Travel Tokyo on a Budget!

A Budget Traveler’s Guide to Surviving One of the World’s Most Expensive Cities

(As published in the December 2015 issue of Hardware Zone PH Magazine)

Oftentimes, fist timers and budget travelers get intimidated about traveling to Japan, particularly it’s capital city, Tokyo. It has been consistently listed in the top 10 most expensive cities for the past few years, which shies away budget travelers.

On my recent trip to Japan, I have realized that traveling to Tokyo can be cheaper than traveling to Hong Kong, which is the usual destination of Filipino travelers. But now, you have to know that Tokyo has fallen off from the top 10 most expensive cities due to the weakness of the Japanese Yen against the US Dollar. While this is bad news to Japan, this is good news for tourists as this would be the best time to travel there. Their government is very considerate to tourists now. I got my 5-year multiple entry visa in just 2-3 business days.

Let me share 10 tips to help you enjoy Tokyo without spending so much:

1.     Plan ahead! Make an itinerary, have a budget, make a shopping list, know what you want. This would help you save time and money as you go around the city. In Japan, everything is on time. I’m glad I brought my Veloci watch that got me constantly updated with the time.

Veloci Time

2.     Watch out for a seat sale! You would be surprised that my roundtrip airfare only costs around Php 4,000 (roundtrip Manila-Cebu-Narita), which I purchased during on April 2015. I took advantage of the seat sale and bought another ticket from Nagoya to Manila at Php 2,000, just so I wouldn’t have to pass through Cebu anymore.

a photo with Hachiko as soon as I arrived

3.     If you’re a solo traveler, CouchSurf! Not only you would meet new friends, you get a free accommodation too. Visit www.couchsurfing.org for more info.

4.     If you travel as a couple or a group, go AirBnB. This is way cheaper than getting a hotel room. You get to have your own place at the city’s top locations at just around Php 800 to Php 1,500 per person.

5.     Try a capsule hotel or a manga kissa for a unique experience. I don’t recommend this if you intend to sleep long hours. Most capsule hotels have a spa and you can stay there comfortably at a rate of Php 1,200/night. A manga kissa is a 24-hr internet café, where you can read manga books, surf the internet, use the shower, etc. for 30 minutes up to 12 hours. I have tried Manboo, near the Shibuya crossing. I paid around Php 580 for 5 hours, inclusive of unlimited drinks. Since the lights are out, I was able to use my Euroo LEDlit while I was searching through my stuff inside my assigned cubicle.

checking in at Manboo! Manga Kissa in Shibuya

6.     Get a Suica or PassMo IC card. It costs 2,000 yen but 1,500 yen is all consumable and it’s for a lifetime use. It is a reloadable card, which you can use for payments in the subway, convenience stores, restaurants, etc.

7.  Don’t miss shopping in Don Quixote, Daiso, and in shopping districts: Ueno and Akihabara. Don Quixote is a cool shop where you can buy a lot of interesting stuff. You can find one in Shinjuku and Ginza. Daiso, of course, is a famous 100-yen shop. Ueno is an area where you can buy clothes, perfumes, bags, chocolates, and everything Japanese at a cheaper price. For consumer electronics, Akihabara is the place to be. But after all the shopping, use a Euroo digital luggage scale to ensure you won’t exceed your baggage allowance.

Shibuya shopping district is the home of local designer brands

crossing the famous Shibuya crossing

You can buy these KitKat flavors from the stalls in Ueno

Found a lot of Totoro items at a Game Center in Ueno

fresh flowers at the Ueno shopping district

8.     Dine at hole-in-the-wall restaurants. Authentic Japanese food is not as expensive as you think. An average set meal would range from Php 200-Php400.

thanks to my friend Dra. Anika for the treat

we spent around 2000+ yen for these yakitori goodness

9.  You need not spend for good photos. You would spend a few hundreds for multiple subway rides but you don’t need to spend for admission fees all the time. You can visit the Meiji Shrine in Harajuku, Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa, and the Tokyo Imperial Palace for free. You would only have to pay entrance fee if you would like to go up the Tokyo SkyTree and the Tokyo Tower.

this was probably my third time in Asakusa temple

Speaking of good photos, don't miss having a Purikura sesh! You may find them inside Game Centers

10.  Enjoy Tokyo! Go to Disney Sea, cross the Shibuya crossing, visit the giant Gundam robot in DiverCity, take a selfie with Hachiko at Shibuya station, eat at Tsukiji Fish Market, and more!

huge Gundam Robot at Diver City, Odaiba

Better come super early (like 5am) at Tsukiji Fresh Market to witness the fish auction but in case you miss it, you can still eat fresh sashimi anytime at the restaurants there

I survived with just 30,000 yen pocket money for 4 days and 3 nights in Tokyo and I challenge you to do the same. Game?

the colors of autumn

BONUS post:

While we were there, we were able to visit the Tokyo Big Sight for the 44th Tokyo Motor Show. The exhibit was too big that we weren't able to explore all exhibit halls, but everything we've seen was just amazing! :)

a futuristic car from Benz

While we were also there, we got to visit Maria Ozawa in her bar in Shinjuku. On my last night in Tokyo, I came back as Maria offered to send me off before heading to Nagano to visit my relatives.

with my friend Ly and Maria

Watch out as I'll be posting my Nagano-Osaka-Kyoto-Nara-Kobe adventure soon :)