Iโve spent a lot of time in Japan, mainly Tokyo but usuaslly not on such a tight budget. In 2010-11, I lived in Tokyo for a year studying Japanese and since I was living on savings until I got some work, I kept my expenses pretty low. As a general idea, this was my monthly budget at itโs lowest.
Rent - 55,000 yen.
That was for a room in a share place I found on Craigslist. It wasnโt a specific โfor foreignersโ place (they can have a heap of hidden fees but Sakura House seems to be best). Outside Tokyo would be cheaper but have less options. In Osaka, there are a bunch of cheap backpacker type places but with single rooms/shared bathroom for around 2000-2500 yen a night, some with long term discounts. Chuo group is one of them.
Of course, if you want to stay in a shared dorm, you can go even cheaper. The further you are from a train station, the less rent youโll pay too.
Iโd stay well away from Airbnb if you are on a budget. Anything Iโve found on there thatโs cheap is a bit shonky.
Utilities - 10000 yen a month. Most places will have this included.
Transport - because I was studying, I had a monthly train ticket but itโs one of the costs that really add up in Japan. If you can get a cheap bike, you can save a ton of money.
Other - at my cheapest, I gave myself a 1000 yen a day budget for food etc. That was bare bones living. Iโd go to the supermarket and get the reduced for quick sale bento boxes. Food gets marked down really quickly in Japan so itโs maybe only a few hours old. I found cooking for myself no cheaper than buying prepared food in Japan.
That budget did include my daily coffee. Canโt live without that ![:slight_smile:]( ":slight_smile:")
Extras - I taught private English lessons a few times a week for 2500 yen (I think). That was my fun money for going out, drinking etc. Technically, you canโt do that without a work/non-tourist visa.
Hope that gives you a general idea. Iโd say around $1000 is doable but it would really not give you much leeway to do fun stuff.
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