![]() ![]() ![]() If language, courage and all else fail, just point to something that looks good. ![]() Many Tokyo restaurants post teishoku prices in their front windows, often next to startlingly realistic plastic samples of what will be served. The same sushi meal that runs as much as $30 a person at night may cost $6 on the lunch teishoku. Midday, it is the most dollar-sensible way to eat, an argument for making lunch the main meal. DiningĪlong with ''domo arigato,'' for ''thank you very much,'' a visitor's basic Japanese vocabulary should include the word ''teishoku.'' Pronounced ''tay-show-koo,'' without any accented syllables, it refers to a restaurant's fixed-price menu, and it can lead to enormous savings. and 5 A.M., for an average surcharge of 20 percent. If taxis are unavoidable, bear in mind that the meter clicks away at an especially fast pace between 11 P.M. Passes can be purchased for any day up to a month in advance at major stations such as Ginza, Shibuya, Shinjuku and Nihombashi. Travelers who intend to use the subways often can buy a one-day pass permitting an unlimited number of rides. For most central-city trips, fares range from 80 cents to $1.20. In town, subways are safe, well located and astoundingly punctual. At Ueno there are easy connections to the Ginza and Hibiya subway lines and to the Yamanote Line, which loops above ground around the central city. It provides more comfort for its $10 fare, and the ride takes only 60 minutes -past rice fields cheek to jowl with small houses. Should you feel relatively flush, ride the Keisei Skyliner train between the same two stations. That fare is $5.25 the train takes 75 minutes to reach the Keisei-Ueno Station in northeast Tokyo. Then board one of the limited-express trains that run fairly often on the Keisei line. The rock-bottom method is to take a bus, at $1.25, for a six-minute ride to the Narita airport rail station. If you do not have many bags, you might want to try a more adventurous route. Total cost from Narita to one's hotel: about $30. The price is $16.50 to the air terminal, with taxicabs readily available there. Usually, the quoted price is 25,000 yen - a heart-stopping $165.įor a combination of convenience and cost effectiveness, especially for those not traveling light, the best bet is the limousine buses that leave frequently for the central air terminal and, somewhat less often, for major hotels. But if you insist on taking a taxi, beware of the few hustlers who try to steer newcomers to their cabs away from the regular line. The ride to most central Tokyo hotels costs about $130. Getting Aroundĭo not even look at the taxi stand on arrival at the main international airport in Narita. Think of that as money saved right from the start. Tipping, in almost all situations in Japan, is neither encouraged nor expected. Few things will come cheaply, but it is possible to visit without surrendering one's wallet at the immigration counter. (Do not even consider the double- and triple-digit prices of the rarefied expense-account bars and clubs in the Ginza and other entertainment districts.) None of this, however, is intended to suggest that the budget-conscious traveler must avoid Japan. In Tokyo, the $5 cup of coffee is routine, and one can spend $8 for a thin slice of melon in a restaurant, $10 for a movie ($14.50 for reserved seats, which are available), $3.10 for the drop of the taxi meter and $7 for a shot of house-brand Scotch at most hotel bars. Many people might not consider that a back-breaking price, but it has moved beyond my definition of a terrific deal. As a small example, there is a hole-in-the-wall tempura restaurant near my office with a fine fixed-price lunch for 1,000 yen. The exchange rate has thrown the most minor facets of daily life out of kilter. Last Monday, when the exchange rate was 155 yen to the dollar, it required $15.50 to buy that item. Last year one needed $10 to buy a 2,400-yen item. And it is no secret that Japan was short on bargains to begin with. The dollar's relentless decline, to a record low of about 150 yen to the dollar, has meant that prices for American travelers in Japan are about 60 percent higher than a year ago. It is hard to discuss Tokyo prices these days without sounding like an alarmist, but hard-gulp reality is that the situation has become awful. ![]()
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