Budget travel in Japan
I always listen with an attentive ear to your stories on budget
travel in Japan. I travel there about once a year, on a very low
budget, and I take 6-8 people with me who want to do the same.
Every April, for the past 2 years, I have escorted a small group of
travelers on a 12-14 day trip for around $2500, including round-trip
airfare on Delta from Portland, a Japan Rail pass, most local
transportation and all accommodations. How do we do it? We stay in
youth hostels, inns (ryokan, pronounced "yoo khan," not "ree o khan")
and minshuku (bed and breakfast and dinner). Hostels run
$20-32/night, and at Higashiyama YH in Kyoto you can get a room for
two and two meals for $56/person.
Yes, Tokyo is expensive and a struggle to survive in without knowing
how to do it on the cheap. But once in the countryside it gets a lot
cheaper. On the "Traditional Crafts Tour of Japan," the April tour,
we fly in and out of Nagoya, then go by train to Takayama in Gifu
Prefecture, on to some small towns in Toyama Prefecture (on the sea
of Japan, and Oregon's sister state), then to Kanazawa (southwest of
Toyama, on the Sea of Japan)and end up in Kyoto before returning to
Nagoya.
Is local transportation expensive? A one-day bus pass for Kyoto is
only Yen 500, or around $4.80. Other inexpensive options are
available. Planning is everything in getting the most out of these
bargains.
Back to youth hostels, they are great in Japan, and vary widely. Some
are in temples, like my favorite one in one of my favorite towns,
Takayama. Takayama is a warm, friendly, traditional craft-intensive
town of 60,000 in the Hida Mountains about 2.5 hours north of Nagoya.
The hostel there is in Tensho-ji temple and it has dorm and private
rooms and one of the friendlist "wardens" you will ever meet,
Daien-san, who also happens, naturally, to be a Buddhist monk. One
night for two in a private room comes to Yen 3465 or around $32. per
person, including tax. Breakfast is another $5. I have stayed here
five times now, once with my wife and 13-year-old daughter, and the
place feels like home.
For slightly more, all things considered, you can stay in a minshuku
(bed, breakfast and dinner) there for $65 per person per night, with
breakfast and a dinner to die for--local mountain vegetables and
tender Hida beef as well as Sake, a local and delicious extra. The
same meals alone would cost $30 or more in a classy restaurant on the
street. So, since you have to eat someplace, your pillow is only
costing $35/night. Bath and toilet (both styles) are down the hall.
Yes, Japan can be traveled in quite cheaply, but study and
preparation are everything, for destinations, transportation,
culture, manners and so on. There is much to learn before traveling
there if one is to have a truly enjoyable time. You should (always,
everywhere) travel with an open mind, be flexible and relax. You
aren't in Kansas anymore, for which I am always grateful.
I have traveled in Japan seven times since 1990, always at a "grass
roots" level, a continuation of my hitch hiking, backpack travels in
North Africa and the Middle east in the mid-1960's (I am 56 years old
and a photographer/videographer by profession). To me the things I
enjoy most about Japan are its people (always friendly and helpful if
you carry a smile), food, culture, traditonal crafts, transportation
systems (so easy, and on time), history and scenery. In fact, there
is little I don't enjoy in Japan. By the way, I speak limited
Japanese and can't read a symbol or letter of the written language,
but by some miracle I get along just fine. A warm, sincere smile
helps, along with a good dictionary and just being relaxed about the
whole thing. Body language counts a lot when communicating with
Japanese.
My next trip won't be until June of 2002, for potters interested in
visiting the heartland of Japanese ceramics in Saga Prefecture on the
island of Kyushu--the ceramics communities, and artists, of Takeo
Onsen, Arita, Imari and Karatsu. Like my other trips, this one will
be limited to 8 participants. Cost will be around $2700, incl.
airfare, from Portland, Oregon, for ten days. I am also contemplating
an onsen (spa) tour for late October of 2002, beginning with crossing
the Japanese Alps from near Nagano on the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine
Route, to the Kurobe gorge to stay in an onsen in the mountain
canyon, then to Takayama, Kanazawa and possibly Kyoto, for 10 days.
The price is to be determined, but I can guarantee spectacular fall
foliage scenery.
I never miss your show. Domo arigatou gozaimasu.
Jack Sanders
Traditional Crafts Tours
Portland, Oregon
{ This Week's Index | Next Letter }
{ Main Letters Page }
