A few questions about Japan?

Question:

Well its not really about Japan itself. Well me and my friend want to go to Japan in the near future and i read somewhere if i go to Japan and enter the US again and if i have over $10,000 (probably won't bring that much) i have to file a form with Customs and Failure to do so may result in seizure of your assets, DEA scrutiny, and maybe even an IRS audit. I don't know whether thats true or not. I also read "You are allowed to take with you up to $400 of goods duty free into the US". And Im not sure if THAT is also true or not.

Also I was wondering how expensive it actually is to go to japan and back, Hotels, food, and doing other stuff for two or three people.

I've read some things off of this website http://www.japanforum.com/forum/living-j…

Answer:

the $10K in cash is universal.. does not matter what country you are entering the US from, anything over $10KUS cash must be declared upon entering the US .

each country has maximum amounts of duty free you can bring stuff in from, to include limits on size or number of specific items such as sake. $400 sounds about right from my last trip to Japan last year( going again in 2 weeks)

My plane tickets from BWI to Naha( Okinawa) are $6k. ( I am flying First Class). Hotels can be mondo hugely expensive, or you can find some that are disgustingly cheap like the micro hotels which are literally pods that you crawl into to sleep. Hint: if the hotel has a statue or some famous icon like the Statue of Liberty or the eiffel tower on its roof.. it is an..hourly.. hotel used for.. well, you know. ( lots of newlyweds reside with a set of parents and get NO privacy, if you know what I mean...)

you can eat cheaply and VERY well using all night Beef Bowl restaurants, Yakitori stands and street vendors.. and you can drop $200 on a single meal in a Tokyo restaurant.

as for touristy crap: LOTS of free or inexpensive things to do. Ueno Park alone, without even going into the Museums or the Zoo, is great. so are the Outer Gardens of the Imperial Palace. most of the Shrines and temples are either free or have a nominal fee.

the train system is fast, clean efficient and PUNCTUAL to a fault. you can buy passes that last your entire stay but do be careful, there are 2 or 3 companies.. JR and KHK are the two I remember most on the Kanto Plain. and that passes are only god for the one company. and of course Tokyo itself has an internal subway system that pretty much hits all the major areas.