Japan on a Budget

There is an interesting story on a Phillipine Website called www.rappler.com about how to visit Japan, a notoriously expensive country, at moderate cost. The complete reference is www.rappler.com/life-and-style/travel/59518-budget-guide-osaka-kyoto-japan.

It includes advice on how to get a cheap air fare from the Phillipines by booking far ahead when a promotion is announced, but also good ideas that can apply to all visitors. The author prefers staying at hostels or guest houses rather than hotels, and says that by booking ahead and avoiding major holidays you can get a traditional style room for about $35 per night. It will have air-conditioning, hot baths, WiFi, and be clean, apparently.

Kyoto and Osaka are known for their abundance of traditional architecture and temples, and are the cities to visit if you want to get a hint of the old Japan. Most temples and shrines are free, or charge admission of $4 or so at most. The best way to get around to see them is by using an all day bus pass which also costs $4.

Food can be expensive in Japan, but not if you stick to dishes like curry rice. A meal with a very large serving of curry rice, meat and tea goes for about $7, or try converyor belt sushi which costs $1 a piece. Sukiyaki is a fast food chain the writer likes.

Shopping is not a great bargain in Japan, but is an interesting experience. The international chains like Zara (www.zara.com) are among the less expensive places to find clothes if you need them.

I have observed how prices at shops like Zara vary from country to country. Here is Canada Zara is a low- to medium-price chain, but in Russia it is considerably more costly. A cotton shirt that cost about $70 in St. Petersburg would, I suspect, go for less than half that in Montreal.

Budget Travel in Tokyo

The February-March print edition of Money Sense,(http://www.MoneySense.ca) a Canadian magazine, has a short but useful article on how to visit one of the world's most costly cities on a budget, and without staying in a capsule hotel. A capsule hotel, for the uninitiated, has rooms that resemble train berths or coffins more than they do conventional hotel rooms. The bath, naturally, is down the hall and the capsule places offer rock-bottom prices (for Tokyo) of around $40 or $50 a night.
The writer has found some budget hotels where actual rooms, sometimes with breakfast, start at about $65 a night. He also recommends buying a pass for the city's extensive train and public transit system for about $19 a day, and an attraction and museum pass for $24 a day. High prices, yes, but this is Tokyo. Best of all, he suggests places in the Japanese capital where you can get a filling meal or snack for between $5 and $10.
If you always thought a trip to Japan was out of reach financially, this article proves that it is not. I did not find the article in the online edition, unfortunately. Money Sense doesn't publish many travel articles, but the ones it does have are generally good, as are many of their more general articles on investments and financial planning. (Full disclosure--I have written for Money Sense.)