Budget travel in Japan - tips and info thread

[jaskak]

Since i travel slow, i can look for other option. Now going to spend whole month in Tokyo, decided to rent a room in Shinjuku-ku area, nice place, all furnished room, internet included and a kitchen, all this 900SGD per month. Did not take train pass, bcs trains to north are not running at the moment, we all know why.
So planning to do some hitchhiking when the time come.
All in all, in tokyo everything is almost back to normal

 

[petetherock]

So its ok to travel to Tokyo and drink / eat their food then?
Will be passing by in May.

 

[jaskak]

Water is safe, tokyo is almost functioning normally, some metro lines are not running and big bright neon lights are turned of. Other than that its ok, well ok, do not eat fresh vegetables for now.
Not too many tourists on a streets ..

 

[petetherock]

Decided to skip Japan for now...

http://relax.com.sg/relax/news/591758/Airlines_change_schedules_in_wake_of_Japan_disaster.html

TOKYO/CHICAGO - At least three major airlines have added a stop in Seoul for flights in and out of Japan due to staffing and supply concerns.
Japan has had fuel, food and power shortages in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami. The world's third largest economy is also grappling with serious problems at its Fukushima nuclear plant.

British Airways, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa have moved crews to Seoul and are using catering services out of Incheon airport, adding a stop in the country for flights through Japan, a Seoul Regional Aviation Administration official said.
The stopover in Seoul adds at least two hours to long-haul flights.
Air France's sister airline, KLM of the Netherlands, has added an intermediate stop on flights out of Tokyo at Kansai airport, near Osaka in Japan, until April 8, a spokeswoman said. The carriers share a parent company but operate independently.
Other carriers serving Asia-Pacific, including Australia's Qantas, have added stopovers in Hong Kong, according to industry data.
AMR Corp, parent of American Airlines, said it planned to suspend flights from New York's John F. Kennedy Airport to Narita and one of the two Dallas/Ft. Worth to Narita round trips, effective April 6. Those flights are expected to resume April 26. Four other round trips to Narita operated by American Airlines from Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Dallas/Ft. Worth will not be affected.
"This is driven by falling demand," AMR spokesman Tim Smith said in an email. "We continue to monitor the situation."
Delta Air Lines Inc said it would continue operating nonstop service through its hub at Narita, between Japan and the cities it served at the time of the earthquake.
Delta said on its website that it would delay the start of nonstop service between Tokyo-Narita and Guangzhou, China, to July 5 from April 6.
Qantas said on Wednesday that it planned to scale back flights and cut management jobs to help offset fuel costs and an estimated US$144 million (S$181.6 million) hit to earnings from natural disasters in key markets.
Passenger traffic to Japan has decreased since the earthquake, with some international companies placing travel restrictions on employees.

 

[jaskak]

Well, i feel that everything is fine in Tokyo. Having a good time here and sakura has just started

 

[petetherock]

Tokyo Disneyland to reopen Friday

The Yomiuri Shimbun/Asia News Network
Mon, Apr 11, 2011

Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, will resume operations Friday after being closed since the March 11 earthquake, the amusement park's operator Oriental Land Co. said.
But given the electricity shortage caused by power plant shutdowns in the wake of the March 11 disaster, Tokyo Disneyland will not operate after 6 p.m. for the time being.
Hotels around the amusement park will likely also return to full operations gradually, sources said.
The park operator said it has put off the reopening of Tokyo Disney Sea, a separate amusement park adjacent to Tokyo Disneyland, until late this month at the earliest.
According to a senior official at the company, sections of Tokyo Disneyland's carpark were damaged due to liquefaction, but facilities inside the amusement park suffered no major damage.
-The Yomiuri Shimbun/Asia News Network

 

[petetherock]

Dear friends

I am planning a one week stay in Hokkaido just after CNY 2012.
Considering SQ, but open to other flights too esp if they fly straight to Hokkaido from SIN.


Some things I want to try:
- onsen
- maybe 2-3 days of snow time / skiing
- living in a ryokan
- seafood

Everything else is flexi and open to suggestions.

I am hoping bros here will chip in with hotel / ryokan recommendations, food places, things to do etc...

Thanks

 

[nemesis32]

Don't think there's direct fly to hokkaido from SG. The only flights direct to hokkaido are those chartered flights during peak season for tour group

 

[simonsng]

yup, no direct.

However, you might want to consider China Air or China eastern, both with 1 stop transit at Beijing and Shanghai respectively. The latter is the most affordable at $780 (inclusive of tax). Have not tried both, but if anyone who have, appreciate if you could give us a review.

 

[petetherock]

Thanks, anyone with their itinerary to share, please post or pm me?
Cheers.

 

[Sausage]

Can I know, for those who're renting apartments at <$1000 a month, where you get info on these places? It seems a lot cheaper than staying at a hotel for a week. Any restrictions or limitations?

 

[nemesis32]

SQ flight to Tokyo is only 500+ including taxes now, so you can always fly to Tokyo (preferably Haneda) then take domestic flight to Hokkaido. Alternatively take the JR/shinkansen to Hokkaido...

 

[photoart]

i'll like to share my personal experience regarding travel in Japan (mainly tokyo). Tokyo was my dream destination for a long time. However with many people saying that Japan is an expensive country to visit, I have been putting it off until I earn enough money.

However on a good opportunity, i finally had a chance to go. Back then in 2008, I was still a poor man struggling a career. Me and my wife got ourselves a cheap pair of tickets and searched the internet for the best deals

The trip was 4 years ago and I lost the photos when my hard disk crashed, so I am trying to recall it off my memory so please excuse me if my info isn't 100% acurate

We stayed at a ryokan for about S$65/night. It was small but very clean with attached toliet and even had a small wooden bathtub. We even made friends with the owners, a pretty pair of female twins (coincidently they once visited singapore for a 2-weeks student exchange programme)

our schedule was like this. We will visit supermarkets at about 8-10pm when all fresh food stuff will go on sale for 50% off or even more. This is when we buy sushi or shashimi as our dinner. We will also buy discounted cooked stuff(like tako balls) for breakfast. There's a common fridge and microwave oven for all guests at the ryokan that we were staying. Discounted sushi and shashmi went as low as S$5/pack.

We had meals at small eateries or fastfood restaurants like Yoshinoya instead of restaurants. I remember our average meals is about $$7-$10 each. Sometimes we do spend about $12-15. This is about the same if we eat at Japanese restaurants in Singapore. Near our hotel, We were lucky to find a small shop selling bentos(consist of rice,main dish and side dish) for $4-5

Some shops selling sports like nike and adidas were having clearing sale and we manage to get sneakers for S$40-50. Of coz there were the 100yen shops, like the Daiso we have here. That's about $$1.5. We bought gifts and snacks from these 100yen shops.

It was a good experience for the both of us. We didn't live like kings but we really had fun. I wished we went earlier instead of worrying that we wouldnt enjoy because Japan was too expensive

 

[daniellcs]

Thanks, anyone with their itinerary to share, please post or pm me?
Cheers.

I was in Hokkaido last November (plus a handful of other occasions) and would recommend the following:

Take the domestic flight (ANA) from Haneda to Hakodate.
At Hakodate (2 nights), visit the seafood market, take the ropeway up the Mount Hakodate (best nighttime city view).
Take the train to Otaru (nice landscapes along the way).
At Otaru (1 night), visit the old warehouses and tourist street shops (perfect for shopaholic girlfriends).
Take train to Sapporo city.
At Sapporo (2-3 nights), visit Hokkaido university (nice quaint colonial bldgs), Otaru tower, Clockhouse, and all you can eat snow crabs (2 hours, 35 pax sitting).
Take a day trip to Jozankei for your onsen fix.
Take an overnight trip to Niseko for your skiing fix (very commercialized now, heaps of English speaking instructors).
Take domestic flight from New Chitose Airport to Haneda.

Hope that is enough to whet your appetite. Cheers.

 

[giantcanopy]

Dear friends

I am planning a one week stay in Hokkaido just after CNY 2012.
Considering SQ, but open to other flights too esp if they fly straight to Hokkaido from SIN.


Some things I want to try:
- onsen
- maybe 2-3 days of snow time / skiing
- living in a ryokan
- seafood

Everything else is flexi and open to suggestions.

I am hoping bros here will chip in with hotel / ryokan recommendations, food places, things to do etc...

Thanks

I did think of revisiting Japan previously in winter but it was quickly replaced with another trip somehow.

A few things I thought I would have done

- visiting the snow monkeys in Nagano ( unfortunately they are not exactly in Hokkaido ), and if it is a week, I think there will be too much time wasted on transport.
- the crane sancturaries in the northern areas of Hokkaido ( again you might want to see if it is worth the while going all the way up north )
- soak in an onsen in the open (snow) every day, while enjoying some hot sake.
- while u r there skiing in Furano, you can drop by Biei and taking some photos of their fields in winter. I have seen some great local photog galleries of amazing shots of the winterscapes. If you have visited Biei in summer, you will know they make better subjects in winter. However I am not sure about how to even do them without driving the big area. ( we cycled during summer ) Here are some examples : http://www.realjapan.org/photo/Bieifuyu/index.html ( of course it can be done better )
- Check up when are the dates of Sapporo Snow Festival. Odori park and susukino will be even lovelier.

Enjoy ur trip!
Ryan

 

[petetherock]

This certainly helps...
Anyone know a nice ryokan in the Hokkaido area, which has a personal onsen?
We are probably going to be a part of 4-6 people, and a highlight for us, is soaking in warm water with the snow falling outside... cheers.

I was in Hokkaido last November (plus a handful of other occasions) and would recommend the following:

Take the domestic flight (ANA) from Haneda to Hakodate.
At Hakodate (2 nights), visit the seafood market, take the ropeway up the Mount Hakodate (best nighttime city view).
Take the train to Otaru (nice landscapes along the way).
At Otaru (1 night), visit the old warehouses and tourist street shops (perfect for shopaholic girlfriends).
Take train to Sapporo city.
At Sapporo (2-3 nights), visit Hokkaido university (nice quaint colonial bldgs), Otaru tower, Clockhouse, and all you can eat snow crabs (2 hours, 35 pax sitting).
Take a day trip to Jozankei for your onsen fix.
Take an overnight trip to Niseko for your skiing fix (very commercialized now, heaps of English speaking instructors).
Take domestic flight from New Chitose Airport to Haneda.

Hope that is enough to whet your appetite. Cheers.

 

[samtcy]

I added some useful Japan links when I did my Japan trips' plannings on my blog...just to share.

My November 2010 Japan trip details & links to pics: here
*Tokyo/Kyoto/Hokkaido/Sapporo/Otaru/Lake Toya/Noboribetsu

My July 2011 Japan trip details: here
*Kobe/Miyajima/Hiroshima/Osaka/Takayama/Shirakawa-go/Kyoto

Other general useful links which I used: here

 

[petetherock]

Great links and pics bro, thanks!

Currently I have in mind:

7-8 days. Early Feb

Day 1 Sin - Chitose
Day 2 Snow time
Day 3 Snow time (ski etc)
Day 4 Back to Hokkaido cities + touring
Day 5 Hokkaido
day 6 Hokkaido
Day 7 Hokkaido- Tokyo
Day 8 Toyko - SIN


KPI for the trip

- ski
- sit in an Onsen in a real Ryokan and watch the snow outside
- eat, eat & eat!
- see sights in Hokkaido - this is where I need lots of recommendations

Cheers.

 

[shanmugong]

Hi all

Planning for tokyo next month. Just to check if the energy level at Tokyo is normalized? Shibuya without all that neon lights are not fun to begin with.

 

[NikF601]

Hi all

Planning for tokyo next month. Just to check if the energy level at Tokyo is normalized? Shibuya without all that neon lights are not fun to begin with.

Tokyo is hot ! 34 degree, not good to go next month