Awesome! Enjoy your trip!
I'd really recommend the "Sakura Hotels" located around Tokyo. They're cheap, clean and can be found in Ikebukuro, Shinjuku etc.
I've stayed at the one in Ikebukuro and I loved it! 

Lucky you : )

This is a lovely (Japanese modern) ryokan in Ikebukuro.
http://www.kimiryokan.jp/

You can read some reviews by satisfied guests here. here

I like Kimi because it is very clean and relaxing, the staff are very friendly,  and it feels very Japanese. It's also quite cheap (for Tokyo).

I am not sure what to suggest you do in Tokyo as I am not sure what would interest you. If you like the countryside, then going up to Nikko to see the temples there is wonderful. The hot springs at Oku-Kinugawa are also wonderful, they would be set in the snow in January, which is fantastic. but you would have to stay the night. They are within train distance from Tokyo or you can go by bus.

This is another fabulous onsen in Oku-Kinugawa which wasn't featured in the first link.

Last edited by Harpagornes (2011 October 14, 10:07 am)

@CarolinaCG: 羨ましい～ T_T

My first advice is go for as long as possible (visa/money wise). If you go for intensive 2 weeks you'll spend as much as for a slower 1 month, see/experience less (you're rushing everywhere) and generally get less time in Japan. Your biggest investment is the plane ticket anyway so its just smart not to let that investment go to waste.

I'm currently on a trip (writing this from a hostel in Hiroshima) away from Tokyo and I'm spending way more than back "home" and because of my tight schedule (Rail Pass is a must if you want to travel around Japan) I don't have the time to properly appreciate everything I see: "Oh what a nice view... ok gotta go, must also see X today"...

My second advice is, if you can afford it go with hostels and their dorm rooms (around 2.5k per night). You'll meet more people, get more travel tips about that place and generally have more intense fun. Another huge plus I've found, there are lots of Japanese people at hostels so you get tons of learning opportunities. In Tokyo I'm staying at a guesthouse (long term) and its a completely different experience, we just live there There are no Japanese people, tenants don't change that often, those that are there usually have their own circle of friends and if it doesn't "click" with somebody you might not get another chance and will end up doing everything alone (fortunately that wasn't my case but I can easily imagine worst case scenario happening).

In my first weeks in Tokyo I've spent around 1k a day but I walked a lot back then and didn't eat much since it was hot as hell and I had 0 appetite (just drank like crazy). Now I'm spending more but still not a significant amount and if I weren't lazy and did some cooking I'd probably go even less than 1k. But you also have to take into account fees for tourist traps etc. each one easily costs 0.5k-1k yen and if you go fast and visit a couple of them in a day your wallet will scream. But there are soooooooooo many attractions that are free (at least in summer time there were) you can see almost everything there is to see in Tokyo and not spend a fortune on it.

thurd wrote:

My first advice is go for as long as possible (visa/money wise). If you go for intensive 2 weeks you'll spend as much as for a slower 1 month, see/experience less (you're rushing everywhere) and generally get less time in Japan. Your biggest investment is the plane ticket anyway so its just smart not to let that investment go to waste.

I'm currently on a trip (writing this from a hostel in Hiroshima) away from Tokyo and I'm spending way more than back "home" and because of my tight schedule (Rail Pass is a must if you want to travel around Japan) I don't have the time to properly appreciate everything I see: "Oh what a nice view... ok gotta go, must also see X today"...

i dunno, for me, everything's an experience.
two years ago i got food poisoning for the first time. and it just so happened it was on my first trip to japan. and yeah it was kinda terrible since i spent all my time cooped in my room and in the bathroom. but in retrospect it was a bit of a cool experience because it was so unique. (yes, i'm weird like that.)

last year i did a week and a half and i was pretty loose with the scheduling, throwing in some rest days. i had a blast, it was really relaxing; the pace is really just in your head and you don't need to rush but to appreciate the experience for what it is. some of my best memories are actually simple things: the neighbor saying hi to my family and i, climbing mt. misen the day after i flew in despite a lack of fitness and hearing the encouragement of other hikers, then watching kids run past me while i walk sideways because my feet were so sore; trolling the people in the trolley ride by smiling and waving; the yatai people talking to us in chinese for some reason; asking the lady at the ice cream store what her favorite flavor was; my aunt finally being able to communicate with someone because she spoke tagalog, at a department store in yamaguchi.

i don't think travel is so much about what you and what you do so much as it is about your state of mind and your willingness to explore

anyway, if you are traveling alone, hostels are great because you can meet up with people and do things together, and if you are going for 3 weeks solo there's a high chance you could get pretty lonely. the only problem is security and privacy, though you could get $70-$80 rooms at hostels at which point it's not really a *deal.*

and it is up to what you want to do. personally i like to go hiking and eat, and that's pretty much it.

There are quite a lot of hostels about in the main cities now. The Ks house ones are probably the nicest I've stayed in, but not the cheapest. The Khao san ones I've stayed  in have been cheaper but still nice enough. I'd say most hostels are around 2000-3000yen per night (yes there are some cheaper ones about). If you go somewhere where there are no hostels then searching on japanese sites like Rakuten you might be able to get a hotel room for around 4000yen.

Night buses are the cheapest way to travel on a budget as you'll also be able to save on 1 nights accomodation fee. (flying can also sometimes be quite cheap if you book 2 months in advance)

Don't miss out on things because you're worrying too much about money. For example, it's fine eating cheaply some of the time, but be sure to check out some good Japanese restaurants too. (There are actually quite a few cheap noodle shops that are cheaper than buying stuff at a convenience store and eating at the hostel)

As for places to go, depends what sort of things you like so it's quite hard to give advice. I've heard that the sapporo snow festival is supposed to be pretty cool and it should be on while you're in Japan.

oh cool!!! You're going for your 20th?!? And you're going in January?!?

Pleeeease don't miss 成人の日！！！　If you can, find some girls who are also 20 and get dressed up and everything, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity!!!

... it's the 2nd monday in January, so you might have to adjust your travel plans a little. But it'd definately be worth it!!!

Last edited by IceCream (2011 October 15, 4:20 am)

I used http://www.hostels.com/ and everything went really well. I also recommend K's House Backpackers, their standard dwarfs some hotels I've been in. J-Hoppers is also nice but offers a different kind of experience, traditional & quiet atmosphere & less parties, but also great.

If you're going just for Tokyo, try Sakura guesthouse for a month (and stay a month) if you decide against Tokyo reserve your first hostel for 3-4 days somewhere and later you can decide what to do next.

Javizy wrote:

CarolinaCG wrote:

Yup, If I do go It'll be in January.

!!!... ;_;
Unfortunately I will not be able to go before January 20th because my classes only finish on the 18th ;_; ;_; ;_;

You should be able to catch some 花見 at that time of year as a consolation.

Hanami is usually mid - late April...

Have fun in Japan! And I quote Tori, 羨ましい！

caivano wrote:

Javizy wrote:

CarolinaCG wrote:

Yup, If I do go It'll be in January.

!!!... ;_;
Unfortunately I will not be able to go before January 20th because my classes only finish on the 18th ;_; ;_; ;_;

You should be able to catch some 花見 at that time of year as a consolation.

Hanami is usually mid - late April...

I've never actually done 花見, but for some reason I had an image of 桜 in mid-February... Seems like it's usually from ３月下旬～５月上旬 depending where you are on the 桜前線.

i don't think tokyo is that much more expensive than say, iwakuni.

there are a ton of shops so there's competition all over the price spectrum. although japan is pretty dense, tokyo is even more dense so you don't have to travel as much and if you do, it's easy to get around since the trains and subway are really handy. (i often had to walk 30-40+ minutes in iwakuni to even get to the train station).

CarolinaCG wrote:

The main purpose of the trip is to experience the japanese life, meet people and make use of my japanese language skills in order to improve them and to grow, to become more independent.

I'm not sure if you implied that you know people already, but I think that if you know people before you go over there, you'll have a better time. Or you can do a homestay program, which I've heard from a few friends was an awesome experience.
But... being dropped off in the middle of Tokyo with less than fluent Japanese is a scary experience if you're trying to make friends. In my experience, the smaller towns have people who are more polite probably because it's less busy and there's a more relaxed atmosphere.