Cost of trip
 

So, myself and a friend are heading to Japan for 3 weeks from mid June to early July.

We've got our air tickets and Japan Rail Passes.

Just wondering how much money we should reasonably bring?

We'll be going for the cheapest option in terms of hotels and food and the like, and we don't really plan to spend a whole lot on souvenirs. Though we probably will be heading out to bars and clubs a fair bit.

Would £2000 be enough?

Thanks

By the way, that's £2000 each, not between us.

Does that cover hotel and food? Hotel would run you a little over US$1100, food will cost you around US$25-30 a day. I think it SHOULD be enough as long as you don't live large and spend large, but I won't suggest bringing that amount of money ON you when you go there.

Instead, find out if you have a bank card that will work with international banking machines there, you can withdraw cash from it the same way you would at home. You can find these machine at the airport or postal office. Some suggested that specific banks also have these machines, but I have yet to see one

That should be plenty, particularly if you are sharing a hotel room. But be careful, you'll find it's very easy to spend money quickly, especially in Tokyo. Museum tickets, taxi fare, restaurants, vending machines, etc. I'm always amazed at how quickly such things add up.

The only shopping you should be doing here is for the typical souvenirs most westerners buy. With the exception of video game consoles and digital cameras, you'll find everything cheaper in your own country. On second thought, you're from the land of the "VAT", so perhaps a little more shopping would be okay.

Game consoles are about the same price, the only benefit is that you have a choice of models specific to Japan only (for example, a light blue Nintendo DS). However, the same cannot be said about Cameras. Buddy of mine bought a camera from Takeya back in 2006, with tax excemption and all that it comes out to be about CDN$270, the very same model was selling for CDN$299+ Tax at the time locally, so it turns out to be about an 80 dollars saving (15% tax at the time)

That's over 400,000 yen - more than enough for 3 weeks

Yeah, I bought a Canon EOS 40d a few days ago and it has worked out about £200 cheaper than it would've cost in the UK (and that is going by online prices - will be an even bigger saving compared to UK store prices I guess)

Hey hey hey.. another photographer ?:) NICE.. I use the 40D for weddings, qualities is comparable to the 5D :)

Anyways, yeah, I bought my 40D the first week it came out, I took it to Japan with me last year to find out that its about CDN350 cheaper than what I paid for in Canada

ouch, that has gotta hurt :eek:

But yeah, I love taking pictures... been using a Sony Cybershot out here for the last year and figured it was time to upgrade to something less limiting

Still a huuuugggeeeeee newbie when it comes to the world of white balance, apertures etc. but it's something that will become more natural as I play with it more

Hey, just wanted to thank you all for the advice.

Heading off in two weeks now.

Wish me luck.