How much should I take for a one-week trip to Tokyo?

Question:

My sister and I are going to Tokyo for a week in the middle of September. The flights have been taken care of, and we'll be staying with a friend so we won't have to pay for a hotel or anything.

How much pocket money should we each take to have a comfortably fun time there? We probably won't be doing too much crazy expensive stuff - just exploring, maybe checking out some music gigs, going to some museums, seeing some temples and maybe going on a couple of day trips to interesting areas outside of the city.

What would be a reasonable amount to take, in Japanese yen? And do you have any recommendations for must-see people and events?

Answer:

It's hard to give details because there are just so many options. For instance, take a day trip....

600 yen each for train round trip
500 yen each for admission (assuming there is one)
1000 yen each for lunch

There's 4200 yen for the two of you. But do you drink beer? So you stop in a bar and have a couple each. There's another 2000 yen. Or maybe you want to try a nicer restaurant. Lunch could double in price very easily.

As far as where to go, I don't like Tokyo. Worked there during the week, came back home to Nara on weekends. There's stuff to see for sure, but that's for someone else to answer. I'd use Google or a guide book for suggestions.

So bottom line.... you could get by with 10,000 yen for the two of you per day. Myself, I would give myself a buffer and have at least 15,000 yen. With the current exchange rate that's about $1400.