Forbes.com: 20 Ways To Visit Japan On The Cheap

Above, the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo is a free attraction for tourists to visit.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Business travel writer Andrew Bender has a new article at Forbes.com on "20 Ways To Visit Japan On The Cheap."

Most of the tips I have employed during my six visits to The Land of the Rising Sun.  He states that Japan can still be expensive, despite the 17% rise in the U.S. dollar's exchange value when exchanging for yen.  He cites that six months ago the dollar bought 80 yen, now it buys over 93.5 yen.

Some of the tips from his list that I've used include:

Above, a business hotel in the Ueno section
of Tokyo I stayed at.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

1. Travelling off-peak season.(late autumn through March); 2. Discounted airfares; 3. From the airport (Narita Express); 4. Take local transit (Tokyo subways start at 160 yen per trip, which is about $1.71); 5. Japan Rail Pass (for frequent long-distance trips within Japan); 6. Sights for free (one example was a visit to the Tsukiji Fish Market); 7. Cheap gifts (he cites the 100-yen shops, but I've found some great deals at Asakusa's Nakamise Street); 8. Business hotels (they are smaller than U.S. hotel rooms and he agrees with my view on them: they are only needed for sleeping and freshening up, not for spending one's vacation in); 9. Chain restaurants (he mentions Yoshinoya for cheap meals and I've dined there to conserve on cash); 10. Convenience stores (I've often gone to Am PM or Lawson's for cheap quickie bento meals and packaged sushi); 11.  No tipping (this definitely applies to hotels, restaurants and taxi drivers).

I would add one more to his list: stay at a ryokan (Japanese inn).  They are reasonable (especially outside of Tokyo) and any traveler should experience staying in "the Japanese way" at least once.  I've stayed at three during different Japan vacations.

To read the full article and the other nine tips, go here.