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Though saying “planning” is a bit of an exaggeration, as I’m only laying out the rudiments of a plan at this stage.
Anyway, to make a long story short, I’m planning to do my first trip to Japan, hopefully sometime within the next two to three years depending on when I can get my Japanese speaking/reading ability up to par (which is to say, fluent enough to be able to do day-to-day tasks and handle most situations without looking like a confused tourist) and also depending on when my finances are sufficient.
This isn’t like a holiday though, it’s what I’ve termed a “research trip”, of sorts. I intend to stay three months (wanted to stay longer but I’d need a work visa for that) simply being immersed in average life in Japan and learning everything I can. So, no touristy things, no onsen, no temples, no Sky Tree, no sightseeing; only “normal life” things: grocery shopping, laundry, cooking, public transport, interacting with people (hopefully making a new friend or two), etc.
The reason for it is that I’ve long planned to move to Japan permanently (because reasons), but before making such a big move, I wanted to experience just a tiny taste of what might await me there, and do some “training”, as it were.
But I’ve never actually done any travelling, so I don’t even know where to start preparing for something like this. I intend to keep it as cheap as I can, and I’m exploring options on AirBNB for lodging as staying in a proper Japanese house with Japanese people is both quite affordable and offers maximum immersion. I have a decent-ish amount saved up (about 13,000 USD) but I’m still saving up as I reckon I’ll need a lot more than that to survive 3 months.
My question to those who have travelled/lived in Japan is, what advice could you give for a trip such as this? What will I need to do to prepare? How much money will I need? Is this trip even feasible?
I appreciate any information!
Hey, Gigatron. Long time no see. Er, I mean, お久しぶりですね. =)
Temples and onsen are perfectly regular activities in Japan. Or if not onsen, at least sento. Sightseeing is too, to a certain extent – by far the greater majority of tourists in Japan are day visitors from other parts of Japan.
Not too sure what advice I could give, though. Um… get a Suica card?
G’day Joel, I’m surprised anyone remembers me, hehe.
Fair enough about the temples, actually. Getting into the everyday cultural aspects is something I definitely want to do, so I do think I’ll be visiting some after all.
Onsen and sento are still 禁止, however. Though that’s more due to my own hangups (I’m the type that won’t even go to the beach, let alone public bathhouses, lol…)
As for the advice, that’s just the info I’m looking for actually. I’ve heard you need a Suica card, but I don’t know much about them. Also what would I need to do to ensure I have phone service for the three months?
You don’t need need a Suica card, but it makes buying tickets for public transport waaay simpler. You can use on other things too, like vending machines – anything with a reader, basically. If you’re not planning to stay in Tokyo, by the way, there’s other local equivalents – supposedly the Suica card works almost everywhere, but it didn’t work in Osaka when I tried it four years ago (though maybe they were still integrating things?)
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/suica.html
As for phone service, I’m no expert. I know you can rent phones at the airport and similar places, but it’s possible you may even get better value for money just buying one outright. (And maybe you can sell it on eBay afterwards, if you want.)
http://www.softbank-rental.jp/e/
Ummm… I honestly can’t think of anything else to suggest. Got any queries, maybe?
That’s good to know about the phones. I might just go ahead and buy one, seems like it’s easiest to do it that way (and if nothing else, the phone would make a nice memento, lol).
I had entertained the notion of renting a car for transport, as it’d a good way to get used to Japanese roads, but I reckon that’d be far too expensive, especially for such a long stay.
That’s really my biggest concern is expenses. I consider myself a very frugal person, and the idea is to spend only on essential things (and MAYBE a couple of souvenirs) but even then, I have no clue how much I ought to have on hand. Not sure if 13K is good enough or if I’ll need much more.
Friend and I spent $AUS 3333 each on a two-week trip, though that includes airfares, hotels, and a two-week JR Rail Pass. Not sure how that extends to your trip. Also, daily spending money averaged around 4500 yen per day.
Hmmm, that doesn’t sound too bad. The bulk of the expense would be the airfare, and lodging will also be a big part of that, but I’m aiming for ¥3000 or less a night (and thankfully I’ve found a few very attractive options for that price range), which should give me a similar figure to yours.
The rest would just end up being spending/survival money, and I reckon I could shave that down pretty low. Might be doable with my current savings. Still, I’m sure it won’t hurt to keep adding some coin from now until I make the trip.
Yeah, there’s no harm in having too much money. =P
Just make sure you budget properly at some point, with actual figures. You don’t want to get there and discover you can only afford to spend five yen a day. =)
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