Cost of living in Japan?

Question:

I am going to be staying at a friend's house for free and I will only be paying for food and travel. The only time I will stay in a hotel is when I visit cities quite so distance away from my friend's house for more than a day at a time. With this said how much would food and travel cost for 3 months?

Answer:

This depends on where you are going, how frugal you want to be, or if you want to splurge some. If you want to go across the country and back the JR Rail Pass would be good to have (need to get it before arriving in Japan).
See www.japanrailpass.net
Food can run you about USD$25 on up if you want to be tightfisted, or you can get food at a grocers and get something, but nothing too fancy. If you want to see a list of prices, try
http://www.tokyopriceguide.com/

For some cheaper hotel chains, try
http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/
http://www.superhoteljapan.com/en/
or if you go to Osaka or Kyoto, try
http://www.o-e-h.com
http://www.Kyotojp.com
http://www.hotel-toyo.jp