I posted a similar thread a while back a bit about this, but it's time to get serious. I have 1 month of free time from the end of November until a few days before January. I've never been on a plane, and as such have never even left the country. I'll be doing this solo, so I want all my bases covered.

Where I want to go: Osaka
How long: Depends. I want to get the most out of my trip. Will extend up to 1 month of possible.

What I know I'll need:

#1 Plane ticket.
#2 Place to stay.
#3 Things to do.
#4 A budget to supply all of the above.

#1
A plane ticket seems to cost around $750 each way around the time I'm planning my trip. As such, round-trip would range about $1,500. Do you recommend any travel sites to aid me in my search? I think this will be the average price, however.

#2
I'm looking at business hotels. When converting to dollars, it comes to about $450-550 for 4 weeks worth of stay. I'll see if a friend will let me stay at his house, but to be safe I should plan to have my own place to stay. An example of a business hotel I have bookmarked: http://www.hotel-fukusuke.com/

#3
Here's a part where I'm stumped. I know someone in Osaka, but I obviously can't plan to have him with me 24/7. I'm talking to another person who is from Osaka, and if she's willing, I'd definitely hang out with her as much as possible. Again, can't expect working people to lend me all of their time. What else can I fit in, and how do I find it?

#4
I have about $3,000 saved in my bank. After all of the costs of the previous expenses, I could probably expect to have $800 in spending money. I'll be working part-time as well as school until this trip (if all goes well), so I can try to earn as much as possible.

#??
So what's else? I'm not quite sure. If I plan on going to a business hotel, do I reserve now? Do I buy a plane ticket before anything else? I'm really lost at what order to do all of this in. I could use some feedback! The earlier I buy the plane ticket, the cheaper it'll be, and the more options there'll be.

Welcome to the paradox of Japan. I travel to Tokyo pretty exclusively when i go to Japan, so i can only talk for that. However, Japan has an infinite ability to capture the attention of outsiders but there is really not that much to do in Tokyo.

1. House Party with live DJ
2. Outings to Hot Clubs
3. Lunch Gatherings
4. Dinner Gatherings
5. Cocktail Receptions
6. Tastings at Awesome Restaurants
7. Tour of local brewery behind the scene
8. Drink some more
9. Shoot up guns at the shooting range
10. Clay shooting
11. Rent a villa in a vacation resort
12. Double dates
13. Salsa dancing
14. Fashion Shows
15. Book Signings
16. Self Improvement Seminars
17. Cooking Classes
18. History of Beer and Wine Classes
19. Outings to nearby cities
20. Concerts
21. Exploring new restaurants
22. Yachting/sailing
23. Fraternity/sorority parties
24. Speed dating
25. Ski or snowboard trips
26. Museum events
27. Sky Diving
28. Rock Climbing
29. Masquerade Balls
30. Dj classes
31. Sleep
32. Paintballing
33. Laser Tag
34. Bowling
35. Karaoke
36. Kayaking
37. Exploring the famous local historic sites of the city
38. Volunteering
39. Mixed Martial Arts or Boxing Training
40. Visit temples

Seriously not too much to do.

Is there any reason you want to stay in Osaka instead of travelling around? One whole month is a pretty long time staying in one place, as a tourist at least.

Also seriously just stay in a hostel 2000-3000 yen a night and its a place to stay. No need for business hotels they suck money out your wallet. just spending on transportation and food i can spend 5000 yen a day especially if i get drinks too. so money really doesnt go far in japan. you should expect to pay $1000 a week. when you live there its cheaper because you're not in vacation mode but if you vacation in Japan you don't want to just pretend you're living a regular life in Japan for a week or two.

Whether you go or not: apply for your passport NOW. It takes time to get one. This is the government we're talking about here.

This hotel isn't really what I'd call a real business hotel... it's more like a dorm. And at 1500 yen a day, well, you get what you pay for. The only reviews I could find were on TravelAdvisor, in Japanese, and the newest was 2 years old. Not really confidence-inspiring. Who knows, it may be great.

Other options: WWOOFing if you don't mind manual labor. Manga Cafes if you're in a pinch. Welcome Inn (the best of the three if you ask me.) Google Welcome Inn Japan-- you should be able to find a dirt cheap legit hotel in Osaka. Welcome Inn is backed by the JP gov't. (Don't book anything yet.)

Don't book your ticket until you do some serious research, planning, and budgeting. Do it NOW, because now is the best time to do it. If you find out that you're going to need an extra $1,000, then it's better to find out that you're going to need it now, so you can schedule those extra hours.

Once you know what you want to do and where you want to do it, as well as how much it's going to cost, and where you're going to get the money, then it's cool to start pulling the trigger on reserving things... but I get the feeling you're not close to that yet. Take a few weeks to figure it out.

Japan-Guide.net has some good info-- a lot of people put up their itineraries there to see if they'll work, and other people critique them. Useful. JNTO has some good info. (Google it.)

Look at a map. Osaka is close to Kobe, Kyoto, and Nara. There's a crapton of stuff to do within short train rides of Osaka, so you probably don't need a JR pass. If you want to go to Hiroshima (and you really should, because it's Important, and Miyajima is just a short ride away, and it's amazing), you can always go by Night Bus-- it saves money and a night in a hotel. Same goes for Tokyo. The Night Bus is your friend. There's good info on Japan-Guide, IIRC, or just Google it. The difference can be pretty huge if you're willing to slum it a little.

Drop a few bucks on the Lonely Planet: Japan book. Not for hotels, but for stuff to do. It has a lot of good ideas. It told me to go to Oku-Matsushima instead of Matsushima (which was spot on--Matsushima is very much a tourist trap), and told me to rent "the bicycle" at Nobiru-eki, ride 5Km, then climb Otakumori on Miyatojima there (also spot on) for the most amazing views as the sun got low over the horizon and lit up the islands there. Me and 4 other people enjoyed the hell out of it for FREE.

I'm not sure how much of the area was destroyed by the tsunami (I know a lot of the area was heavily damaged, if not destroyed), but I'm glad I went when I had the chance.

Also, check Flickr streams. See what some of these places really look like. It might change your mind on whether you want to go somewhere.

NoSleepTilFluent Wrote:Also seriously just stay in a hostel 2000-3000 yen a night and its a place to stay. No need for business hotels they suck money out your wallet. just spending on transportation and food i can spend 5000 yen a day especially if i get drinks too. so money really doesnt go far in japan. you should expect to pay $1000 a week. when you live there its cheaper because you're not in vacation mode but if you vacation in Japan you don't want to just pretend you're living a regular life in Japan for a week or two.

Did you look at the link I posted? It's 1500-1800 a night, and will be cheaper if you plan on staying longer. Is that not what you're talking about?

And ThomasB, just want to stay in Osaka. Only place I know people, it'd be more comfortable for me I guess.

TheVinster Wrote:#1 Plane ticket.
#2 Place to stay.
#3 Things to do.
#4 A budget to supply all of the above.

#2, #3 and #4 can all be solved by signing up to http://www.couchsurfing.com . Make an account and start messaging!

NoSleepTilFluent Wrote:Japan has an infinite ability to capture the attention of outsiders but there is really not that much to do in Tokyo.

1. House Party with live DJ
2. Outings to Hot Clubs
..<snip>

Problem is 1) he's going to Osaka not Tokyo, and 2) a large majority of your suggestions require friends to do them with. Actually I'm not sure if your list is serious or a joke - if the former, why list "sleep"?

on #1:
talk to a travel agency. they usually have a bunch of deals so they can help you out. sometime there isn't, but you almost never pay anything more for booking through a travel agency.
i'm in LA so i can use JTB USA since i can just go down the street for that.

on #2:
kinda related to #3, hostels are great because you can meet similar travelers and you can be social. and you might think "dur, i'm not going to japan to hang out with amrricans" but there are travelers from other countries that you can talk to, which is really cool. they also might do stuff that you can tag along and help.
i stayed at jhoppers osaka. had i not gotten food poisoning i would've had more fun. one of the people at the hostel was into tennis and there was a tennis tournament.
http://osaka.j-hoppers.com/
(that business hotel seems... amazingly cheap so i'm kinda scared. it's also near tsuutenkaku which iirc is not a good neighborhood.)

on #3:
do whatever you like to do. i have no idea what you like to do. there are lots of things that i thought i'd like, that i ended up not liking, and vice versa.
japan-guide, wikitravel, lonely planet are good starting points.

nosleeptillfluent has a good list if only because he explored what he likes to do.

i'd also recommend day trips to kyoto and nara since they're so close, it would be a waste to stay in osaka for a month like that.

#1
I wont say much about the plane trip, except it's like taking the bus, just much more hassle. (Read: security check, must show up in good time before departure, rules and a zillion regulations on what you can bring with you and not). Bring a book to read, a sleeping pill, or some sort of music. On longer trips the airlines will provide you with both entertainment (music and movies), food and other things needed to sleep though.

#2
As for hotels, make sure to check out in advance if they have the required necessaries you need (Eg coin laundry, internet, and what else might fancy your mind). Location isn't a bad thing either as you will discover that traveling in Japan will sum to quite some money after a while, and such try to stay on the metro lines only. When I was in Osaka, I stayed at a hotel right next to Namba station. Quite convenient place to be honest. Used agoda.com for booking though.

#3
Having local friends will surely boost the fun. Other than that, check out if there are some nearby festivals and other events you want to attend. Remember, in Japan, there's always a festival nearby. As for the more classical stuff, check out some shrines, sleep at ryokan, drool over the yukata wearing girls, enjoy the beer and porn on vending machines, anime etc.

Osaka is famous for food and bunraku. I highly recommend both. I was awed by the chanting, shamisen play and dolls. The language is hard however, as they chant on classical Japanese or something. Better ask for an audioguide to get clues about what is going on.

Make it a rule to eat different food at different place at all your meals. Sticking to KFC and MacDonalds is an epic failure if you do not dare to try different food. You do not go to Japan to eat non-japanese food. Japanese food is great, and if it's something you simply don't like, just don't eat it and ask for something else. You're a gaijin, it's okay to screw up. A few keywords here are okonomiyaki, chop sticks (don't give up because you suck, soon you will master it. Google the proper way to hold them and behold the praise from Japanese people), Kobe beef, takoyaki (mmm delicious!), and some incredible delicious chicken wings near Namba station somewhere. Poke me if you need closer directions. I usually just strolled randomly in the neighborhood and it's amazing what you will find.

Might want to check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinsekai too. Read up its story before you enter, and notice how much different it is than compare to the rest of the city (I think I was the youngest person to walk those streets that day..). And with a little curage you may also find more interesting things there (hint: http://maps.google.com/?ll=34.643692,135...19&vpsrc=6 )

#4
Oh my, poor boy. Forget everything about what I've mention above. Try to save up a lot more than that if you are staying for more than a couple of weeks. Or even the homeless will laugh at you as you find your new home inside some cardboard boxes.

頑張って！

TheVinster Wrote:

NoSleepTilFluent Wrote:Also seriously just stay in a hostel 2000-3000 yen a night and its a place to stay. No need for business hotels they suck money out your wallet. just spending on transportation and food i can spend 5000 yen a day especially if i get drinks too. so money really doesnt go far in japan. you should expect to pay $1000 a week. when you live there its cheaper because you're not in vacation mode but if you vacation in Japan you don't want to just pretend you're living a regular life in Japan for a week or two.

Did you look at the link I posted? It's 1500-1800 a night, and will be cheaper if you plan on staying longer. Is that not what you're talking about?

And ThomasB, just want to stay in Osaka. Only place I know people, it'd be more comfortable for me I guess.

Damn lol I was caught. I didn't read the link I just latched onto the phrase business hotel and imagined $200 dollar a night "4 star" hotels. I've worked in 4 star business hotels in New Jersey and theres nothing special about them. However, my suggestion for a hostel still stands for reasons that kainzero pointed out. IF you don't know anyone then tagging along with some people that are exploring the city will prove to be a great experience. While out with them you can take the initiative to go out and speak Japanese at every oppurtunity. Your new friends will appreciate being able to order drinks with ease and you'll have a great time meeting the locals. [ warning hearsay ] I hear People from Osaka are really friendly and cool to talk to from all my Tokyo friends.

You need more than $800 for one month, especially as a tourist. You can get by with $800 but you won't be able to have much fun.

EDIT: Let's see. $800 is around ６万円

Food: You can probably live on around １０００ to １５００円 per day if you don't cook for yourself. That is, if you buy cheap food (Rice, Onigiri, Curry Rice, Ramen, Bento, etc) and an occasional drink/coffee. Especially drinks like coffee are expensive in Japan, a small coffee will set you back ３００円 or so. Multiply this by 30 days and you're at ４万円 already.

Transportation: You probably won't take public transport every day, but let's assume every other day. On average probably ３００−５００円 per trip. Considering that you may wanna go a little futher sometimes that's another １万円。

Wanna go eating out and drinking with your friend? Expect to pay around ３０００円 to ５０００円 for a good night with drinks and food. Sure, you can have it a bit cheaper but you don't wanna worry about money all the time, do you?

So, with $800 you can go somewhere every other day and go out eating and drinking with your friends 2 or 3 times only! How often do you want to eat out, never? Karaoke? How about entrance fees to tourist attractions, etc? Omiyage? Buy some other stuff in Japan? You may need to buy living supplies as well (shampoo, razors, tissues, lotion, etc). These little things are where the money goes. Probably wanna rent or get a cellphone too so you can contact your friends. Wanna travel a bit further and stay somewhere overnight?

If you add another $1k to your $800 you should be set.

Prices based on Tokyo life, not Osaka. I don't think it should be too different though.

paasan just reminded me of my favorite place


horai 551! the greasiest bao/nikuman/butaman/siopao/whatever you call it in your country! so good! even though i had food poisoning i ate like 5 of them. i might have made it worse.

i know there's one in shin-osaka station. there's probably a lot of them all over.

@Thomas: Food is cheap in Osaka.

You can have dinner with drinks for way less than Y3000-5000 unless you are trying to get sloshed or are paying for a date.

Sure you can (I actually wrote that above) if you want to. If you look for the right place and don't order expensive stuff you can have decent food and drinks for 1000 - 1500 yen per person.

However, if I was going to Japan for visiting I wouldn't want to restrict myself or worry about money too much because I would want to enjoy my limited time as much as possible. If I feel like eating Sashimi I wanna eat Sashimi. Not Edamame to save money. If I wanna drink good Sake I don't want to order cheap beer just to save money. And if you don't pay attention to what you order it's very very easy to spend more than 3000 on a few drinks and food.

Usually if I go out with a girl and don't pay attention to food orders and money (only to impress of course, secretly I am dying inside) I usually spend 3000 - 5000 per person per night. And these are not even expensive places, only regular and rather cheap izakayas or bars.

If he's considering hostels, I doubt he's interested in top shelf sake every night.

Here in Nagoya I'd find it hard to spend more than 4000Y on dinner & drinks unless I am drinking a LOT and not going to a 飲み放題 place, or unless I'm going to a fancy date-type place at the top floor of a high building.

It's kind of odd to give the OP that advice considering what he's asking for by suggesting that he'll want to be splurging every day so he should save up more money. Other posters have given more realistic advice already.

Typical cafe/conbini breakfast + yoshigyuu type lunch + nabe/yakiniku etc type place with a couple drinks for dinner shouldn't top more than 4500-5000Y per day total without scrimping.

re the OP, I don't get the point of staying in Osaka for the whole time. I love Osaka and lived there for nearly two years, but you are wasting your time staying there for more than 2-3 days as a tourist, there really isn't that much to see unless you count day trips to Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, Himeji, etc.

Quote:If he's considering hostels, I doubt he's interested in top shelf sake every night ...
It's kind of odd to give the OP advice considering what he's asking for by suggesting that he'll want to be splurging every day so he should save up more money. Other posters have given more realistic advice already.

No one is talking about every day. Like I said above, he can easily get by with 1000 - 1500 yen per day if he wants to. I was just saying that with the money he has left he can go out and splurge no more than 2-3 times.

I would actually avoid cooking for yourself. There is no way to be sure what facilities a place will have, owning ingredients anchors you to a location, and you use time (grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning up) that could otherwise be used for enjoyment. Cooking for yourself in Japan is often more expensive than a cheap restaurant anyways unless you're going really ascetic.

Just by the way, but since I plan being off next summer for like 2-3 months (part-time, getting a bit of money and travelling whenever I have time somewhere with my gf), I'd be rather interested in what a stay in Tokyo would cost not being a "tourist". Looks like I would not need to worry about where to stay, so, what are travelling (JR?) costs per month like in Tokyo? Occassionally I'd need to cook something, I heard, so, what does rice/etc. cost?
Ah, I would like to get the cheapest flight possible.

Edit: Jarvik, I heard a 'take away' curry costs like 700円 lol here in germany you'd get that for half the price o0

Depends on the place. Coco Ichiban is the most famous chain but it's pretty expensive as far as fast food places go. I had a chicken-katsu curry there the other day and it was like 720yen. That's not bad but the curry itself had almost nothing in it. A nicer curry there can be nearly 1000yen.

Probably the cheapest you can score curry for is 500yen. The ABSOLUTE cheapest food that isn't starvation quality (like onigiri) is probably yoshinoya. ~320y for a good size beefbowl. When I was doing my job hunting and living in a hostel I used to always eat supermarket bento almost every day. 250Y each for a pretty decent amount of food. Eating ok without relying on absolute crap (onigiri* and instant ramen) can therefore be had for as low as 750Y/day.

re OP: I recommend a katsu restaurant above Yodobashi Camera in Umeda for lunches. The lunch special gets you a huge katsu with all-you-can-eat cabbage, soup and rice for like 700yen. It's been a few years so I can't recall the name though

*Yes, I said it, conbini onigiri are crap. Most Japanese people's homemade onigiri are also crap (knowing how to properly compress nigirizushi or onigiri actually takes a lot of skill). I think a lot of western foreigners force themselves to like them out of wide-eyed Japanese-culture-obsession. Good onigiri are good, but they also cost a lot more money and aren't sold at conbini. It's like a Japanese person saying they love the crappo sandwiches sold at gas stations in North America that have expiry dates weeks after manufacture.

All this food talk is getting me hungry.. Only 23 minutes left at work!

place to stay: Use this site. Helped me find people in Tokyo

http://www.couchsurfing.org/

rich_f Wrote:Whether you go or not: apply for your passport NOW. It takes time to get one. This is the government we're talking about here.

This can't be emphasized enough. No passport, no trip. You'll need to get your paperwork in order, possibly get guarantors to sign off on your photos or application, etc.

Do it right now.

Tori-kun Wrote:Just by the way, but since I plan being off next summer for like 2-3 months (part-time, getting a bit of money and travelling whenever I have time somewhere with my gf), I'd be rather interested in what a stay in Tokyo would cost not being a "tourist". Looks like I would not need to worry about where to stay, so, what are travelling (JR?) costs per month like in Tokyo? Occassionally I'd need to cook something, I heard, so, what does rice/etc. cost?
Ah, I would like to get the cheapest flight possible.

Edit: Jarvik, I heard a 'take away' curry costs like 700円 lol here in germany you'd get that for half the price o0

Travelling costs, well, depends on how much you travel around and take trains. You can usually go anywhere within Tokyo with 200-300 yen one way. Of course that adds up if you're taking the train every day, or multiple times per day. Consider walking if you just want to go to the next station or so.

I agree cooking can be pretty expensive here, still cheaper than eating out every day though if you cook regularly using staple goods. However if you're only planning to cook "occasionally" it may not be cheaper at all. Bentos are definitely a very cheap source of food. Supermarkets often have leftover bentos on sale in the evening and you can get them for half price or so. I used to buy 3-4 bentos every night for the next day for around 800 yen total. Personally I still like onigiri and think they taste good, but they don't have good nutritional value, it's just a bunch of white carbs.

I have my passport. I got it 2 years ago for no reason at all, really.

And I'll have a look at couchsurfing. I've been signed-up there, but didn't really become active on the site. I'll try to figure out a place to stay for free (could even ask the girl I'm talking to, if I'm courageous), and then I'll have lots more spending money to deal with.

Also, I don't drink alcohol. I'd go to a bar or whatever if my Osaka friends wanted, but I wouldn't drink. I only drink water and coffee.

Look on Kayak.com for a cheaper ticket. You should be able to find a ticket for a few hundreds less.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned host families so far. To me, that's the best and cheapest way to live in Japan. You should be able to find a place for under 4,000/day, including meals. I found 2 different families on my last trip. I'm 37 and they didn't mind welcoming me. I'd do it again anytime.

In Tokyo, I'd recommend tokyofreeguide.com.

Well my aunt's friend is a travel agent, she found one for about $1,350. Kayak's cheapest was about the same. I do need a place to stay before I book a ticket, but I can't really just instantly ask someone on Couch Surfing. Definitely need to order my plane ticket before then. I could plan to initially stay at a business hotel (the one I mentioned) and then, while I'm waiting for the trip to arrive, could make contacts on Couch Surfing (or wherever), and try to get some other places to stay set up, so that I'm not stuck in a cramped business hotel the entire time.

Not sure how difficult this will all be considering I will have luggage. I'm happy to see that I'm actually going to go through with it.