Spending money for Tokyo visit

Hi, my friend and i are going to spend 2 weeks in Tokyo. He wants to see some of the traditional sites of Tokyo but is also keen to hit the clubs and pubs (Shibuya, Shinjuku, Roppongi etc).

We have already paid for accommodation and i have been to Japan before so general costs like food and transport I have a basic idea of. What i have no idea about is how much are we likely to burn on a night out hitting the clubs and i think most nights are going to be spent that way!

We both have over 250000 yen each (approximately 2700 AUD' in case I put the wrong number of zeros for the yen). Is this likely to be enough to cover this type of trip or should we take more?

I am assuming that you mean you are taking 250,000 Yen cash to Tokyo. If that is the case, that is around 18000 Yen per day.

Are you going to do a lot shopping? What type of food are you keen on trying? What kind of bar/club are you planning to go?

If you going to do a lot shopping, bad news for you 18000 will probably will not take you very far.

Food wise, chain restaurant or fast foods in general are cheaper due to fixed size and cost. Otherwise in Japanese restaurant, Lunch wise, you are looking at 800Yen+ -3000 Yen probably. Dinner wise, about 3000+ (no upper limit). I tend to go for Japanese restaurants and I tend to order 3-4 dishes to try out the taste etc.

Drinking/Club/Bar wise, I have no idea, but i do read they are quite pricey in some area (someone with this information should probably share here)

Depending on your spending. eating and drinking habit, 18000 Yen/per day might be enough. Just have extra money in your bank account so you could withdraw it from ATM when needed.

Hi vinces7. Yes 250,000 Yen is the amount of cash each roguhly we are taking. We will pretty much be eating whatever catches our eye at the time as we both love Japanese food, but i am aware of the variance in food costs from past trips to Japan.

Shopping isn't really on the agenda, more just visiting the many sites. The big unknown for me is the rough cost of a night out at a club ( from memory he wants to check out places like Womb and Ageha) and as I've never been to any clubs on other trips I wasn't sure if they charged exorbitant fees for drinks!

Thanks for the answer and yeah I will be carrying extra money to change just in case.

Just bring your ATM card, convenience store and Post office will allow you to use International ATM card to withdraw money.

Be aware of places that are dodgy, Roppongi for a period of time was known to do dodgy stuffs, same with Kabukicho. The golden gai area, from what i read, is pretty much exclusive for members or you need someone to bring you there for first time etc.

Food costs can really add up fast especially with the amount of snacks/sweets you can find in Japan, try go to the basement of the shopping centre and you will understand what I mean...

I bring about the same as your usually (sometimes a bit more) but I have my cards ready, just remember that you will not be able to withdraw money from Japanese Bank ATM, unless they change this recently.

I haven't been clubbing in years, so take this with a grain of salt, but getting in alone can be 2000-3000 yen, and drinks are often 1000 yen/per. I'd definitely pre-game if you're interested in drinking and clubbing together. Skip the combini even and find a more local grocery store, and go for the less expensive happoshu over beer (if that's your drink) to save as much as you can.

For me, at an izakaya sharing with friends I pay anywhere from 3000 to 5000 per visit, but I'm out in the country, so count on 5000 plus each if you're doing the drinking thing.

Some options to drink cheaper (besides pre-gaming) is to go to slightly lesser-known areas, scout for deals, and try to get some insider info. I don't know if any of that will help with regards to clubs, but for izakaya/pubs it might.

Have fun!

Personally, 18'000 yen per day seems like more than enough for what you have planned, as you don't intend to do very much shopping. There are many good value lunch deals, and it's possible to have dinner for 2000 yen or less if you know the cheap places to go to, although that will depend on your Japanese ability.

For clubbing, average places cost 2000-3000 yen, and more popular and upmarket ones like Ageha and Womb cost 4000 for entry, which normally includes, 1 drink ticket. Cheaper clubs normally have drinks from 500-600 yen, whereas Ageha's cheapest drinks were 700 or 800 yen from what I remember. 1000 yen per drink sounds too expensive to me, but maybe they do cost that much at some places. In my experience, only the premium cocktails cost 1000 yen, and they normally have cheaper drinks for 500-800 depending on the place.

Hi guys, thanks for the input! Looks like we are at least in the ball park with the amount of money we have so far but will definitely make sure we have access to extra funds. One more week to go!!!

Thanks

Be careful at bars esp. in Roppongi and Kabukicho. There are warnings on various foreign govt. websites about drink spikings. They happen very very regularly. Watch your drinks carefully and be mindful bar staff can be involved in drink spiking. It's less of a problem if you are travelling together, but a friend's Japanese husband had problems with extortionate overcharging at a bar near Kabukicho recently. If it can happen to a group of Japanese guys, foreigners are more vulnerable.
Places like Womb and Ageha I assume are fine.

It's easy to blow money in Tokyo, but 18,000Y would be more than enough for most people.

As what girltokyo said, just be careful in this 2 areas, you might want to google a bit on some of the precaution or tricks they used etc before you go there.

In general, Japan is safe, but it does not mean no crime, and extortion/spiking in these 2 areas are not a rare event. But it does not mean you should not go, just exercise caution when you are there.