Frugal Hive says:

Answer 1

Here are some ideas for fun and frugal stuff to do. Sorry, I don’t have the exact details off the top of my head but they can be easily found by searching.

1. Wandering through the small streets of Harajuku and Shibuya is free and fun, and people-watching is great there. And Yoyogi Park is just there as well.

2. There is a free 1-hour guided tour of Asakusa once a week and Ueno twice a week given by Tokyo Goodwill Guides. See: http://www.japanvisitor.com/index.php?cID=357&pID=1067

3. Pick up a copy of the Tokyo Metropolitan Guide Book (orange in colour). Available at Tokyo Metropolitan tourism info counters and major stations. It has coupons for all the major museums, parks, and some theme parks.

4. Odaiba is good for a day of strolling. There’s the miniature Statue of Liberty there.

5. Rent a bicycle from the Asakusa bicycle-rent place and cycle along the Sumida River.

6. Visit the Metropolis magazine events listing for matsuri (local festivals) and free exhibitions.

Answer 2

Walk Akihabara. Haven’t spent time there in years; used to be all tech stuff, but I understand it’s more of a pop culture mecca now.

Walk from Omote-Sando, through Harajuku, to Meiji Shrine, maybe Yoyogi Park.

Head to the top of the Tokyo government building; last I checked, the observation deck is free. Same view as Tokyo Tower, without the ridiculous fee. (And Tokyo Tower is pretty inconvenient to get to, too.) Lots of electronics shops on the way, on the west side of Shinjuku Station.

Do a Gin-bura (walk around Ginza): traditional craft shops, dept stores, Apple Store… Nearby in Yurakucho, the huge Bic Camera electronics shop and smoky yakitori joints under the tracks, with
Hibiya Park and Imperial Palace not far away… Don’t know whether that’s all of interest to a teen, though. (And I don’t think there’s much to see at the Palace – mostly moat.)

Shibuya is fun for people-watching, but massively crowded. Some tourists love the Tokyu Hands store – pretty fun. (Ikebukuro has one too; also a small one in Takashimaya shopping center at Shinjuku south exit.)

Don’t plan the traditional tour of the Tsukiji fish market; I heard that they finally stopped letting the tourists disrupt work. (Anyone know the truth of that?)

Answer 3

Free guided tours in Tokyo. The guides speak English and are really nice. I sent my parents on a few of these when they were visiting and they enjoyed them a lot

See: http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english/tourists/guideservice/guideservice/index.html

Frugal Hive questions and answers are taken from the Frugal Japan mailing list. If you have a question about living frugally in Japan, subscribe to our list and ask the Frugal Hive!

The day starts with a convenience store run to stock up on provisions, then on to the revamped Ueno Station. Passengers board the scenic (?) Yamanote Line for a 20 minute trip to Hamamatsu-cho, for Y160. A fifteen-minute stroll to the Hinode Pier puts you in line for the Sumida River Cruise, which costs about Y800. The tour is completed with a walk down to Asakusa Shrine and Nakamise Dori. Enjoy!

It can also, however, be a big expense!

Bus tours, a classic way to travel in Japan, offer a few advantages. They cut down on transport costs — bus fares are often 30 to 40 percent cheaper than comparable train tickets. Tours often include meals and lodging, and admission to attractions along the way. Finally, while touring as a group can be frustrating sometimes with the lack of privacy and independence, bus tours are also a uniquely Japanese experience — where else can you meet so many older people and enjoy the pleasure of being led around by a uniformed tour guide with a flag?

My favorite Kanto bus tour company is Hato Bus. Hato Bus tours generally leave from major bus terminals in Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Tokyo, or Haneda Airport. They offer day trips and overnight trips, with some longer tours, to scenic areas in Kanto, Tohoku, and Koshinetsu. Of the several tours I have taken with them, my favorite was an overnight tour to the famous Minami Alps highland area Kamikochi. Our tour offered a five-hour stay in the area — enough for a reasonable hike. We stayed
the night in a beautiful Nagano spa resort, and also toured the Kurobe Dam. We enjoyed three delicious meals, and all transport (include trollies, trams, and the bus) was included for about Y26,000 per person.

Highway tolls and a one-night/two-meal stay at onsen spa would have cost at least that much, and a round-trip train fare alone was at least Y20,000. Day trips to the region are even cheaper — starting at around Y6000-Y7000 per day. Altogether, Hato Bus delivers great value for its services. Some of the more popular bus tours include activities such as fruit picking, all-you-can-eat soba or dessert parties, a sunset boat cruise, a full-day’s hiking trek in the mountains — almost anything.

Are you interested? Check out Hato Bus’s web site to search for a tour you might enjoy. Alternately, pick up one of their distinctive yellow tour pamphlets at a travel agency near you, and have a friend help you choose. Hato Bus has offices right outside Shinjuku and Tokyo stations. Hato Bus also offers a few English-language tours each season to local area attractions, as well as sightseeing bus tours around Tokyo, which are always good for visiting friends or relatives.

Never heard of the “heat island” effect? Well, it simply describes the fact that city temperatures tend to be much warmer than the land around them, often (according to the New York Times) 10 degrees warmer. An August 2002 article quotes Takehiro Mikami, a professor fo climatology at Tokyo Metropolitan University, as saying that “Tokyo temperatures have increased five times as fast as global warming.”

The most dramatic summer temperature increases have been seen between the hours of 12AM and 5 AM, when the average number of “tropical nights” (with temperatures at night over 25C) during summer has risen from zero to five 100 years ago, to 30 to 40. By one estimate, the number of “tropical nights” is likely to increase to 50 or 60.

Anyone living in the city can tell you that the summer months can be unbearble at times. However, a very unique and frugal idea to combat this heating is taking shape: roof gardens. Roof gardens clean air and lower rooftop temperatures and also contribute to lower air conditioning and cooling costs.

The Tokyo City Government recently implemented a law requiring all new medium size buildings to devote at least 20 percent of their roofs to a roof garden, and many prestigious buildings now feature roof gardens.

Visiting these gardens can be a fun, frugal and educational activity. One of the largest roof gardens that can be visited for free is the one built atop of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport Building No. 3. Open to the public every Friday from 2pm-4pm by appointment (call the Ryokuchi Kankyo Suishin Shitsu at 03-5253-8420), the 500m2 garden features ample explanation (in Japanese) of some of the methods and materials used.

It’s a unique oasis in the middle of Kasumigaseki, Japan’s civil servant headquarters.

More costly options include a tour of Roppongi Hills’s elaborate rooftop garden (available in English, from Y1,500-2,500) included in the full complex tour, and the small but lovely rooftop garden featured as part of the Asakura Choso Museum in Nezu, Sendagi (also features an amazing tour of this one of a kind scultpor’s studio and traditional Japanese house).

As the temperature rises, these hidden oases of Tokyo are sure to be a cool and comfortable retreat from the heat.

© 2004 Wendy J. Imura.