Is 1700 US dollars enough?
 

After paying for the flight ticket and hotel I will have 1700 US dollars for food and some shopping in Toyo. I am planning on staying there for 9 days. Will 1700 dollars cover my costs including food?

Things I am planning to buy (besides food of course):

- children's books in Japanese

- maybe a couple of t-shirts and jeans.

Go for it, my friend. You're as free as the wind.

Maruchan Ramen.
Just don't plan on high rolling. Apparently, Tokyo is the most expensive place in Japan.
I'd set a maximum budget of about $150 a day.
That way you'll have a little emergency cash afterward.

if you go hostel living you should have plenty of cash left!

The 1700 doesn't include hotel.

So what do you think MMM? You're the Japan expert here

That should be more than enough to enjoy yourself.

that's about 140k yen these days I think,

for just shopping, food and transportation you should be fine, not fancy but fine :)

Some things I would watch out for:

Taxis. If you take a Taxi everywhere you go, your money will drain pretty quickly. The Subway system and local trains may seem intimidating, but it is pretty simple once you are actually there.

Jeans. I bring this up because you mentioned buying jeans. I bought a pair of jeans in Tokyo last time I was there and they are the best jeans I have (quality wise and stylish) but they also cost around $160. I wanted several other pairs of jeans while in Japan, and several of them exceeded $200 or $300 each. Just don't buy too many and you should be fine ;)

I guess it depends on where you get it from... I did most of my clothing shopping at jeans mate and the like, they are very affordable.... my friend bought a sweater at shibuya for well over 250, so it depends on where and what you are getting..

I am really tempted to make a sarcastic comment but in the name of civility I will just say that 1700 bucks should be plenty under normal circumstances.

To back up Jesselt's advice, absolutely DO NOT take Taxi's.

Again, the train system might be quite daunting at first, but stick with it and you will be a pro at it within a day.

Taxi's are unbelievably high priced and will drain your funds in an instant.

Yes and no. Depending on how many people are traveling. If you have 5 adults, and a short distance to travel (let say, between 2-4 stops on yamanote or chuo line), it may make more sense to take a taxi. At least, for me splitting the bill between 5 passenger from Tokyo Dome to Akiba was cheaper than taking the metro and train......

Well, that logic very well applies to anywhere in the world if you have 5 people with you, sure.

But all the same, even if you might be saving a bit, unless you have money to burn, I wouldn't take one at all. Something about weening yourself off the convenience I guess.

That's an adequate amount of money for sure, but I hope you have a credit card in case of emergencies etc.

it is because you get stuff in Yokosuka base, given that you know anyone inside. It makes shopping cheap as hell.

I don't know. If you are going to use transportation at all, that costs lots of money already, a simple phone call costs lots, and so do all meals/souveniers. ONLY meals souveniers can be covered by 700 dollars for 12 days, but you need to consider other accomidations as well

No... I don't know anyone inside Yokosuka.. not anymore anyways..... I did most of my shopping off the street, i am not saying that things will always be cheap, just need to shop around and be careful