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Many Japanese thinks “Traveling overseas is good, but after all traveling in Japan is the best!” All over the country, there are all kinds of scenic spots and historical sites, and delicious food you can enjoy. If there is only one problem, it is the high transportation costs and accommodation charges. As looking at the travel price people say, “It will be even cheaper to travel to Southeast Asia or Taiwan if this is the price…” and often take a sigh. So, we will introduce you the secret to keep the transportation costs and accommodation expenses cheap. Secret Part 1: Using a high-speed night bus! Most excellent means to inexpensively […]

“Asakusa” is a town which has strong “downtown taste”. It is the most popular tourist areas of Tokyo, “Kaminarimon”, “Senso-ji Temple”, Asakusa gourmet, or in the neighboring town Ryogoku, there are “Kokugikan” where they have the Sumo-wrestling tournament and Edo historical museum. There are a lot of attractions for foreign tourists that you can’t miss. And when you visit Asakusa, we would like to definitely recommend to have “Kimono experience”. Wearing a beautiful Japanese traditional costume, let’s gracefully walk the streets of Asakusa. Although in Asakusa there are many shops that you can rent Kimono, the following four stores has a website descript in English, with resident bilingual staff, offers […]

Once Japan compared with other countries, as a country the development of Wi-Fi environment is especially late, (unfortunately) among foreign tourists had bought disrepute. “Even though this is a big city, there are no free Wi-Fi spots. Why? Where …? … In Southeast Asia there is Wi-Fi everywhere”. Foreign tourists who visited Tokyo talks about dissatisfaction for many times as you will hear. But the situation recently it is being dramatically improved! Especially in Tokyo, towards the Olympic Games of 2020, the development of the Internet environment for foreign visitors and tourists are underway at a rapid pace. So this time, for foreign tourists who visited Tokyo, we will introduce […]

“When you travel, you want to truncate the budget accommodation as much as possible …!” I think this is the universal desire of budget travelers. Since Japan is especially high rates country when you compared with other countries, appropriate accommodation select is exactly a matter of life and death for the traveler. So this time, I tried to compare the features and prices of four types of accommodation which are “Business hotel”, “Youth Hostel”, “Capsule Hotel”, and “Guest House”. Business hotel Rate: Private room per night 6,000 to 10,000 yen If you visit Tokyo for a business trip, I think generally will access to a business hotel. Since specializing in […]

3-minute train ride from “Guest house Wasabi”, you will be in “Ueno”. There are culture facilities such as museums, art museum and art-based schools, it is an area of scent of culture. We will introduce the attractions of the captivating downtown area this time. Ameya Yokocho (Ameya alley) “Ameya Yokocho”the mall area that extends between the JR Ueno Station and the Okachimachi station. It will be known by the name called “Ameyoko”. Several hundred retail stores cluster along street along the viaduct, and everyday has a great bustle of shoppers. Also goods to be handled, are food, clothing, miscellaneous goods, jewelry and so on. Almost just anything, and is to […]

Tsukiji market is a public wholesale market in Chuo-ku, Tokyo. Scale of the market is said to be the world’s largest, handling the amount of seafood per day up to a whopping average of 2,000 tons. In addition to seafood, meat, fruit, vegetables, a variety of fresh food are also beukng trade. It also has a face as a major tourist spot in Tokyo, and the sight of lined up people for fresh fish and seafood, many tourists every day seeking the atmosphere of the coming and going of people and vehicles rapidly in the market. However, in recent years due to the rapid increase of tourists, there are some […]

Your travel experience in Japan will enhance a great deal if you remember some basic Japanese phrases. Japanese people are generally not very used to interacting with foreigners (which does not mean they are unfriendly), and their English communication skill is, in most cases, somewhat limited. So here are some basic Japanese phrases which will be extraordinarily useful when traveling in Japan. Arigatou / Arigatou-gozaimasu (Thank you) This is one phrase you should absolutely memorize. You can use “Arigatou” in any kind of situation, so if you want to show your gratitude toward anything or anybody, you’re encouraged to say “Arigatou” as many times as you like. “Arigatou-gozaimasu” is a […]

In Japan, observing manners and etiquette in public places is considered very important. Here are some basic manners and rules foreign visitors should observe when traveling in Japan. Manners on public transport When you use public transport (especially trains and buses) in Japan, you should keep in mind the following points: Do not talk loudly Chatting out loud is considered inappropriate on Japanese public transport. Foreigners may think it strange that everybody is just staring at their mobile phone in dead silence, especially during commuting hours. However, this just shows their national character; Japanese people tend to refrain from talking personal things in public. So it’s a good idea to […]

Guest houses are becoming increasingly popular in Japan. This trend is seen not only in big cities like Tokyo or Osaka, but in other smaller tourist towns as well. Foreign visitors may already have an experience of staying in a guest house since it is extremely popular among budget travelers in many countries. However, some people may still be wondering what sort of place this “guest house” is. So we will teach you some basics facts about guest houses. What is a guest house? A guest house is a type of inexpensive accommodation which is popular among budget travelers including backpackers. It is usually just a simple lodging without meals […]

「海外もいいけど、やっぱり旅行は国内がイチバン！」そう考える日本の方は少なくありません。 全国津々浦々、景勝地や史跡には事欠きませんし、美味しいご飯は食べられるし、言葉が通じなくて不便することもないし、と国内旅行のメリットはいくらでも挙げられます。 ただひとつだけ問題があるなら、交通費や宿泊代が高くつくこと。 旅行代金を見て、「え、コレなら台湾とか東南アジアを旅した方が安いじゃん…」とため息をつくこともしばしば。 そこで今回は、少人数の国内旅行で、交通費と宿泊費を格安に抑える秘訣をご紹介していきます。 秘訣その1：高速夜行バスを利用する！ 交通費を安価に抑える最も優れた手段は、やはり高速バス（夜行バス）を利用すること！ 目的地にもよりますが、料金はおおむね飛行機や新幹線の3分の1から4分の1程度で済みます。 また高速バス（夜行バス）には、格安料金の他にもさまざまなメリットがあるんですよ。 やっぱり料金がダントツで安い！ ここでは東京⇔名古屋の片道移動を例にとって、各交通手段の料金を比較してみます。 飛行機：平均7,000～25,000円 新幹線：平均10,000～15,000円 高速夜行バス：平均2,200～8,000円 ご覧の通り、3つの交通手段の内、高速バスが群を抜いて格安なのがお分かりだと思います。 ターミナル駅まで直行してくれる！ また高速バスはたいてい各都市のターミナル駅まで直行してくれるので、乗換や他の移動手段などを考える必要もありません♪ 移動時間を有効利用できる！ さらに時間を有効利用できるのも、高速バス（夜行バス）の魅力です。 たしかに高速バス（夜行バス）は他の交通手段と比較して時間がかかります。それでも夜出発して、車内で眠っているうちに到着しちゃうので、朝からたっぷりと時間を使うことができます。 実は目的地に朝一番早く到着できるのは、高速バス（夜行バス）なんですよ♪ 秘訣その2：ゲストハウスを利用する！ 宿泊費を抑える手段としては、ビジネスホテル、ユースホステル、カプセルホテルなどがあります。 今回はその中でも「ゲストハウス」の利用を強くオススメする理由をいくつか挙げていきます。 「ドミトリー」なら料金が超格安！ ここでは、「ゲストハウスわさび」がある日暮里・上野エリアを対象に、各宿泊施設の料金を比較してみます。 ビジネスホテル：シングル1泊6,000～10,000円 ユースホステル：シングル1名1泊4,500円（会員外は5,100円） カプセルホテル：カプセル1泊2,500円～4,000円 ゲストハウス：ドミトリー相部屋1泊2,800円～、個室4,800円～ ご覧の通り、「ドミトリー」と呼ばれる相部屋ならば、最安のカプセルホテルと変わらない料金で滞在することができます。 また3名での利用ならば、1人あたり3,000円という破格の料金で個室に泊まることも可能です。 同じ値段のカプセルホテルより遥かに快適！ ゲストハウスのドミトリーとカプセルホテルは、料金こそ同程度ですが、快適さにおいては大きな差があると言えるでしょう。 部屋の広さが比較にならないのはもちろんのこと、「ゲストハウスわさび」の場合は大浴場のなどの設備も利用でき、さらに他の宿泊客の方たちと交流できる団らんスペースもあります。また、「フリードリンク」で「化粧水」や「乳液」が無料というところも快適ポイントですよね。 旅行者同士の交流も魅力のひとつ！ 料金の安さ・快適さだけでなく、旅行者同士の交流が盛んなのもゲストハウスの魅力のひとつ。 世界各国から多彩なバックグラウンドを持つ旅行者が集うので、予期せぬ面白い出会いがアナタを待ち受けています。 また旅のツワモノたちからさらなる「格安旅行の秘訣」を聞き出すこともきっとできるはず！ いかがでしたでしょうか？　高速夜行バスとゲストハウスを活用して、格安国内旅行をお楽しみくださいね。 Enjoy your trip♪