Budget Travel
Capsule Hotels
They are around 3-4,000 yen a night. Most take only men, but there is one by exit #4 of the Asakusa station that has separate floors for men and women and a balcony overlooking Tokyo from the naked bath area.
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http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2364.html
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Travel Insurance
Here is a great site with good rates for JETs. It's all in Japanese so have your supervisor help you, but you should really invest in traveler's insurance before you travel. It could save so much money.
http://www.sompo-japan.co.jp/kinsurance/kaigai/off001.html
Here's one in English:
http://www.worldtravelcenter.com/eng/index.cfm?affiliate=googletravel
http://www.worldnomads.com
-------------------
Holding your Mail
If you fill out a special form, the post office will hold your mail until a date you specify. This is great when you will be gone for several weeks.
The form can be downloaded from:
http://www.post.japanpost.jp/question/fuzai/absent_report.pdf
-------------------
Cheap Western Hotel
http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/
This chain is SUPER cheap (in tokyo for 6000 yen!) and has tons and tons of hotels. You can book online and free breakfast of rice balls and miso soup are usually included. This is a very business hotel. The rooms are tiny and the bathrooms smaller but it is clean and cheap.
The business twin are designed so the bathroom is between the two beds so you do have a certain level of privacy if your getting the twin. The hotels tend to book up fairly quickly, at least the twins, but there tends to be another one in the same city very close (there are 2 within 5 minutes of each other in Tokyo!).
All the ones I've stayed at have a couple of computers in the lobby to use for free and a fax machine (and they let me send international faxes for free :)
-------------------
Car Hire
If you want to get to some of the more out-of-the-way places in Japan, but don't have your own wheels, consider hiring a car for the weekend. If more than 2 of you are traveling, it's often cheaper and more convenient than taking the train. Just make sure someone has either a (valid) International Permit, or a Japanese driver's license.
One of the main chains across Japan are called Tocoo travel , and they have the bonus of an English website. They offer special online deals, and you can book entirely in English online.
As an example, we hired an S-class (small-ish)4 people very comfortably, White plates) Mazda car online, for a special weekend deal: 5pm Friday pick-up until 11am Monday morning, a full tank and insurance included, was under 12,000!
Click on this link:
www.japan-guide.com/ad/coocom2.html
-------------------
Domestic Travel
Unless you are a very fluent Japanese speaker, my main advice to everyone would be: Plan, plan, and when you think you've planned enough, check it all and do some more planning!
The first few holidays I went on in Japan, I took my usual laissez-faire, whatever happens will happen approach. And the holidays bombed. If you can't read/speak Japanese, you can't pick up on the cool things that might be going on in town that day, you can't get directions to places, and you miss out on lots of exciting amazing Japanese things!
So research where you're going, plan where you want to be, get tickets in advance if possible, check prices, get maps online, plan subway routes and changes (I spent my 1st 2 weekends in Tokyo looking lost at subway maps and hardly even managed to get above ground the whole stay!), book restaurants .it seems like a lot of hard work for a holiday, but it pays off.
The Metropolitan and Japanzine websites are useful for Tokyo, and most towns have IIA's you can contact, or websites/newsletters to help you plan a trip.
And if, like me, you don't like having a rigidly planned schedule when you're traveling, try having at least a skeleton plan for each day or something to aim for in the afternoon, somewhere to be in the evening, Then you're leaving yourself time for spontaneous things to happen, but will at least manage something in the day! Yep, plan, plan, plan.
-------------------
Hooray for Kuro Neko! (Or the Black Cat service, in English). Tired of lugging your luggage everywhere when you're traveling in Japan? The send it on ahead!
If you call them up, the Black Cat people will come to your house and pick up whatever you want sent (omiyage, suitcases, ski sets), check the addresses, take the money, and then bring your bag to wherever you want it to go. You can pick up the forms with the local phone numbers from post offices, Lawsons, and wherever you see a little blue flag with 2 black cats on it. You can also bring your bags to Lawsons, or one of the flag places, and leave them there and they'll be picked up and delivered later.
This service is really cheap and very quick and I've heard that a snowboard set went from Iwaki, Fukushima to Niseko, Hokkaido, for about 1500 yen each way. A large suitcase went to Tokyo to Ishikawa for about 1000 yen. They will arrive within 2 or 3 days.
You can also specify the date you want your suitcase to arrive somewhere, and they'll hold it until that date for you.
Just make sure to check with your hotel/pension/hostel that they accept delivery and will hold onto your things until you arrive. Or the local black cat delivery depot will hold onto it for you.
In previous years, you can even Black Cat your tent and sleeping bags to Fuji Rock Festival!
Awesome.
Of course, they will also pick up your bags for you when you want to go home, leaving your last day in anyplace free to wander without dragging a huge backpack around. The hotel/hostel/B+B will arrange that for you. Not to be mistaken for a pack-horse whilst you travel around Japan is worth every last little yen!
-------------------
Birthday Discount
The most amazing travel deal in Japan, ANA and JAL offer everyone (Japanese and foreigners) special deals on their birthdays. You can fly anywhere in Japan for only 12,600 each way for a week either side of your birthday. Sweet.
You can also bring up to 3 friends with you, so 4 people in total (per birthday) can fly together for 12,600 each, but you must book all 4 people's flights at the same time, and they have to be traveling together on the same flight.
You'll need to bring your passport to the travel agents (JTB are good for this) to prove it's your birthday.
Also, as there are limited birthday seats on each flight, book as far ahead as you can. The booking opens 2 months before your birthday, and I recommend going exactly 2 months before to avoid disappointment.
But when it works, it's great! When 2 people in my town had birthdays on the same weekend, 8 of us flew to Okinawa from Fukushima for 25,200 yen return! Happy birthday!
------------------
Definitive Train Info
http://www.seat61.com/
Set up by a British guy who worked/works for the train company. It has vital information on most all trains in the world. Definitely check out this site before riding a train.
Have you heard of the Youth 18 ticket? It's called "Seishin Juhachi kippu" in Japanese and the name is slightly misleading, because you do not have to be a youthful 18 year old to use it, any age is ok!
It costs 11,500 yen and gives you 5 unlimited one-day passes on the local JR Train network. So, once you have the time to travel on local trains (and we all get enough nenkyuu), you can go ANYWHERE! in Japan for just over 2000 yen per day!
If 5 of you are traveling anywhere, you can buy one Youth 18 ticket, and each use one of the portions. Or you can use it yourself for 5 days solo travel. Whatever! You can get on and off the trains all day, but remember, it expires at midnight.
Also, it's only sold during school holidays, and you have to use it the same holiday that you buy it.
Ask at your station!
----------------------
Camping
Can't get much cheaper than a tent!
The Japan National Tourist Organization has a lot of information about camping, and also addresses of campsites. There are more of them out there than you might think!
At almost all campsites, you can also rent a tent and sleeping bags for around 1000 yen per night, which is excellent news for people traveling by bus/bicycle/train. They also usually have BBQ pits for hire, and will sell you charcoal.
Watch out for campsite curfews though, a friend of mine was caught one night at the Okinawan Prefectural forest's campsite. The gates were locked at 6pm (?!?), He hadn't eaten dinner yet, and there were no shops or restaurants in the vicinity...the nice gatekeeper let him out and gave him his keitai number so he could call him when he got back, but it would have been better to know about it in the 1st place. The guidebooks say to book in advance for public holidays.
--------------------
Cheap Ryokan
Just before the New Koyo is a slightly nicer two person Ryokan. Rooms are 8,000 yen and are Japanese style with futon. There is a general use bathroom and shower. There is also a free Jacuzzi tub upstairs that must be reserved.
http://www.andon.co.jp/
Cheaper, but not as nice
Some say it's like a minimum security prison, but it's still cheap. At 2,500 yen a night, it claims to be the cheapest hotel in Tokyo. Though technically it's a short ride away on the Hibiya Line, to Minowa station, it's still close enough, especially for the price.
Rooms are singles or doubles. Singles are usually just as big as a bed and about 2 feet of space with a TV and closet. There is a general use shower, free massage chair, washer and dryer, and kitchen area. Toilets are separated by gender and floors.
Make reservations well in advance, they are usually booked.
http://www.newkoyo.com/
They are around 3-4,000 yen a night. Most take only men, but there is one by exit #4 of the Asakusa station that has separate floors for men and women and a balcony overlooking Tokyo from the naked bath area.
-------------------
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/
-------------------
Travel Insurance
Here is a great site with good rates for JETs. It's all in Japanese so have your supervisor help you, but you should really invest in traveler's insurance before you travel. It could save so much money.
http://www.sompo-japan.co.jp/
Here's one in English:
http://www.worldtravelcenter.
http://www.worldnomads.com
-------------------
Holding your Mail
If you fill out a special form, the post office will hold your mail until a date you specify. This is great when you will be gone for several weeks.
The form can be downloaded from:
http://www.post.japanpost.jp/
-------------------
Cheap Western Hotel
http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/
This chain is SUPER cheap (in tokyo for 6000 yen!) and has tons and tons of hotels. You can book online and free breakfast of rice balls and miso soup are usually included. This is a very business hotel. The rooms are tiny and the bathrooms smaller but it is clean and cheap.
The business twin are designed so the bathroom is between the two beds so you do have a certain level of privacy if your getting the twin. The hotels tend to book up fairly quickly, at least the twins, but there tends to be another one in the same city very close (there are 2 within 5 minutes of each other in Tokyo!).
All the ones I've stayed at have a couple of computers in the lobby to use for free and a fax machine (and they let me send international faxes for free :)
-------------------
Car Hire
If you want to get to some of the more out-of-the-way places in Japan, but don't have your own wheels, consider hiring a car for the weekend. If more than 2 of you are traveling, it's often cheaper and more convenient than taking the train. Just make sure someone has either a (valid) International Permit, or a Japanese driver's license.
One of the main chains across Japan are called Tocoo travel , and they have the bonus of an English website. They offer special online deals, and you can book entirely in English online.
As an example, we hired an S-class (small-ish)4 people very comfortably, White plates) Mazda car online, for a special weekend deal: 5pm Friday pick-up until 11am Monday morning, a full tank and insurance included, was under 12,000!
Click on this link:
www.japan-guide.com/ad/
-------------------
Domestic Travel
Unless you are a very fluent Japanese speaker, my main advice to everyone would be: Plan, plan, and when you think you've planned enough, check it all and do some more planning!
The first few holidays I went on in Japan, I took my usual laissez-faire, whatever happens will happen approach. And the holidays bombed. If you can't read/speak Japanese, you can't pick up on the cool things that might be going on in town that day, you can't get directions to places, and you miss out on lots of exciting amazing Japanese things!
So research where you're going, plan where you want to be, get tickets in advance if possible, check prices, get maps online, plan subway routes and changes (I spent my 1st 2 weekends in Tokyo looking lost at subway maps and hardly even managed to get above ground the whole stay!), book restaurants .it seems like a lot of hard work for a holiday, but it pays off.
The Metropolitan and Japanzine websites are useful for Tokyo, and most towns have IIA's you can contact, or websites/newsletters to help you plan a trip.
And if, like me, you don't like having a rigidly planned schedule when you're traveling, try having at least a skeleton plan for each day or something to aim for in the afternoon, somewhere to be in the evening, Then you're leaving yourself time for spontaneous things to happen, but will at least manage something in the day! Yep, plan, plan, plan.
-------------------
Hooray for Kuro Neko! (Or the Black Cat service, in English). Tired of lugging your luggage everywhere when you're traveling in Japan? The send it on ahead!
If you call them up, the Black Cat people will come to your house and pick up whatever you want sent (omiyage, suitcases, ski sets), check the addresses, take the money, and then bring your bag to wherever you want it to go. You can pick up the forms with the local phone numbers from post offices, Lawsons, and wherever you see a little blue flag with 2 black cats on it. You can also bring your bags to Lawsons, or one of the flag places, and leave them there and they'll be picked up and delivered later.
This service is really cheap and very quick and I've heard that a snowboard set went from Iwaki, Fukushima to Niseko, Hokkaido, for about 1500 yen each way. A large suitcase went to Tokyo to Ishikawa for about 1000 yen. They will arrive within 2 or 3 days.
You can also specify the date you want your suitcase to arrive somewhere, and they'll hold it until that date for you.
Just make sure to check with your hotel/pension/hostel that they accept delivery and will hold onto your things until you arrive. Or the local black cat delivery depot will hold onto it for you.
In previous years, you can even Black Cat your tent and sleeping bags to Fuji Rock Festival!
Awesome.
Of course, they will also pick up your bags for you when you want to go home, leaving your last day in anyplace free to wander without dragging a huge backpack around. The hotel/hostel/B+B will arrange that for you. Not to be mistaken for a pack-horse whilst you travel around Japan is worth every last little yen!
-------------------
Birthday Discount
The most amazing travel deal in Japan, ANA and JAL offer everyone (Japanese and foreigners) special deals on their birthdays. You can fly anywhere in Japan for only 12,600 each way for a week either side of your birthday. Sweet.
You can also bring up to 3 friends with you, so 4 people in total (per birthday) can fly together for 12,600 each, but you must book all 4 people's flights at the same time, and they have to be traveling together on the same flight.
You'll need to bring your passport to the travel agents (JTB are good for this) to prove it's your birthday.
Also, as there are limited birthday seats on each flight, book as far ahead as you can. The booking opens 2 months before your birthday, and I recommend going exactly 2 months before to avoid disappointment.
But when it works, it's great! When 2 people in my town had birthdays on the same weekend, 8 of us flew to Okinawa from Fukushima for 25,200 yen return! Happy birthday!
------------------
Definitive Train Info
http://www.seat61.com/
Set up by a British guy who worked/works for the train company. It has vital information on most all trains in the world. Definitely check out this site before riding a train.
Have you heard of the Youth 18 ticket? It's called "Seishin Juhachi kippu" in Japanese and the name is slightly misleading, because you do not have to be a youthful 18 year old to use it, any age is ok!
It costs 11,500 yen and gives you 5 unlimited one-day passes on the local JR Train network. So, once you have the time to travel on local trains (and we all get enough nenkyuu), you can go ANYWHERE! in Japan for just over 2000 yen per day!
If 5 of you are traveling anywhere, you can buy one Youth 18 ticket, and each use one of the portions. Or you can use it yourself for 5 days solo travel. Whatever! You can get on and off the trains all day, but remember, it expires at midnight.
Also, it's only sold during school holidays, and you have to use it the same holiday that you buy it.
Ask at your station!
----------------------
Camping
Can't get much cheaper than a tent!
The Japan National Tourist Organization has a lot of information about camping, and also addresses of campsites. There are more of them out there than you might think!
At almost all campsites, you can also rent a tent and sleeping bags for around 1000 yen per night, which is excellent news for people traveling by bus/bicycle/train. They also usually have BBQ pits for hire, and will sell you charcoal.
Watch out for campsite curfews though, a friend of mine was caught one night at the Okinawan Prefectural forest's campsite. The gates were locked at 6pm (?!?), He hadn't eaten dinner yet, and there were no shops or restaurants in the vicinity...the nice gatekeeper let him out and gave him his keitai number so he could call him when he got back, but it would have been better to know about it in the 1st place. The guidebooks say to book in advance for public holidays.
--------------------
Cheap Ryokan
Just before the New Koyo is a slightly nicer two person Ryokan. Rooms are 8,000 yen and are Japanese style with futon. There is a general use bathroom and shower. There is also a free Jacuzzi tub upstairs that must be reserved.
http://www.andon.co.jp/
Cheaper, but not as nice
Some say it's like a minimum security prison, but it's still cheap. At 2,500 yen a night, it claims to be the cheapest hotel in Tokyo. Though technically it's a short ride away on the Hibiya Line, to Minowa station, it's still close enough, especially for the price.
Rooms are singles or doubles. Singles are usually just as big as a bed and about 2 feet of space with a TV and closet. There is a general use shower, free massage chair, washer and dryer, and kitchen area. Toilets are separated by gender and floors.
Make reservations well in advance, they are usually booked.
http://www.newkoyo.com/
--------------------
International travel from Japan
Usually costs more to travel domestically in Japan than to travel outside of Japan. Most of Asia is within reach so this is a good opportunity to travel.
http://www.tour.ne.jp/w_air/
The search engine is in Japanese.
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Travelling Options in Japan
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