well can be excellent and cheap if you learn to look around while walking around. found there was always a 3x spread of prices for what always appeared to be the same food and quality restaurant (even tried a few times to compare and found no difference!) also finding those gem restaurants that are on like the 8th floor of an office building for diner is great. had some awesome multicourse dinners in tokyo for 1500-2000Y that would have been $40 or more at the equivalent quality japanese here in the US.

 

i have heard a lot of london horror stories on prices from folks, pity as i really want to go there! just have to bite the bullet at sometime i guess...

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Guest ___]

I found the most expensive place I have ever been was Dublin. I find Tokyo to be no more expensive than DC. I'm sure with the craptactular exchange rate Japan in general seems pretty bad at the moment though.

[Guest ___]

What's the legroom like on All Nippon? They always seem to undercut JAL by a significant margin on the travel sites...

 

I think ANA's legroom at least in coach-class is a smidgen shorter than JAL. I however do not see any major price difference between the two when leaving from IAD. Also, note two weeks ago, AA and ANA had a joint press conference about expanded code-sharing, but a deal to sell each other's tickets for the same flight at the same cost. JAL wants access in to Chicago, LV and Honolulu, while AA wants more access in to SEA via ANA's routes. They both claim that as a result by the strengthen partnership will result in a major cut in fares from JFK to HND. (Another part of the announcement was the new JFK-HND route)

[spacecadet]

What's the legroom like on All Nippon? They always seem to undercut JAL by a significant margin on the travel sites...

 

It depends on what plane you're flying on.  I don't believe they've converted all of their international flights to the "Inspiration of Japan" configuration yet, which has 34" of pitch.  The old configuration had 31".

 

However, the 34" is with the "slide-forward" style seats, so if you "recline", you're basically back to 31".  I really dislike slide-forward style seats, because unlike with traditional seats, you lose a lot of space right at your knees when you recline, vs. losing a bit of space up at your head area when somebody else reclines (which you can then get back by reclining yourself) in a traditional seat.

[keitaro]

That's what I always say, "Japan is quite inexpensive". You can find a bed for 2.000 Yen per night, you can have a meal for 500 to 800 Yen. The only problem is beer, it's damn expensive (and good).

 

Beer use to be cheap back in 2003 not sure what happened but it is now expensive but not as bad as in Australia.

[disturbman]

It's more exensive in Australia?! Whoo, that must be something. I was really surprised in Japan to find a glass of beer some time more expensive than a meal. I've never saw a six-pack (or even a can) that expensive in my life! A pint is more or less (depending of the exchange rate) in Paris and in Japan (this is quite expensive). But ok, where I live now the normal price for a beer (half-liter) is 1,20€ in the local and over-prices version of the Kombinis and 2,50€/3,00€ for a pint in bars.

[keitaro]

avg case of beer 49.95 for 24 bottles of beer 390ml

 

looking at $14 - $20 for a 6 pack

 

unles you go the crap stuff

[CaptOblivious]

Alcohol in Oz is enormously expensive. Except the local wines. Those are a steal, and good.

 

I didn't find beer in Japan to be all that expensive; about on par with what I pay in St Louis (beer capital of the States!), which is to say about 5USD, give or take. (And Japanese beer is like American beer only good. Yum!) Sake and shochu were cheaper than that as I recall.

 

But yeah, my experience has been that Tokyo is pretty easy to afford compared to a lot of places. Just don't eat at KFC or Domino's, no matter how intriguing the potato and mayo pizza on a croissant crust looks (not that it appeals to me at all…and doubly not at about 3000円 for a med piza!). I've never had such fresh and cheap sushi in my life as I'd had from the department stores and take-away stores. Kyoto is proving even cheaper, as least as far as long-term vacation accommodations go.

[Ronincat]

Compared to what I paid in Canada, I was very surprised (pleasently, I might add) to the price of things in Tokyo.  Food/ drink were comparable (unless you were eating every night in high end restaurants, which we were not).  Taxi was reasonable (cheaper than I find Toronto to be, given the distance travelled).  Subway was dirt cheap.

 

Besides, any place that sells beer on the street, and in convenience and grocery stores, has got to be worth a visit!

[disturbman]

Hum... It never occured to me that such places could be interesting since I was born and raised in one.

[westfalen]

Alcohol in Oz is enormously expensive. Except the local wines. Those are a steal, and good.

 

I didn't find beer in Japan to be all that expensive; about on par with what I pay in St Louis (beer capital of the States!), which is to say about 5USD, give or take. (And Japanese beer is like American beer only good. Yum!) Sake and shochu were cheaper than that as I recall.

 

But yeah, my experience has been that Tokyo is pretty easy to afford compared to a lot of places. Just don't eat at KFC or Domino's, no matter how intriguing the potato and mayo pizza on a croissant crust looks (not that it appeals to me at all…and doubly not at about 3000円 for a med piza!). I've never had such fresh and cheap sushi in my life as I'd had from the department stores and take-away stores. Kyoto is proving even cheaper, as least as far as long-term vacation accommodations go.

Add Pizza Hut to that list. During my trip last September I passed some of the group coming out of a Pizza Hut in Abashiri and they recommended eating there because the pizza was good. I'd never tried Japanese Pizza Hut so I looked at the prices, then walked a couple of blocks down the street to the local branch of Sukiya. You can buy about six pizzas in Australia for the price of a Japanese one.

[gmat]

Actually after years of living in Japan, I started going to MacDonalds to get a taste of home. I used to avoid them in the States. Only the Quarter Pounder and more expensive specials are worth eating. The bargain Big Macs have become rather inedible. Cheaper meat and a bland special sauce. I used to get the Happy Meals for the toys to give to my students, or to my student to give to her grandchild.

Sometimes the soba noodle stalls in the train stations are enjoyable. I had one in the Matsumoto Station and got another as it was quite nice. It wasn't the usual fast food type but took a little longer to prepare. The noodles were the more expensive grainy and not rubbery texture type. To get an idea, it was more like a fine corn meal texture rather than a pasta noodle.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[Guest ___]

Alcohol in Oz is enormously expensive. Except the local wines. Those are a steal, and good.

 

I didn't find beer in Japan to be all that expensive; about on par with what I pay in St Louis (beer capital of the States!), which is to say about 5USD, give or take. (And Japanese beer is like American beer only good. Yum!) Sake and shochu were cheaper than that as I recall.

 

But yeah, my experience has been that Tokyo is pretty easy to afford compared to a lot of places. Just don't eat at KFC or Domino's, no matter how intriguing the potato and mayo pizza on a croissant crust looks (not that it appeals to me at all…and doubly not at about 3000円 for a med piza!). I've never had such fresh and cheap sushi in my life as I'd had from the department stores and take-away stores. Kyoto is proving even cheaper, as least as far as long-term vacation accommodations go.

Add Pizza Hut to that list. During my trip last September I passed some of the group coming out of a Pizza Hut in Abashiri and they recommended eating there because the pizza was good. I'd never tried Japanese Pizza Hut so I looked at the prices, then walked a couple of blocks down the street to the local branch of Sukiya. You can buy about six pizzas in Australia for the price of a Japanese one.

 

Pizza is incredibly expensive, though Pizza Hut is slightly more expensive than Domino's Pizza. Both are still cheaper than Pizza-La (or they were last year in Osaka) I do not find KFC to be too bad, though it can add up. Same goes for First Kitchen, BK, Mos Burger and Lotteria. McD has a value menu, but the junk food there is just as bad as it is here, IMHO. Of course since most hotels have a hot water kettle, I stock up on instant ramen from 7-11, Lawson, Sunkis or Circle K whichever one is the closest to the hotel and do that for lunch or dinner, eating out only once a day. What can really eat your money are those damn vending machines.

[westfalen]

Even the vending machines are cheaper than Australian ones.

 

Moderation edit: I don't think there is a need to quote a whole conversation when answering to the previous post.

[scott]

soba noodle stalls in the train stations

 

Common noodle stalls and train stations with frequent service--everything my home town needs. :-)

 

This thread is very encouraging--airfare is still daunting, but perhaps we could make it someday.

 

Are the smaller cities and towns away from the biggest cities about the same, or are the prices different? I'm thinking that, if we got to go, we'd end up in the central-Honshu mountains, Hokuriku, Tohoku, and Hokkaido. (And yes I realize that's a huge area.  )

[Kabutoni]

Tokyo on a budget? Hurr, I'd stay at my gf's to cut costs and experience the Japanese life at first hand (and of course the being together part).

[Guest ___]

soba noodle stalls in the train stations

 

Common noodle stalls and train stations with frequent service--everything my home town needs. :-)

 

This thread is very encouraging--airfare is still daunting, but perhaps we could make it someday.

 

Are the smaller cities and towns away from the biggest cities about the same, or are the prices different? I'm thinking that, if we got to go, we'd end up in the central-Honshu mountains, Hokuriku, Tohoku, and Hokkaido. (And yes I realize that's a huge area.  )

 

Scott, you're close enough to me to fly out of IAD. Airfare is really cheap. It costs me less to fly to Japan than San Fran on someday. If you don't care about your life the cheapest is UA, but we have direct flights from IAD via ANA fior under a grand. or you can get a really good deal flying IAD via AA to JFK to Narita via JAL.

[scott]

Thanks--that's still going to require some serious saving, but at least it's possible. Funny how trans-Pacific flights could be cheaper than cross-country flights. FWIW, it's also cheaper to fly to Central America than to the west coast, which is weird.

[disturbman]

Are the smaller cities and towns away from the biggest cities about the same, or are the prices different? I'm thinking that, if we got to go, we'd end up in the central-Honshu mountains, Hokuriku, Tohoku, and Hokkaido. (And yes I realize that's a huge area.  )

 

For what I've seen, prices are more or less the same everywhere in Japan. The problem with small cities is that they usually are lacking budget accomodations.

[scott]

OK; well, thanks--that's good to know in advance.