I want to go to Japan: how much does it cost?
 

One of my life long destinations I want to go to before I die is Japn. Question how much does it cost ot go to Japan? What should I know before going to Japan? I plan on studying Japanese and hopefully become proficent in it before I go.

Japan is expensive but there are semi-affordable ways to travel there.

The New Koyo Hotel (www.newkoyo.jp), for instance, will set you back only about $20 a night and is not that bad. It's in Tokyo. You may be able to find similarly cheap lodging in other places in Japan but I don't know any names off hand.

The JR Rail Pass costs about $250 / week. If you're only going to be in one small region (ie. a city) of Japan you're better off paying as you go.

Plane tickets to Japan are usually most expensive during the winter (I got round trip tickets for December from the bay area for about $800 -- other seasons cost more like $500). Early-mid April is the best time to visit Japan, if you can. June-July is rainy season, and August is really hot.

I posted some other info about visiting Japan in this thread: http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthr...threadid=31554

What specifically are you interested in seeing?

I'm mostly interested in Japan's technological wasteland and the cute girls.

Then you have no reason to leave Tokyo or purchase a Rail Pass.

Regarding the cute girls, knowledge of some spoken Japanese is nice but not completely necessary.

the cute girls are litterally everywhere - until they turn about 40 and then something happens.

oh, and no matter what, it will still be expensive unless you really know your way around. it's not like eurpope where you can usually figure things out from the writing and guide books.

most of my friends went there as english as second language exchanges. helped to fund their travels...