Help planning a trip to Tokyo, Japan?

Question:

Next year in the summer, I would like to travel to Tokyo for maybe a week with a friend, I'll be 19 and she will be 18.

Do you have any tips? Places to visit?

I've looked up flights already, and it will be £800 return. How much money should we take each?

Answer:

First, you should give some thought about changing your destination. I don't know exactly why everyone always thinks Tokyo, Tokyo, Tokyo, but I've lived there and felt that 1) it was a concrete jungle and 2) Osaka is a big city too and has basically everything Tokyo has to offer, with a much more cultural feel.

By staying in Osaka you are near Kyoto, for the shrines and temples, and Nara, for Deer Park and the Daibutsu. Both easy day trips by train. Rather than visiting Akihabara in Tokyo you would go to Nipponbashi in Osaka. I've been to both and would be hard pressed to tell any significant difference. There's also Osaka castle. Shinsaibashi is Osaka's version of Roppongi's bar scene.

You could take the bullet train to Hiroshima and visit the Peace Memorial. Another castle down there too. Once again, a nice day trip, though not enough to justify a JR Rail Pass. But Osaka's Kansai airport has seen reduced flights so you might have to fly into Tokyo anyway. In that case, buy the JR Pass, stay overnight in Tokyo, then hop on a bus to Mt. Fuji. Maybe stay overnight in a bed and breakfast. Make your way back to Tokyo by bus and then on to Osaka. (Going through Tokyo to get to Osaka is like going around your elbow to get to your thumb but there isn't much of an easy way around it.

Costs? At least 10,000 yen/day/person. You can spend 3000 yen easily on a meal in a decent restaurant. Yes, you can "Do Japan on a budget". But why fly to the opposite side of the planet just to put yourself on a budget and have to watch your money all the time? I'd rather bring money back and have had the chance to relax and enjoy myself.

Decent hotels run about 10,000 yen/night. Double occupancy I am not sure of. You can find business hotels for about 7000 yen/night. Once again, doubles I'm not sure of. But using these figures as a guide, you can Google and find something.

You do the math on the costs per person.