First of all – this wasn’t a regular trip. The reason for the trip was for the teacher training but halfway through the training, I realized that the company was a bad fit for me. We parted ways amiably and not only did they pay me for the training days I attended, but the few days I was there enabled me to make some friends which really made the whole trip worthwhile in my opinion. While I was getting out and doing a little bit in Otaru and Sapporo, it was nice to be able to ‘let my hair down’ (haha what hair) and enjoy a little bit of Tokyo’s incredible nightlife with some new friends. While it’s possible to make friends in hotels and bars, there is always something more comfortable about making friends from work, school. or shared interest. Case in point was the man who I met on the elevator going to breakfast who unashamedly asked me “Have you had any luck with the girls here?” I replied that that wasn’t the point of my trip but girls in Japan are like girls everywhere, they’re girls – and then I. found somewhere to sit to escape him. I’m not sure what made him feel so comfortable rather loudly asking a stranger in a crowded hotel breakfast room a question like that, but I guess it is clear why he is here.
For the most part, one of the things I like about Japan is that people leave you alone, there are no pushy touts, and you can feel safe no matter where you are. A little bit of that idea got shattered last night walking to catch the last train in Shinjuku where we had all gotten together for drinks. Shinjuku is a definite ‘entertainment’ district filled with bars, sex clubs, and brothels. We were there for the bars, but honestly, it’s not my kind of place. I left a bit earlier because I wanted to catch the last train and on the walk from the bar to the station, I was constantly picked out by the aggressive tout/pimps who like the man at the hotel breakfast said things like “I can get you laid tonight” “Want to fuck a Japanese pornstar?” “Let me be your agent tonight, I can get you hooked up.” I just wanted to get to my train, lol. Unfortunately, these guys were all African and I’m bummed that this seems to be a sort of hiring stereotype and feel bad for the perception that it builds. Anyway, I can live the rest of my life without going out to the seedy part of Shinjuku again – but I’m sure that the man from breakfast will find everything he is looking for there – unless he is looking for love, decency, respect, and fulfilling relationships. On the positive side, the touts while aggressive were friendly and after firmly being rebuffed with a smile would go back to their hunt without any aggression or harshness.
All of that being said, I did find a fantastic hole in the wall basement jazz bar in Shinjuku where I was able to sit, sip a drink, read, and compose some (probably bad) tanka poetry. I also found a huge bookstore with a large English language section. Those were the two treasures I found there – and I’m sure there are more – but mostly Shinjuku seemed to be super high end shops and the entertainment district – but one of my new friends from the school told me that there are whole alleyways where there are tiny bars with 2-5 seats and it can be a blast to bar hop in them with a very small group of friends. I’d be down for that.
The area I stayed in was Hanzomon in Chiyoda. It was a bit of an accident I stayed there as I booked the APA hotel above the one I intended in the listings but it was a happy accident. It was a quiet hotel with free daily breakfast and a few hundred dollars cheaper for my six night stay – it was just slightly further out of the way. The good part of that was it was quiet and I could walk around day or night without being propositioned by the touts. Hanzomon closes down at night since it is mostly offices and embassies in the area but on my final days there, I realized that the one direction I hadn’t walked took me to Akasaka which is another entertainment district but felt much more low key than the brothels and bars of Shinjuku. I haven’t been out to Shibuya at night but I was told by some of my new friends that it’s a less seedy vibe. The nightlife in Tokyo is fun – if I were in my twenties, I would probably dive deeply into it. I’m glad that in my fifties, I was able to enjoy a few days of Tokyo party life with a bunch of interesting new friends.
All of that being said – drinking is expensive in these places with an average beer or cocktail running from 800 yen up to 1500 – which is something like $6-$10 each. So you aren’t really getting a discount with the exchange rate or change in location. Food on the other hand is a great value – you can get terrific meals for around the same price throughout Tokyo and if you eat from the conveninece stores or the prepared bentos in corner shops, meals can be as little as $2-$3. A coffee will run you $3-$5 in a good shop.
Transportation can add up, but around $10 a day will get you to where you want to go with the subway and some walking. There is a lot to see here – I haven’t covered all the neighborhoods or parks I visited but I think it’s worthwhile to just hop on the subway and go to random places once in a while and definitely picking a direction and just walking will lead you to a lot of things you wouldn’t otherwise have found – temples, parks, shopping districts, museums, galleries.
The Budget 6 days and 7 nights in Tokyo:
All told, not including the flights to get here my expenses were roughly:
$550 for my hotel for 6 nights.
$50 transportation
$160 for food
$120 for adult drinks and coffee
$30 for entrance fees to parks/museums
$80 to buy a new pair of shoes and $40 to buy a shirt and hat
$20 to buy a book and a new pen
Grand total: $1050 or about 150k JPY. I could have lowered costs on this by about half by staying in a capsule hotel and eating only the bento meals, not drinking – but having my own bathroom is important to me at this point and the food/drink/social aspect was important to me on this trip, I think I really needed the shared experience.