Budget travel in Japan

[samokan]

Majority of Asia eats Rice. That's the major staple food.
The ramen soup is made from pork bones, so its still meat. You can request to remove the meat actually and not drink the soup, just the noodles
I have not heard or tried a vegetarian ramen, or if there is even one .

No ,vegetable and fruits are cheap or as about the same price as meat. Fish and seafood are the ones that is expensive.

as of today: $1 ~ 124.95 yen .. yen is really is down these days

[Maku]

If you're thinking of travelling there on a budget, you should think of spending as little getting there as possible too.
That's why, when I head over there, it would be cheaper for me to go to Slovenia first, then onwards to Japan.
If you look on the right sites, you can save as much as £400 GBP.
Also, accomodation prices vary quite broadly depending on where you will be staying.
Large towns and cities are more expensive, as with every other country, but there still may be a chance that you will find the odd cheap place to stay if you look at the sites provided by previous posters.
The food question can only be answered by me after looking in the Japanese store and the Japanese restaurant in my town, which is hardly anything to go on so I wouldn't really trust it if I were you.
From what I've seen, foods without meat, fish or eggs are not uncommon, but they will come at a price.
To live off a budget for me in your position would mean mainly rice products e.g. onigiri, but then again I don't really take to having 3 set meals per day, so I'm not sure if this will be of any use to you.

And to answer a question just asked, $1 = 123.877 Yen at present, according to XE.com.

[Kanji_The_Wanderer]

Originally Posted by samokan

Majority of Asia eats Rice. That's the major staple food.
The ramen soup is made from pork bones, so its still meat. You can request to remove the meat actually and not drink the soup, just the noodles
I have not heard or tried a vegetarian ramen, or if there is even one .

No ,vegetable and fruits are cheap or as about the same price as meat. Fish and seafood are the ones that is expensive.

as of today: $1 ~ 124.95 yen .. yen is really is down these days

Ramen is made from Pork Bones? Weird, but very interesting....

How can meat be cheaper then seafood? That makes almost no sense to me. From what I know about Japan, and from what I have seen and read, there is not much room to grow livestock, so meat is very expensive. The ocean around Japan has a lot of marine life, and seafood is seen everywhere over there. So how can seafood be more money?

Also, how can Japan be one of the most expensive places to live, and yet there is such a big difference between US Dollars to Japanese Yen ??

[seiki]

it takes a lot of yen to buy somthing like white bread costs like 422 yen or somthing

[samokan]

Originally Posted by Kanji_The_Wanderer

Ramen is made from Pork Bones? Weird, but very interesting....

How can meat be cheaper then seafood? That makes almost no sense to me. From what I know about Japan, and from what I have seen and read, there is not much room to grow livestock, so meat is very expensive. The ocean around Japan has a lot of marine life, and seafood is seen everywhere over there. So how can seafood be more money?

Also, how can Japan be one of the most expensive places to live, and yet there is such a big difference between US Dollars to Japanese Yen ??

the broth Kanji not the noodles Not just bones I think, but the marrow as well, that is why cholesterol is high

Why? because seafood is probably more in demand than meat. The fresher the seafood is the more expensive it is.

Example: 3 slices of fresh salmon will probably cost you around 500yen up
and 5 slices of pork steak just cost about the same and sometimes cheaper.

A fresh "saba" or mackerel can go all the way up to 1000yen per piece ..

Of course there are still more expensive than the one I mentioned depending on its quality.

If you go to a high grade sushi bar, it will probably cost you more than 10,000yen in one meal. The quality of the fish is really awesome and so delicious.

[Maku]

It's to be expected about seafood, it's the only place I know that uses it so much.
Prices for salmon and crab are quite expensive all over the world though.

[samokan]

@Maku, not from where I came from. I could eat them everyday

[Maku]

Really? Salmon is really expensive here.

[Hatredcopter]

Originally Posted by Kanji_The_Wanderer

Also, how can Japan be one of the most expensive places to live, and yet there is such a big difference between US Dollars to Japanese Yen ??[/b][/color]

Well, take for example the fact that it costs ¥120 for a 10 oz. (approx) can of Coke. The dollar isn't exactly that much stronger than the yen, at least when you compare it with some of the world's other countries and their currencies.

Many people who don't understand currency values are fooled when they see that just one dollar equals over a hundred yen. But each ONE yen is like a cent to the Japanese - they don't have decimals (50.99 yen) like we do. One Yen in Japanese currency is the smallest, lightest coin that they have. There isn't even any paper money until you reach the 1,000 yen bill.

[seiki]

yeah thats kinda what i was attempting to say