Jim Eagles: Japan can be done on the cheap

Mention Japan to travellers and they will often say they would love to go but it is too expensive and too difficult. Japan's National Tourist Organisation, the JNTO, frankly acknowledges that is why so few tourists - and so few New Zealanders - go there.

But is that impression correct? After visiting Japan last month I don't think it is. I reckon a canny traveller can visit there relatively cheaply.

And with a bit of planning it is not too hard to get around.

The Japanese are making huge efforts to make the country more accessible and affordable.

Kengo Nishimura, deputy director of tourism planning at the Ministry of Transport, says that 20 years ago Japan probably was expensive for visitors but a decade of economic doldrums has changed that.

"Japan can be very cheap," he said. "Here in Tokyo you can get a good meal for just $5. We just need to change the image." That's true.

The Japanese Government gave me a dinner allowance of ¥6000 (almost $80) which was very reasonable.

But, just as an experiment, on a couple of nights while I was in Tokyo I tried to eat as cheaply as possible.

One evening, dining in European mode, I bought a large can of beer from a convenience store for ¥211 and had a beef Subway for ¥410. Total cost: $8.20.

It was easy ordering the Subway, because the signs were in both English and Japanese, and the guy on the till got a round of applause from his workmates when - after much thought - he told me the price in English.

And at convenience stores you just pick up what you want and hand over the money.

Another day, going local, I went into a fast-food place, ordered noodle soup with meat balls by pointing at the picture, for ¥620 - which, by the way, was far from the cheapest item on the menu - and washed it down with a bottle of cold green tea for ¥160. Cost: about $10.

On the other hand, having saved two days of my meal allowance I blew it on a magnificent 11-course banquet, accompanied by chilled sake served in a crystal teapot, at the Unkai restaurant.

It was an unusual meal by New Zealand standards, which is probably why, when I placed my order, the kimono-clad waitress looked amazed, gestured at the menu and asked, "What can you eat?"

Everything, it turned out. As I enthusiastically devoured courses such as raw fish eggs and seaweed, sliced jellyfish, three kinds of raw fish, steamed fish balls with green tea powder, and cold vegetables and slices of eel - all delicious - the surprised staff offered information about what I was eating and advice on the best sake.

It was a great culinary experience and cost about $160.

Much the same pattern applies to accommodation.

The very nice Ana Hotel Tokyo, where I stayed, had rooms from $410 a night single or $540 double (www.anahoteltokyo.jp/e/ - link below).

The man at the National Tourist Office produced price lists showing what he called a "mid-range hotel" for around $150 a night and youth hostels for just $40, but I'm not sure what they would be like.

It is certainly worth looking at ryokan, traditional inns where you sleep on the floor on a futon mattress - very comfortable, incidentally - and share an onsen bath.

Sawanoya Ryokan in the Tokyo suburb of Ueno, offers rooms from about $60 a night for a single person (www.tctv.ne.jp/members/sawanoya/ - link below).

The amiable proprietor, Isao Sawai - who speaks better English than he lets on - reckons ryokan are the best place for foreigners to stay if they want to discover Japan.

"More than 90 per cent of my customers are now foreigners," he says. "A third of them are repeat customers and many of the others come by word-of-mouth recommendation. So I think they must like it."

A more sophisticated ryokan is Ginza Yoshimizu, in the heart of Tokyo's posh shopping area, which is committed to sustainable, healthy living, using only natural materials and organic food, and eschews modern fripperies like television.

Its prices start at $140 for a single room (http://www.yoshimizu.com/en/index.html - link below).

Getting around Tokyo is certainly cheap because the subway system, which extends just about everywhere, costs only $2-$3 a ride and you can buy a one-day pass for less than $10.

In addition, most of the places you might want to see in Tokyo - the spectacular view from the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the Meiji Jingu Shrine, the Senso-Ji temple in Asakusa or the space age technology at the Panasonic Centre - have no entry charge.

Putting all that together I reckon you could get by in Tokyo for as little as $100 a day if you were careful. And outside Tokyo prices are generally much cheaper.

The Japanese are also making huge efforts to make their country easier for English-speaking foreigners to get around.

Both the National Tourist Office and the Ministry of Transport proudly displayed a programme to have most transport signs in English as well as Japanese. "No language problems," declared their briefing paper.

I must say the signage programme is not quite as thorough on the ground as they indicated from the comfort of their offices, but it is pretty good.

I was fortunate enough to have an official guide, which certainly made travel easy, but it wasn't essential.

As part of my research programme, I decided to leave my guide in the shopping district of Ginza and see if I could make my way to the Imperial Palace Gardens and then navigate back to my hotel in Akasaka.

Even with a somewhat inadequate map, sufficient landmarks and street signs were in English so it was reasonably straightforward.

Another day I forayed into the subway system aiming to make my way to the Yasukuni Shrine and then back to my hotel.

It wasn't quite as easy as the tourist officials suggested - one subway station seemed to be strictly Japanese only - but helpful transport staff and a couple of giggling schoolgirls pointed the right way and I got home safely.

The bus depots, railway stations and airports also have reasonable signage, and most of the announcements are repeated in English, so it is not too hard to make connections.

A few Japanese words can go a long way. Most guidebooks have the basic phrases you need to get around, while the National Tourist Office has a booklet with standard phrases printed in English and Japanese that you can point to in an emergency, for example, "Where is the nearest restroom?"

But when in doubt, my advice is to ask secondary schoolchildren because they all seem to learn English and appear quite keen to use it.

While I was wandering through the ground of the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, for instance, a schoolboy with a notebook approached me. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Yes," I said, "you can ask two."

"How long have you been in Japan?" he asked.

"Six days." This was duly noted.

"What Japanese food do you like?"

"All of it. Sushi, sashimi, tempura, noodles, sukiyaki. Everything."

Then there was one final request. "Can you take a photo with me?"

After the photo he walked away beaming. I'm sure his smile would have been even broader if I had asked him for directions.