Cheapest possible budget to Japan

Hello everyone.

Could anyone with experience in Japan tell me what the absoulte minimum living cost could be. I'm talking about cheapest food and cheapest accomodation. As for transport, I'd be using a JRP so you dont need to include that.

Cheers.

There is no definitive answer to this, but you may want to check an article that Tokyo Cheapo did about 3 days in Tokyo on a budget of 10'000 yen. http://tokyocheapo.com/travel/3-nights-in-tokyo-on-125-dollars/

You do need to bear in mind that it was written 2 years ago,and consumption tax has increased since then. Everything is likely to be a bit more expensive now. For example, it says you can eat at Matsuya for 200 yen, but I think their cheapest dish is now 360yen. You also have to bear in mind that it's really just an experiment to see little you could spend if you were prepared to make sacrifices. Most people probably wouldn't want to spend every night at an internet cafe, or would probably eat more or better food than what they have there, so you will probably want to spend much more then what they've included.

A more realistic budget would be 2000-3000 yen per night for a dormitory or very cheap guesthouse, around 1000yen for lunch (if eating out), 300-600yen for a bento or around 650yen for a set meal at Matsuya, Yoshinoya etc. You may also need to spend some money on subways, as many places in Tokyo, Osaka and other cities are easier to reach by the subway, and some areas (for example Asakusa, Odaiba and Roppongi for Tokyo) are very far from JR stations.

What is your itinerary? If you're on a budget, Japan Bus Pass by Willer Express could be a better investment than the Japan Rail Pass.

Needless to say, visit smaller cities for better food prices than Tokyo outside the big chains. Also, if you are going to visit on a low budget, aim for something better than the minimum possible budget to enjoy a bit your trip. I would personally be very upset to travel on such a tight budget not to be able to do any shopping, specially in cities like Tokyo and Osaka.

My suggestion is to delay the trip until you have sufficient funds to make your trip worthwhile. Why live like a poor man after spending so much to get there? Japan will still be there sis months later.

To save money, you can do things like not eating in any restaurants at all (self-catering all your meals with low-priced basic items from grocery stores), not drinking any beverages other than water (filling your own water bottles where can do it for free), and not visiting any sites that charge admission or are not accessible by JR, but is that what you mean by absolute minimum cost? You could potentially still have a great time, but only if you have very good self-control and are vigilant about resisting temptation. To stick to an absolute minimum budget requires almost a religious level of self-denial for most tourists. (Of course, it is a forced way of life for many of the world's people who could never even dream of taking a leisure trip to a foreign country.)

Japan Guide's Travel Budget page gives a pretty good idea of what you can expect to pay on a realistic low budget (that is, one that could work for an ordinary human being who isn't a devoted ascetic) and a few suggestions for choices that support that:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2410.html

To answer this question you really, really have to know yourself. It doesn�ft matter what anyone else tell you, At the end of the day it�fs all about your daily life activities.

@Umechan, I agree with your numbers. He may be able to do it a little cheaper if he eat 2 meals a day and willing to put in a lot of walking time or buy a bike.

You may want to look into roommate with someone, But finding the right roommate is like winning the lottery. Find a hole in the wall apartment.

Wait... is he talking about living or traveling to Japan on a cheap budget???

I think it is about living in Japan.

He said he's got the JR Pass, so obviously it's about traveling, not living.

If you're a single traveler, you can find accommodations in most cities for under 3500 yen per night. These are often capsule hotels, cheap business hotels, and hostels.

Some places, such as Matsue/Izumo area have special entry discounts for foreigners at popular tourist sites.

Shrines are almost always free.

Of course the absolute cheapest way to travel is to simply not have any accommodations, but that will be uncomfortable.

If this person has a JR Pass, I don't think the question is about living in Japan, but traveling in Japan on the cheapest of budgets (which I find totally ridiculous, if you ask me).

The program "Tokyo Eye" did an episode where they followed a young, single woman through a typical workday, a small family during a weekend outing and a young couple on a day-long date. There were pop-up bubbles showing how much everything cost, from a newspaper at the convenience store to rent for an apartment. I don't know how accurate it is, but I found it very interesting. If you go to YouTube, just do a search for "Tokyo Eye How Much." And, yes, it is Tokyo-focused.