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tokyo12345 (Offline)
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Going to Tokyo in January - 12-01-2008, 06:35 AM

I'm going to Tokyo for a month, and before I go I have a few questions;

1) Is 31,000¥ enough for 4 weeks food? I won't be eating at restaurants (except for sometimes lunch and breakfast where I've seen meals at mos burger etc. at about 290¥) and will mainly just be buying bento from department stores and making my own meals.

2)Is there a Tokyo version of the JR Pass? Like a month long all access pass to Tokyo railway lines for a month?

3)How can I reserve a seat on the Keisei Ueno skyliner from the internet? (The Narita <--> Ueno skyliner) I've looked on their website and cant find out how to reserve a seat...

4)Recommendations of must see places in Tokyo

Thanks.
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12-01-2008, 07:12 AM

1) I'd suggest more than that, at least try to budget $15-20 a day for food to be on the safe side, and to allow you to eat more than the very cheapest junk food like instant ramen. Decent quality food will probably cost you about $4-5 for breakfast, $5-6 for lunch, and $6-9 for dinner. And that is not for anything even approaching fancy, just simple stuff like okonomiyaki, ramen, domburi, yakitori, yakisoba, tonkatsu, etc. You could get away with a $10 day here or there by eating only 2 meals, or eating really super-cheapo stuff, but I don't think you'd enjoy the food very much day in and day out, and Japan has such great food, it would be a shame if all you ever ate during a month-long trip was the instant ramen and mos burgers.

4) I'd recommend leaving Tokyo, at least for short trips, to see the best parts of Japan...


JET Program, 1996-98, Wakayama-ken, Hashimoto-shi

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tokyo12345 (Offline)
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12-01-2008, 08:24 AM

Thanks for your reply

I'm bringing an extra 30,000¥ just in case the 31,000 for food and 20,000 for trains isn't enough, but hopefully I won't spend too much of it. But, of course I'm gonna try some good quality japanese food some of the time

As much as I'd like to see other places of Japan, I'm a student and haven't really budgeted enough money for the trip to be taking trains to places like Kyoto or Osaka, unfortunately.... Maybe next time.
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samurai007 (Offline)
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12-01-2008, 09:00 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by tokyo12345 View Post
Thanks for your reply

I'm bringing an extra 30,000¥ just in case the 31,000 for food and 20,000 for trains isn't enough, but hopefully I won't spend too much of it. But, of course I'm gonna try some good quality japanese food some of the time

As much as I'd like to see other places of Japan, I'm a student and haven't really budgeted enough money for the trip to be taking trains to places like Kyoto or Osaka, unfortunately.... Maybe next time.
Even if you can't make it that far south, a day trip to Nikko or Hakone or the Japan Alps may be possible...


JET Program, 1996-98, Wakayama-ken, Hashimoto-shi

Link to pictures from my time in Japan
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12-01-2008, 05:43 PM

If he gets a rail pass for 2 weeks, it should cost him just about 30000 yen, which allow him to take the Shinkansen to travel to Kyoto and Osaka as well

4 weeks is a fairly long time, it will be a pity if you don't go across all the major cities.. i did 11 major cities of Honshu in 2 weeks
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MMM (Offline)
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12-01-2008, 09:58 PM

4 weeks in Tokyo is way too long...you can see just about everything in 7 to 10 days.

If you are going to be in Tokyo the whole time I would budget at least 3000 yen a day for food.
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12-01-2008, 10:04 PM

If you eat Yoshinoya for breakfast, lunch and dinner, you could survive off 30,000 yen :P
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12-01-2008, 11:01 PM

Ya $300 for a months worth of food is cutting it close, u cant eat junky stuff the whole time your there. But, if your trying to budget, 7-11's actually has decent food there (unlike the USA) You can get a decent meal in there for under $5 or 500 yen, and they'll heat it up for you too.

Must see places in Tokyo:
Asakusa Temple (not to far from Kuramae)

Theres a sumo museum/arena not to far from Asakusa temple, i don't know the name of it but you can walk there in like 30 minutes from the temple.

Tokyo Palace is open on Sundays i think

Tsukiji Fish Market Is an absolute must!! And bring some money for food. The best Donbori i ate in Japan

Another good place to go on Sundays is Yayogi Park, there's usually lots of people dressed up and stuff.

Meiji Shrine is nice also.

Tokyo Tower is cool.

Roppongi Hills Tower is awesome. Not sure how old you are but theres lots of bars and nice restaurants there. But mainly, there s a panoramic view of Tokyo city witch is stunning as well as a contemporary art show for 1500yen. IF you can get to Roppongi hills tower before 7pm you get to go to the sky deck/bar for the view... Its awesome.

You can take an hour and half bus ride to City near MT.Fugi is (Fujikawa) from Shinjuku Station for 1700 yen ( if i remember correctly).. Then from Fujikawa station another bus ride to Mt. Fuji for an additional low cost. You can do that in a day trip or make it a 1 or 2 day thing because theres more to see in that area, and the city is beautiful. You can stay at a hostel for less than 3,000 yen a night so if you have some extra cash its well worth it.

Thats all i can remember for now, and im not sure if i spelled everything correctly. Other obvious places to go are Shibuya, Akihabura and Harajuku..

Hope this helps.
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Troo (Offline)
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12-09-2008, 03:43 PM

Quote:
1) Is 31,000¥ enough for 4 weeks food? I won't be eating at restaurants (except for sometimes lunch and breakfast where I've seen meals at mos burger etc. at about 290¥) and will mainly just be buying bento from department stores and making my own meals.
Buying fresh ingredients in Japan is notoriously more expensive than eating out. I'm not sure to what degree you'd like to be making your own meals (i.e. do you want to make your own dashi stock, or buy it pre-prepared? Do you want to even go to the level of using dashi, or will you buy pre-prepared meals to heat up?), but the above advice on how much it costs to eat seems good to me. I've got by on around 1,000 yen in a single day (bakery for breakfast, student-cheap ramen for lunch and dinner), but you really should allow about 1,000 yen for an evening meal, maybe 500 yen for lunch, and around 100-500 for breakfast (depending on what you like to eat for breakfast). Remember that having anything other than the free water will bump up the cost of a meal, so consider before requesting juice, coke, or coffee.

Quote:
2)Is there a Tokyo version of the JR Pass? Like a month long all access pass to Tokyo railway lines for a month?
You can get a JR-East pass: JR-EAST:JR EAST PASS

Japan's rail networks are quite a convoluted affair. Along with the various Japan Rail divisions, there are a plethora of privately-owned rail lines. In inner-city Tokyo you won't really need JR lines at all. Transit is covered by buses and underground rail, of which there are two operators: Toei and Tokyo Metro. Both Toei and Metro offer a day pass which only covers that company's lines, but I have managed to buy a Metro day pass which included Toei lines for marginally less than buying the two day-passes separately would have cost. It's well worth knowing in advance how much travel you are likely to do that day to see whether it's worth the cost of the pass (around 900 yen), or whether single tickets will be cheaper.

If you'll be travelling out into the greater Tokyo area, then the majority of those lines are JR, and either a full JR pass or a JR-East will cover them.

Quote:
3)How can I reserve a seat on the Keisei Ueno skyliner from the internet? (The Narita <--> Ueno skyliner) I've looked on their website and cant find out how to reserve a seat...
I wouldn't bother, to be honest. The Skyliner leaves Narita every ten minutes or so, and the chaps at the ticket counters speak reasonable English. You can also save yourself quite a few yen by using regular rail from Narita into Tokyo, and it only takes an extra half-hour. While the Skyliner is a nice, comfortable train, and cheaper than the Narita Express (which goes to Tokyo station, not Ueno), it's more expensive than the regular ole kaisoku services (which also go to Tokyo station).

I'd say it depends on:
- How long you've spent on the plane to NRT (is it a mere 5-hour hop, or a full-on 12-hour slog?)
- Whether or not you can sleep on planes
- How desperate you are to reach your hotel on arrival
- Where your hotel is, and which Tokyo terminal is easier

Quote:
4)Recommendations of must see places in Tokyo
I heartily reccommend Sengakuji temple, although you need to use that pesky Toei subway to get to it
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