Travel Forum / Destinations / Asia / July 2005

"I would like to ask how much money (Yen) I should realistically have
for one, maybe two cheap meals, and a couple of hours of
entertainment?"

You can have an excellent dinner for 2500-3000 yen, and definitely if
you were willing to spend twice that.  The prices of top restaurants in
Tokyo are much higher than in most cities, but there are huge numbers
of midrange and inexpensive restaurants also.

Most bars and clubs are very expensive.  In bars, expect to pay 800 yen
for a beer or 1000 yen for a cocktail, even in shabby-looking places.
Club covers are usually in the 2000 yen-3500 yen range, and usually
include 1-2 drinks.

"Also, on my way to Australia, I will be in Tokyo airport for six
hours, again, how much money will I need for this six hours - a meal,
some magazines, etc, or will the airport take Sterling or Australian
dollars?"

You won't want to spend much money or time in the airport.  It has
mostly fast food, cheap restaurants, and tacky souvenier stores, and
you might have a hard time finding English-language books or magazines
(bring them with you).  There's a free Internet place if you need to
kill time.

BTW, it's very important that you know that Tokyo's Narita airport is
not in Tokyo, but is way outside the city (the train to the airport
passes through rice paddies) - 60-90 minutes by train or 60-120 minutes
by bus from the main neighborhoods of Tokyo, and you should make sure
to leave for the airport well in advance of your flight.

Where are you staying? A lot depends on that.

If you can set aside $100 US you should have more than enough. The
cheapest you can go for meals will be around Y500; actually you can
probably go cheaper than that, but that price gets you a bento ('lunch'
box; basically Japanese fast food) with fried chicken nuggets and an
ample amount of rice. Add at least Y100 for a canned drink. Beer will
cost in the Y500 range, more or possibly less depending on the
establishment. Canned beer, of course, is cheaper, but I honestly found
my first experience with a beer vending machine to be memorable (though
because of the nature of the product I don't actually remember it).
There are a couple of different types of bars. One is the type you see
in the West, with a bartender backed by lots of liquor bottles and
several taps in front of him; usually no cover for these establishments,
though some might charge on Friday/Saturday nights. The other is the
hostess club, which ranges all the way from a 'snack' (like the typical
bar, except with a female bartender and a mama san and lots of flirting)
all the way up to hostess clubs (where you sit on sofas of varying
comfort and get flirted with by women of varying attractiveness, with
the key being how much you pay to get in); these all charge a cover,
typically by the hour, and the price depends on the establishment. Also,
depending on the place it might be a bit awkward being a foreigner in
such an establishment, particularly if you don't know Japanese; there's
even a slight chance you won't be let in.

But as I said, a lot depends on where you're staying. If you're in one
of the hotels near the airport you'll find it like airport hotels
everywhere: on the pricey side. If you're staying somewhwere in Tokyo,
you should be able to find a bar that suits your needs quite easily.

As usual the meals in the airport will cost more, but shouldn't be more
than $10 US.

Hope this helps!

John W.

Ugh. I'm in Narita right now. If not for the laptop internet ports in the
Star Alliance lounge I would have died of boredom some time ago.

I used to enjoy the old Osaka airport because you could walk right out of
the terminal and into town, and easily kill a few hours just wandering
around. No such luck at NRT though.

miguel

Well, Thanks everyone for your help, I suppose the best thing to do
will be to play it by ear.

Thanks again,

Roger Melly.