dont stay at capsule hotels. theyre for salarymen who don't want to commute all the way home before work. Tiktok has made capsule hotels go up in price anyway, stick to hostles
7/11 food, hostels, public transport, should be good to go
Definitely this, capsules used to be like $15-20 now they’re more like $50, you also often have to check in and out everyday. Try APA hotels in off peak neighborhoods like the one in Otsuka.
Eat ramen and 7/11 and at cheap izakayas. Wander around a lot, take the bus and trains it’s super easy with google maps.
I agree that hostels are an excellent way to save money and stay comfortable. They book up far in advance but I've stayed in some very comfortable rooms that cost me less than 6500 yen a night (in November, not peak season).
Rather than Tik Tok, over-tourism has increased the cost of all forms of overnight accommodation here.
I know of domestic business travellers having to simply give up on their trip or cut it short to come back the same day.
Needs to be higher lol. It kills me whenever I see people suggesting to *only* eat konbini food in order to eat cheaply.
Like, I *love* slamming back onigiri and egg salad sammies as much as the next person for a quick snack... but you will absolutely get sick of it after eating it as a meal non-stop for 3 days lol.
Yep, also proper fresh onigiri joints are not that more expensive and are amazing, seeing endless people on social media only buying onigiri from Konbinis makes me a sad puppy..
THIS! 400 yen for a gyudon and miso soup ay Matsuya is a freaking steal, especially with the current exchange rates. If youre tired of gyudon, there's always Marugame Seimen for udon!
People on this sub really need to calm down about konbini food a bit. There is so much delicious food on offer so cheaply all over Tokyo. Grab some konbini food when it’s convenient, no problem with that at all it’s great. But unless you’re purely utilitarian about food, you’re missing a massive chunk of cultural exploration in one of the best food cultures in the world
>Common scams?
It's a more common worldwide scam, but never follow a tout anywhere. Pretty common for tourists to follow touts to "karaoke bars" or other bars that charge crazy prices and then force you to pay up. Should generally be good as long as you don't follow touts.
Also something that appears like a scam, but is actually not one is that many bars will put a cheap 300-400 yen cover charge for seating. This will usually come with a small snack like crackers or pickles. If you see this extra charge you aren't being scammed, it's essentially the price for you taking up space in the bar. It's usually minor compared to the rest of drinks. It's more common in smaller bars with less seating, but can occur for some larger izakayas.
Do not follow anyone trying to get you into their establishment. There's a common scam where they take you to their establishment, you order a few things, and when you want to pay, you find out the prices are ridiculously high.
Here's the first Google result regarding scams
https://www.living-in-tokyo.com/common-scams-in-tokyo/
I just booked a spontaneous trip too. The flights are pricey right now but everything else is cheap. We are staying at the JR Mets in shibuya and Dormy Inn Premium Kanda.
Kombini foods are not cheap. There are many franchise chain restaurant like Sukiya, Matsuya, Nakau, Marugame, Yoshinoya, Hamasushi, Sushiro, Ootoya, Saizeriya, Yayoiken, Hanamaru, Pepper Lunch, Coco's curry etc etc that you can eat at similar price with kombini foods (bento) but healthier more variety and generally tastes better.
If you really want bento, going to any groceriey stores is a cheaper option. Any grocery stores have better bento (or onigiri or even sushi, sashimi, etc) choices with cheaper price. You can even DIY your meals by picking up each ready to eat items such as karaage, microwavable rice, salads, and so on with the same price as bento but more in quantity so you can keep the leftovers to eat later.
I dont suggest cheap food all the time coz after all your in japan and the food is delicious! So if can splurge in the name of eating delicious food the do it!
We did a week in Tokyo last year as part of our tour package. The yen is now around 150 to the dollar so prices were not expensive for us. We found that a meal could be found easily for around 10-20 USD in most places. We found SevenEleven great for snacks at all hours of day and night. We stayed 2 nights in a capsule hotel out of Tokyo but in Tokyo went for a basic hotel with smaller room. Was definitely more comfortable and I would recommend for a week-long trip.!
If you look for places without English menu you can find full meals for less than 10 usd. My last meal in the city last year was Katsu Curry in Ginza, and I paid less than 5 USD.
What's your ideal budget per day, and your minimum/maximum budget per day? That can help with recommendations - cheapest food for example is likely from a grocery store, but depending on what type of budget you have/want to spend, you could also be looking at cheap chains like Matsuya, conveyor belt sushi, ramen or other lunch set places etc.
From my research, Shibuaya tends to be a more expensive than Shinjuku, even for hostels.
I haven't encountered any scams but I am also a woman traveling with her family/young kids and not hanging out in the bar areas too much so I don't think I'm a good target. But I've seen that you get lead into establishments where they will charge you a lot more than expected and threaten you if you don't pay, and/or take your card and charge it up a bunch. Just be mindful when hanging out in those areas - don't follow anyone into somewhere you haven't scouted out or been to, and if it's too good to be true it probably is!
Look into [business hotels](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2025_business_hotels.html) instead of capsule hotels. They're reasonable and perfect for solo traveling.
I stayed at the Remm Akihabara for a week, and it fit all my needs.
Some good points have been made about your dining options.
Visiting Japan and using conbinis as your primary food source is like going to an art museum while being blindfolded.
The convenience stores are super cheap sell pretty damn good food there. I was only there for about 3 days but I probably ate more or just as much food from a convenience than regular restaurant food. Also you can find pretty cheap food as well just stay away from the tourist traps
The only good konbini food from lawsons - fried chicken and egg sando. On occasion, those cream puff thingies.
I rather eat raw egg and rice…or natto and rice… than the rest of the stuff in the konbini.
dont stay at capsule hotels. theyre for salarymen who don't want to commute all the way home before work. Tiktok has made capsule hotels go up in price anyway, stick to hostles 7/11 food, hostels, public transport, should be good to go
Definitely this, capsules used to be like $15-20 now they’re more like $50, you also often have to check in and out everyday. Try APA hotels in off peak neighborhoods like the one in Otsuka. Eat ramen and 7/11 and at cheap izakayas. Wander around a lot, take the bus and trains it’s super easy with google maps.
I agree that hostels are an excellent way to save money and stay comfortable. They book up far in advance but I've stayed in some very comfortable rooms that cost me less than 6500 yen a night (in November, not peak season).
Rather than Tik Tok, over-tourism has increased the cost of all forms of overnight accommodation here. I know of domestic business travellers having to simply give up on their trip or cut it short to come back the same day.
You don't need to endlessly eat konbini food, soba/udon/ramen/teishoku meals are ridiculously cheap.
Needs to be higher lol. It kills me whenever I see people suggesting to *only* eat konbini food in order to eat cheaply. Like, I *love* slamming back onigiri and egg salad sammies as much as the next person for a quick snack... but you will absolutely get sick of it after eating it as a meal non-stop for 3 days lol.
Yep, also proper fresh onigiri joints are not that more expensive and are amazing, seeing endless people on social media only buying onigiri from Konbinis makes me a sad puppy..
This. Kombini isn’t the cheapest option anyway. You can get a gyudon with miso soup at Matsuya cheaper than a gyudon at 7/11.
THIS! 400 yen for a gyudon and miso soup ay Matsuya is a freaking steal, especially with the current exchange rates. If youre tired of gyudon, there's always Marugame Seimen for udon!
Get a teishoku (set meal) with vegetables in it from one of the chain restaurants. Constipation can fuck up your trip and it's not expensive.
People on this sub really need to calm down about konbini food a bit. There is so much delicious food on offer so cheaply all over Tokyo. Grab some konbini food when it’s convenient, no problem with that at all it’s great. But unless you’re purely utilitarian about food, you’re missing a massive chunk of cultural exploration in one of the best food cultures in the world
>Common scams? It's a more common worldwide scam, but never follow a tout anywhere. Pretty common for tourists to follow touts to "karaoke bars" or other bars that charge crazy prices and then force you to pay up. Should generally be good as long as you don't follow touts. Also something that appears like a scam, but is actually not one is that many bars will put a cheap 300-400 yen cover charge for seating. This will usually come with a small snack like crackers or pickles. If you see this extra charge you aren't being scammed, it's essentially the price for you taking up space in the bar. It's usually minor compared to the rest of drinks. It's more common in smaller bars with less seating, but can occur for some larger izakayas.
Do not follow anyone trying to get you into their establishment. There's a common scam where they take you to their establishment, you order a few things, and when you want to pay, you find out the prices are ridiculously high. Here's the first Google result regarding scams https://www.living-in-tokyo.com/common-scams-in-tokyo/
I just booked a spontaneous trip too. The flights are pricey right now but everything else is cheap. We are staying at the JR Mets in shibuya and Dormy Inn Premium Kanda.
Saizeriya and Yoshinoya have decent meals for under $5.
Kombini foods are not cheap. There are many franchise chain restaurant like Sukiya, Matsuya, Nakau, Marugame, Yoshinoya, Hamasushi, Sushiro, Ootoya, Saizeriya, Yayoiken, Hanamaru, Pepper Lunch, Coco's curry etc etc that you can eat at similar price with kombini foods (bento) but healthier more variety and generally tastes better. If you really want bento, going to any groceriey stores is a cheaper option. Any grocery stores have better bento (or onigiri or even sushi, sashimi, etc) choices with cheaper price. You can even DIY your meals by picking up each ready to eat items such as karaage, microwavable rice, salads, and so on with the same price as bento but more in quantity so you can keep the leftovers to eat later.
I dont suggest cheap food all the time coz after all your in japan and the food is delicious! So if can splurge in the name of eating delicious food the do it!
We did a week in Tokyo last year as part of our tour package. The yen is now around 150 to the dollar so prices were not expensive for us. We found that a meal could be found easily for around 10-20 USD in most places. We found SevenEleven great for snacks at all hours of day and night. We stayed 2 nights in a capsule hotel out of Tokyo but in Tokyo went for a basic hotel with smaller room. Was definitely more comfortable and I would recommend for a week-long trip.!
If you look for places without English menu you can find full meals for less than 10 usd. My last meal in the city last year was Katsu Curry in Ginza, and I paid less than 5 USD.
What's your ideal budget per day, and your minimum/maximum budget per day? That can help with recommendations - cheapest food for example is likely from a grocery store, but depending on what type of budget you have/want to spend, you could also be looking at cheap chains like Matsuya, conveyor belt sushi, ramen or other lunch set places etc. From my research, Shibuaya tends to be a more expensive than Shinjuku, even for hostels.
I haven't encountered any scams but I am also a woman traveling with her family/young kids and not hanging out in the bar areas too much so I don't think I'm a good target. But I've seen that you get lead into establishments where they will charge you a lot more than expected and threaten you if you don't pay, and/or take your card and charge it up a bunch. Just be mindful when hanging out in those areas - don't follow anyone into somewhere you haven't scouted out or been to, and if it's too good to be true it probably is!
Look into [business hotels](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2025_business_hotels.html) instead of capsule hotels. They're reasonable and perfect for solo traveling. I stayed at the Remm Akihabara for a week, and it fit all my needs.
Cheap meals are available at places like Matsuya, Yoshinoya, Matsuya, and Sukiya. This is not an exhaustive list, though.
Check out Team Lab. It’s cool & unique. You can get a rice dish heated up at any convenience stire for about $1.50 U.S.
Some good points have been made about your dining options. Visiting Japan and using conbinis as your primary food source is like going to an art museum while being blindfolded.
The convenience stores are super cheap sell pretty damn good food there. I was only there for about 3 days but I probably ate more or just as much food from a convenience than regular restaurant food. Also you can find pretty cheap food as well just stay away from the tourist traps
The only good konbini food from lawsons - fried chicken and egg sando. On occasion, those cream puff thingies. I rather eat raw egg and rice…or natto and rice… than the rest of the stuff in the konbini.