If you were going to Japan...

[Cryozombie]

I have a question for some of you who may have been to japan recently-ish...

If you were going to go back to Japan for, say, 2 weeks, to be a tourist and to train... reasonably how much cash would you need/want to take with... to eat, get transportation, a place to stay, and to train etc...

Overall... what could one expect to pay for a trip like that, minus airfare?

 

[Grey Eyed Bandit]

I got my airplane ticket in late november last year for just under 900 dollars worth.

About 130-140 USD a day is a pretty good estimation. That includes training, food, subway tickets and everyday things like that.
I can recommend the housing available at http://bujinkan.graycastle.com/tenshiyama/

 

[Kizaru]

I have a question for some of you who may have been to japan recently-ish...

If you were going to go back to Japan for, say, 2 weeks, to be a tourist and to train... reasonably how much cash would you need/want to take with... to eat, get transportation, a place to stay, and to train etc...

If you were to stay at a hotel in Kashiwa, like the Kashiwa Plaza Hotel, or the Kashiwa Plaza Hotel Annex, train fare to Honbu (in Atago) would be 300 yen (about 3 USD) one way. To Umesato 240 yen, to Edogawadai about 140 yen, to Ayase about 210 or 290 yen. I'm not sure how much a hotel costs, but you might be able to find some good ones on the net; Kashiwa, Matsudo and of course Noda all have hotels that are close to train stations.

As far as food, how much do you eat at home? Remember in Japan, you will be jet lagged, training, exposed to an unfamiliar culture, unfamiliar terrain and an unfamiliar language all around you. You'll be burning alot more calories than you're used to. Where do you plan on eating here? Japanese restraunts? McDonald's? Convenience stores? Personally, I think the supermarkets here are the most cost effecient and healthy, but that's just me.

Training fees are not supposed to be posted on the internet. How many times a day do you plan on training? On Saturdays and Sundays, one could train up to three times a day (although I'd call that over training).

As a tourist, what do you want to see? Musuems? Temples? Shrines? Mountains? Plan on buying souvenirs? Books? Antiques?

 

[Cryozombie]

I understand about the training fees not being posted, and that's ok... Im mostly concerned with the overall costs, with food and lodging... assuming it were me coming, training would only be one of the reasons for coming, so maybe 6 sessions in a 2 week period if i came...

 

[Don Roley]

so maybe 6 sessions in a 2 week period if i came...

You have got to train more than that if you put out the cash to come here.

And, if I am confident about the person I may be willing to put the person up at my house for some yard work and such in return. This is not something that anyone can ask of me, but I can offer to people like you.

If you are here for two weeks, you can go to 6 sesssions with just Hatsumi. But I think you should not train only with Hatsumi. Oguri, Noguchi, Nagase, Someya, etc are just so willing to teach the absolute basics to people that show the proper attitude and it is the basics that will serve you the most and help you understand the art. Hatsumi teaches only what only he can teach. If someone else can teach something, I do not think he bothers. As you can imagine, there is so much that various Japanese shihan can teach that you need to spend every chance you can training with them.

If anyone who has established an amount of trust with me through martialtalk makes it to Japan, please contact me to let me help you to get the most of your training here. I owe it to the people that have shown me the kindness of pointing out how I can improve to return the favor to others by making their experience here as rewarding as possible. Short of teaching (the thought of which I kind of fear) helping others to get the best training they can in the Bujinkan is the best form of gratitude I can show.