CK's Japan Tour, Fall 2008 Day 10 ~Epilogue~

The flight back to the U.S. is always easier than the flight over to Japan.  It is around two hours shorter, and it is overnight, so it's easier to sleep.  But wouldn't you know it, the moment I get back from vacation I get sick.  I hope this flu passes quickly because I'm sure the boss won't be too pleased if I call in sick tomorrow!  I hadn't been back in the US for an hour, and already I am annoyed with being back here.  Slow/bad train service, horrible drivers, general inefficiency as a whole.  I wish I was going back to Tokyo tonight!

So I thought I would give a summary of what this trip generally cost me.  I know a lot of people reading this would love to go on a holiday to Japan, and do a lot of the things I did.  Obviously money is an issue for many people.  And also obviously my spending isn't law.  You can do this trip cheaper, or more expensively...

R/T Ticket from California: $940  Can it be done cheaper?  Maybe if you are in Hawaii (hint hint MB).  But from North America or Europe I don't think you will find much cheaper airfare than that these days.

Nine night stay at resort hotel: $1350.  Can it be done cheaper?  Absolutely.  I know there are hotels out there for less than $100 per night.  You also have hostels.  If you wanted to be really frugal you could surely do it for less than $500.  And if you have a friend with a couch?  Even better!

J-pop Concert Tickets: $500  Mind you, that was SEVEN shows.  AKB48 is the cheapest, $30 for males.  I believe females get in cheaper.  Could you do it cheaper, definitely.  I paid what I did because I used a bidding service for most of my tickets.  But you could come to Japan emptyhanded and try to buy tickets from a reseller.  The face value of my concert tickets was $375.  However, if you are a Johnny's fan you will probably pay a lot more as I hear those tickets are much more expensive than H!P  Keep in mind the chances to have so many shows coincide with each other is remote.  In January I went to four, and three of them were the same show! (H!P Winter)

Transportation Around Japan:  $350  Can it be done cheaper.  Yes, much cheaper!!!  I sort of "bricked" here as i paid for a Japan Rail Pass (which was great) but didn't use it to maximum value.  If you are going on multiple Shinkansen trips, it is definiely worth it.  But if you are staying around Tokyo, you could probably keep your transportation expenses in the $100 range.

Food:  Eating is actually really cheap here.  I really don't know what I specifically spent on food, but you could easily spend less than $20 per day on all sorts of different goodies like Rice Balls, Tokoyaki, Bento Boxes.  The cheap Japanese eats are endless.  And there is plenty of booze flowing.  I love Chu-hi!!!  Why don't they export THAT to the US?

CDs/DVD's/PB's/Gifts: The total of all of my spending money, which included food was around $1200.  Could you do it for less?  Of course!  But would you want to?  It depends on how "wild" you want to go.  I went to some nice dinners.  I went clubbing one night.  And I bought a lot of cool stuff from Tower, BookOff, Tsutaya and the AKB48 Theater.  Time to summarize my "booty"...

 

My first purchase, Scandal's new CD/DVD "Doll" which came with a sticker, The Ohori Meshibe CD, card and Poster, and the H!P Winter DVD.  This was my first purchase.  By the way, I'm glad I got the LE Scandal CD when I did.  It sold out very quickly in Japan.

Pornograffitti's new CD.  This was a total impulse buy.  I wanted to participate in the prize contest.  Too bad I got the lamest prize.  I still haven't listened to it yet.  I'll put it in my car tomorrow.

Five used PB's from Book Off, including the new Reina and the new Nacchi.  PB's were so cheap here.  I could have bought tons of them.  But that was the problem.  I stuffed all of them in my suitcase and it barely made weight!  I love that battle Royale Book too!

These were a great deal, again from Book Off.  They don't have too much AKB48 stuff, and each of these two concert CD's were selling for $45 less than what I would have to pay for them from an online retailer.  And I threw in a cheap copy of an old Momusu "Single Clips"

AKB48 Part 2.  The calendar was a "First Press" edition, so it came with five photocards.  And the H2 DVD is a theater only release!  I cannot wait to return to Akihabara to rejoin all the fun going on at that theater!

AKB48 Part 3.  Actually I got the two "Theater Version" Oogoe Diamond CD's and pics for free because the fans all have so many of them from buying them for handshake event tickets.  It's a genius move, to go to the handshake event, all you need to do is buy a CD from the theater, limit 5 per person.  They are having a third handshake event this weekend, which means the hardcore fans now have FIFTEEN copies of it!

The "Maasa" souvenir set from the Berryz show.  I got the keychain and t-shirt set.  (Bonus Yurina photo not pictured)

The "Tanaka" souvenir set from the Momusu shows with one extra picture.  I also got four "surprise" pics (shown on my last post).  They were only $5, and they have a message from the idol.  The mystery is you don't know who you are getting!

I finally decided to buy Berryz' "Five" after watching them live.  It's a really good album.  I bought the Manoeri mainly for the Tower exclusive bonus photo.  KissKissKiss was only $4 at Book Off (man that place is great!) and of course I had to buy Reina's DVD!  She works in a sausage factory in it and handles a lot of sausage...Priceless!!!  And finally...

Awww, Dexter was so happy to have me home!  Yes, I managed to find a copy of "Madayade" the day before it came out, but I had to go to three places to find it.  The ladies at Tsutaya opened the crate for me!  And my last J-pop purchase of all, "Aya the Witch".  I would never have forgiven myself if I had come home with Pornograffitti and no Ayaya!

So the total amount spent was somewhere between $4000-$4500.  You could probably do the trip for close to $2000-$2500, but that would be on a tight budget.  So I hope that helps.

Tokyo Fashion is Awesome!

It goes without saying that one of the things I will miss dearly about Japan is the endless parade of uber-cute girls in their hot fashions!  The look of the moment seems to be short skirt with knee-high boots and/or socks, and on some occasion fishnet stockings.  Jeez, half of the women in Japan look like they are straight out of a Tanaka Reina photobook.  I must have said "Kawaii!" under my breath at least 500 times while I was there!  That being said, I got an email from my little friend I met in Tokyo saying she wants to get skype so we can talk more often...Yatta!!!

See you again Ayaya!

So there ya go, my 8-part Japanese J-pop tour.  It was easily the best vacation I have EVER taken.  And I can't wait to make it back.  I'll leave you with the brand new single from a band they were promoting yesterday at Tower Records in Shibuya.  They are called Breakerz, and this is one track from their double A-side CD single...

Now back to work!!!

CK in California