You hear all the time about how expensive Japan is and in some regards that is true. Traveling around within Japan is pretty expensive. The trains are great and everything–clean, safe, punctual etc– but it comes at a cost. You can buy plane tickets to most places in Japan for around $100 each way if you buy it 28 days before but this isn’t always the case. There are really only 2 airlines in Japan (JAL, and ANA) and they control everything, even the “budget” airlines (although I think there is only one left).
Hotels can be expensive and confusing since the charge is per person not per room. Good food is expensive here but there are cheaper options (ramen, soba, Y100 kaiten sushi (depending on how hungry you are), some chain take-out bento places and the ubiquitous convenience stores [whose food by the way is much better than in the States]). Produce can be expensive though, especially fruit. People (ie housewives) don’t often cook with fruit here the way we do in the States (cobblers, crisps, pies, etc) partly because it is more expensive and partly because the fruit is such good quality it would be a shame to mar its beauty by chemically changing it. (more…)
