Tokyo on $50 a day
Tokyo
Capsule hotels, convenience-store breakfasts and the best free views in the city. Japan’s capital costs less than you think.
Tokyo has a reputation for being expensive, and if you eat in hotel restaurants and take taxis it is. But the city is full of ways to spend less, and the cheap version is often the more interesting one.
Sleep in a capsule hotel or one of the excellent hostels in Asakusa or Kuramae for about ¥4,000. Breakfast at a konbini (the egg sandwiches are famous for a reason), lunch at a standing soba bar, dinner at an izakaya in the alleys under the train tracks at Yurakucho.
Free and nearly free
The observation decks at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building are free and look out to Mount Fuji on clear mornings. Shibuya Crossing, Meiji Shrine and the backstreets of Yanaka cost nothing. Get a Suica card on your phone for the trains.