Travelogger

Oct|29|2006

Affordable Tokyo? Part Two

Posted by Zahir as Air Travel, Asia, Cities, Transport

Transportation

Lots of cheap flights to Tokyo are now available on a lot of carriers (even low-cost ones), and if you are travelling on one Japan’s two national airlines, JAL or ANA, you should look into purchasing any inbound flights you plan to take as it comes out cheaper this way.

Upon arrival at Narita Airport, make it a point to purchase the Tokyo Metro Tourist Open Ticket which buys you unlimited rides on all Tokyo Metro trains as well as a few others. A one day pass costs around $5. Getting around by train is by far the cheapest way to get around the city, with taxis being the most costly. Luckily, Tokyo has one of the most affordable and efficient local transportation networks in the world, so getting around is very cheap and easy.

Eating

Convenience stores found in every street corner offer the cheapest (but not freshest) meals like rice balls (onigiri) and bento (boxed meals) as well as sandwiches.

Vending machine tuck shops which offer a decent hot bowl of ramen or rice bowls and refillable green tea for as low as $2 are an interesting thing to try out, and apparently tasty too. It works by you selecting a dish from a picture on a big vending machine, pressing the chosen button, inserting the payment and presenting the ticket to a human server. Very Japanese, very cool.

As with any city around the world, all you rally have to remember is to avoid the touristy places and hotels which obviously mean inflated prices. Following the locals is the key here. In Japan that means checking out Izakaya (Japanese pubs), Shokudo (typical eatery with set meals), and Okonomiyaki restaurants (’Japanese pizza’ places).
[tags]Tokyo,budget,cheap eats tokyo,tokyo transport,eating in tokyo[/tags]

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