Japan is not cheap. Our first example of this was finding out that $55 per night only gets you a 48sq foot room, with a shared bathroom, in Tokyo. If that sounds small, that’s because it is. The room was just big enough for twin bunk beds, so tight in fact that the door was not able to fully open. But cost is absolutely no excuse for skipping this amazing country. Our two weeks in the land of the rising sun was a fantastic experience full of friendly people, gastronomic delights and elegant architecture. While there are many ways to blow a modest flashpackers’ budget, in Japan, most of them on the amazing Japanese cuisine, there are also many hidden values if you know where to look. Since we found a couple we thought we would share them. If you have other examples be sure to add them into the comments below.
1) Nara YMCA Goodwill Guides: Private 5 hour guided tours of Nara
- Cost = FREE, however, buying your guide lunch is a nice gesture
- Contact Info: eggnaraymca@hotmail.com
Nara was the first permanent capital of Japan and like other first capitals (such as Philadelphia, the first capital of the US) Nara is rich in history and sights. And being only a short 30-minute train ride from Kyoto it is an easy day trip. All of the major sights are within walking distance from the JR train station. The day before we were going to head to Nara, I looked in our Lonely Planet and found an outdated entry for Nara Goodwill Guides. After a quick Google search to find their latest website I sent a quick email on the off chance we could still arrange for a guide the next day. An almost immediate response from Keiko let me know that it was possible to still arrange for a guide. After a couple of logistic questions we had sorted out that we would meet our guide at the information desk in the JR station the next day at 10:15. As we arrived at the information desk we spotted Nishi, a rather petite woman asking all the white tourists if they were “Mr. Keith Sutter.” I approached Nishi and introduced myself and she quickly shuffled Amy and I out of the train station for a full 5 hour tour around her beautiful and historic city.
The best part of our time with Nishi was the opportunity to get to know a friendly Japanese woman who it turns out is one of the top square dances in the world. She is ranked in the top 15 in Japan and is at a level of only the top 100 square dancers in the US. Quite an amazing lady, even if she was only 4 foot 10 inches tall!
2) Sushi-go-round: Conveyor belt sushi, where you sit at a bar and different sushi comes around to you on a conveyor belt.
- Cost = price is dependant on the plate color. The cashier counts your empty plates when you are done to determine your bill. Our bills were $18-35 for two of us.
This is not a top value for the reason you are likely thinking. Yes, the fish is fresh and just eating at one of these at the end of the day is worth it to watch as locals stop in on their way home from work for a quick bite. The reason I think that this type of sushi restaurant is a great value in Japan is the unlimited ginger and green tea. I hate it when you go out for sushi in the States and get two or three anemic little pieces of pickled ginger with a large order. And if you ask for a little extra you may even be charged for it. This is a travesty as far as I am concerned. I love pickled ginger with sushi, and want a piece or two on each piece of sashimi or roll. That is why I was ecstatic to discover a jar on the bar at the sushi-go-round with a little pair of tongs that was filled with pickled ginger and, get this, you can TAKE AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE! It is amazing and delicious.
Additionally, but not quite as exciting, is the unlimited green tea. If you have never had Japanese green tea, you may be surprised when you open the other jar on the bar and discover that it is filled with green powder that is tea, not wasabi, which was my first guess. Place a small scoop into your cup and then fill with hot water from the spigot right at your seat for delicious hot tea, again as much as you can drink. Sometimes it is the little things that I appreciate.
3) Calligraphy Books: An accordion-style book used to collect unique red stamps and hand drawn calligraphy at most major Japanese temples and shrines.
- Cost = 1,000-1,500¥ ($11.15-16.72) for a book & 300¥ ($3.34) per stamp
We learned about this extremely cool Japanese souvenir from a traveler we meet in China. He had studied for a year in Japan and told us that we should look for these books at the first temple we went to in Tokyo. Our first stop was at the Meiji Shrine in western Tokyo and near the main shrine building was a small building that was selling charms. We walked up and found a book we liked and got our first stamp and calligraphy page there. By the end of our 2 weeks in Japan we had nearly filled up the book with only 4 empty pages remaining. Those empty pages mean that we will now have to return to Japan someday to finish the job of filling the book. That is a job I look forward to.
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