solo travel to japan

[fonz70]

i want to visit japan , but at the moment i dont have anyone to go with me. does anyone now any travel agency or tour groups that cater to solo travellers and are on the cheaper side

[abdulclamwacker]

To me that doesn't sound like you're staying a long time.. Solo is probably the best, stay in town, take the JR railways and discover by buying a guide. That's most exciting.. the people are warm and nice, you just have to ask slowly.

You can easily get business hotels for under $60 a night with a great sized bed AND breakfast in a central area.

[Jer3]

solo traveling to japan is a great experience. not only because its one of the safest countries to travel to but everything is quite foreigner friendly even if you don't speak/read the language. id never recommend taking a tour there since its so accessible. i never even brought a guidebook or map there.

i was solo for about 2 weeks of my 1 month there. never had any problems. granted, the time i went i met up with a few friends that live in japan.

going again next week solo for 8 days. can't wait to be there again.

[SkinnyPupp]

I'm writing this from the toilet of a capsule hotel right now solo is fun if you don't mind feeling isolated and unless you are the outgoing type who makes friends with everyone around you, you WILL get lonely.

You should not have to pay more than $50 a night for a hotel in Tokyo.
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[Jer3]

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

I'm writing this from the toilet of a capsule hotel right now solo is fun if you don't mind feeling isolated and unless you are the outgoing type who makes friends with everyone around you, you WILL get lonely.

You should not have to pay more than $50 a night for a hotel in Tokyo.
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forgot to mention part about being lonely lol. yeah it does get lonely and but obviously ur daily interactions with locals will keep u sane. id recommend staying at a hostel if ur the type to get lonely. a lot of ppl there are in the same boat. saw quite a few strangers meet friends there. didnt really bother to do that though seeing as i had my own itinerary.

[fonz70]

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

I'm writing this from the toilet of a capsule hotel right now solo is fun if you don't mind feeling isolated and unless you are the outgoing type who makes friends with everyone around you, you WILL get lonely.

You should not have to pay more than $50 a night for a hotel in Tokyo.
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50 per night. why so cheap. in vancouver, bc you have to pay at least 100 or more a night-and that for a cheap one

[Farfetched]

Originally Posted by fonz70

50 per night. why so cheap. in vancouver, bc you have to pay at least 100 or more a night-and that for a cheap one

it's not for everyone but personally i would just go solo and stay in hostels rather than on a guided tour. if you want someone to talk to just strike up a conversation with a non-asian looking person. that's what i did. they're pretty easy to spot. yeah you could find a hotel in vancouver for waaaaay cheaper than 100. OP you're not looking hard enough.

[SkinnyPupp]

Originally Posted by fonz70

50 per night. why so cheap. in vancouver, bc you have to pay at least 100 or more a night-and that for a cheap one

Travel is very popular here and there is a lot of competition if you know where to look. Saturdays are usually expensive. My hotel in ikebukuro was 4800 yen a night, and the capsule in Kyoto was 2800. Hotels are definitely preferred over a capsule, but I would stay in a capsule over a hostel every time.

[instantneedles]

I know this sounds far fetched, but with the radiation, tsunami, natural disasters of 2011, how much of an impact does it have on the traveller? It's not so much the idea of undergoing a second tsunami, but the left over radiation from the crisis.

I've always had plans to go to japan someday, but the thought of this has always been something that has kinda given me second thoughts.

[fonz70]

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

Travel is very popular here and there is a lot of competition if you know where to look. Saturdays are usually expensive. My hotel in ikebukuro was 4800 yen a night, and the capsule in Kyoto was 2800. Hotels are definitely preferred over a capsule, but I would stay in a capsule over a hostel every time.

why capsule over hostel? any reasons???

can u get around jp with very little speaking japanese and cant read or write jp.
what do u do? just get a ticket and book a hostel and get a map and just go from there. seems too adventurous and sponsteanous and little dangerous scary to me. you dont even now the country or anyone there

[muteki]

Sorry to jack thread, but any decent hotels for around that price?
Going with 2 people doesn't really work well for hostel/capsule style.
Thanks~

@fanz70 You can definitely get around pretty easily in Japan without being able to speak/read/write(why would you need to write?).
There's tons to do over there even if you're alone, you might end up with new friends or a traveling partner if you are end up staying at a social hostel place. Just pick a few places that you must see and you'll encounter things you want to check out along the way. =D Ahh, you make me want to go right now.

[Jer3]

Originally Posted by SimplyComplex

Sorry to jack thread, but any decent hotels for around that price?
Going with 2 people doesn't really work well for hostel/capsule style.
Thanks~

@fanz70 You can definitely get around pretty easily in Japan without being able to speak/read/write(why would you need to write?).
There's tons to do over there even if you're alone, you might end up with new friends or a traveling partner if you are end up staying at a social hostel place. Just pick a few places that you must see and you'll encounter things you want to check out along the way. =D Ahh, you make me want to go right now.

if u got a group of 3, maybe look into renting out a place on airbnb. split it between 3 ppl and u could get a nicely furnished place in a central area. did the work for u as well...for example.

Tokyo Loft (Naka Meguro/Daikanyama) in Meguro
Shibuya`Times Square` 5 min on foot in Shibuya

japan is a lot more affordable nowadays than ever. if u want an affordable but small business hotel, heard good things about sakura hotel. i wouldnt write off hostels either. the hostels in japan are very well maintained and taken care of (this is for the better ones of course). id recommend k's house tokyo in kuramae. they also have a 2nd location in tokyo a few minutes away at asakusa.

and to restate it, japan is very foreigner friendly. u will have no problems getting around. it would not hurt to know a bit of japanese though.

[Farfetched]

Originally Posted by fonz70

why capsule over hostel? any reasons???

capsule i'd do anyways just for the experience. it's uniquely japan.

Originally Posted by fonz70

can u get around jp with very little speaking japanese and cant read or write jp.
what do u do? just get a ticket and book a hostel and get a map and just go from there.

yeah pretty much. i got by in japan knowing about 5 phrases?

Originally Posted by fonz70

seems too adventurous and sponsteanous and little dangerous scary to me. you dont even now the country or anyone there

if you're not adventurous and spontaneous, now would be a good opportunity to work that muscle. as mentioned by others. people in japan are friendly. there are cops on almost every couple blocks in tokyo. you can ask them for directions. they're more than willing to help. as for dangerous, japan is one of the safest places you could travel to.

[SkinnyPupp]

Originally Posted by instantneedles

I know this sounds far fetched, but with the radiation, tsunami, natural disasters of 2011, how much of an impact does it have on the traveller? It's not so much the idea of undergoing a second tsunami, but the left over radiation from the crisis.
.

There is no radiation that is dangerous. Never was.

But the currency is completely ruined. When I first went there, 1000¥ was about $8. Now it's more like $15! Almost double! Prices are RIDICULOUS. You can't eat a "normal" meal for less than $15,so you would have to eat on a strict budget which means crap food, and missing out on the best thing about japan.
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[Jer3]

with the rise of the canadian dollar and the drop in the yen, its getting a lot better. i bought yen around 1 cad = 75 yen before i left canada around 3 weeks ago. right now its trading at about 1 cad = 82-83 yen. its almost on par with when i went in june 09 at 1 cad = 86 yen.

[Mananetwork]

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

Travel is very popular here and there is a lot of competition if you know where to look. Saturdays are usually expensive. My hotel in ikebukuro was 4800 yen a night, and the capsule in Kyoto was 2800. Hotels are definitely preferred over a capsule, but I would stay in a capsule over a hostel every time.

I also had no problem staying in the capsules. It was a great sleep every time I did. Locals poked fun of me for it but I didn't see the problem.
To them it's like paying for a drunk tank with a single room

[LYC]

Use Japanese sites when booking hotels. Rates for the Japanese will always be cheaper. I usually use RakutenTravel: Japan's Hotel and Ryokan reservation mega site because its in english and its easy to use.

Lots of hotels have triple rooms. Me and my friends go into Sapporo quite a bit and usually pay around 3000-4000 yen per person in nice hotels. For example the Mercure in the main entertainment district was 9000 yen for 3 king size beds.

[Jer3]

for anyone looking to book activities in english in tokyo, take a look at findjpn on google. i would think it would be great for those going alone since at least u get some kind of interaction with ppl rather than being

[Djiban]

Originally Posted by Jer3

for anyone looking to book activities in english in tokyo, take a look at findjpn on google. i would think it would be great for those going alone since at least u get some kind of interaction with ppl rather than being

^ one of their activities: "shopping with japanese lolitas" lol

[reza]

i will be in japan from apr11-26 with a buddy if anyone wants to meet up.

hows busy are hostels/hotels/etc. during this time? busy enough that we have to book everything like a week in advance or can just show up on the day and stay the night. we are only doing like 2-3days each city.

[SkinnyPupp]

ALWAYS book in advance. Always
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[reza]

is a couple days enough or are we talking weeks in advance?

[Ronin]

I stayed in an apartment from Sakura House when I was in Japan for a bit more than 3 months. Way cheaper than hotel rooms, especially if you're there for awhile.

They have multiple hostels around Tokyo, I think. Good prices and quite clean.

[SkinnyPupp]

Originally Posted by reza

is a couple days enough or are we talking weeks in advance?

Weeks if not months, especially on weekends. Like I said, Japanese love to travel, and hotels book up fast during popular travel times.

[Mr.Money]

if you need some more information,this is a good site to check out,i used it once while i was in japan for a month......ended up getting some western food imported and shipped to my door in a box while there lol.

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