Travelling to Japan early next year. Pricing question?

Question:

Hi there.

I'm hoping to go to Japan early next year (only free time I have) and I was wondering if I could get some help on cost of flight, accomodation etc. I was wondering if it were possible to get a 2 way flight and accomdation for £1000? I don't mind flying as cheap as possible and realistically, i'd be looking at hostels for my stay.

In total I have £3000 for the trip and although I can go a little over and under i'm hoping to use the bulk of my money going around Japan (osaka, tokyo), eating out and purchasing souvenirs.

Thanks for reading. I'd love to hear how much some of you paid in this regard.

Answer:

After the New Year's rush prices come down fairly quickly, so it is possible to get a cheaper return ticket. There are many places in Japan you can stay at that are clean, decent, and not too pricey.
If you can, get a JR Rail Pass, which allows you to ride virtually any JR train in the country. You need to get it *before* going to Japan. It looks high when you first buy it, but you'll save a lot in the long run and not be so limited on where you can go. You can get more info on it at
http://www.japanrailpass.net
Or look into JAL's Yokoso Airpass or Welcome to Japan fare; or ANA's Star Alliance Japan Airpass or Visit Japan Fare. (The former for each airline respectively is cheaper and you need to take that airline or one in their frequent flier mileage alliance). You need to get them before you arrive in Japan, and allow a maximum of 5 flights to nearly every airport in the country. It is a huge savings over regular airfare - often less than half the regular cost per flight.
www.jal.co.jp/yokosojapan/
http://www.staralliance.com/en/fares/reg…
http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/us/e/wws_common…
You can also get a city subway day pass for about 1000 yen, which can also save a lot. And for cheaper places to stay, try looking at
www.wix.com/astroflight/accommodations
www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/
www.superhoteljapan.com/en/
http://www.kid97.co.jp/~jeh-group/jeh-gr…
For what to see and do, try
www.jnto.go.jp
wikitravel.org/en/Japan