Tokyo this month

[kimtae]

Anyone know Japan well, specifically Tokyo? Looks like I have to go to Tokyo for a couple of days (28th to the 30th of this month). This is not a company trip but a private one due to visa issues in Korea. I need to be out of the country for the procedure and Japan is the quickest and cheapest from here. I've been to Fukuoka about 10 times and Osaka a couple but this would be my first trip to Tokyo. I'd prefer not to spend a lot of cash so a cheap hotel recommendation in a fun part of town would really help a lot. Also, I am not looking for a lot of night life, I'm just an old man who wants to see a little of Tokyo while waiting to be allowed to go home again.
Any tips you can make including getting there from the airport would be a big help. Keep in mind I speak no Japanese other than the usual salutations that most people learn from a guidebook in about 5 minutes.
Thanks again.

[zhangfei]

taking a train from narita airport to tokyo station is very easy and fast, then you can go from tokyo station to any part of the city by subway. i don't have hotel recommendation, but public transportation over there is so convenient so it really doesn't matter where the location is as long as you dont plan to stay out past midnight.

[nskripchun]

If you're looking for dirt cheap, no frills place to stay, you could try a capsule hotel... they can run as cheap as about 10,000 yen for 3 nights. I lived outta one for about 3 days during a week-long trip to the Tokyo-Yokohama area. The other days, I crashed at a Japanese friend's house.

http://gojapan.about.com/cs/accommodation/a/tokyocapsule1.htm

The only thing is that during the day, you'll probably have to stow your bags in a locker at a train station.

There's a lot of famous spots to see in Tokyo (Shibuya, Akihabara, Asakusa, etc), but a place I thought was cool that not a lot of people was Sengaku-ji (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sengaku-ji), where the 47 ronin are buried:

47 Ronin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty-seven_Ronin

There's even a mini-museum devoted to them located close to the temple grounds.

[tokyolovestory]

Yeah, the capsule hotels are probably your cheapest option... The convenience of all that would pretty much depend on how much stuff you're taking with you.

You could go to the Sony building... There's an area of Okubo that has a pretty big Korean population so if you get tired of hearing Japanese 24/7, you could always go there...

...I'm jealous, I haven't been back in four years. haha Have fun!

[kikiandlala]

If you really want free and aren't carrying any bags, then you can head down to shinjuku and go to the area with the Hyatt and Hilton hotels. There is a park there and it's got a few benches. At this time of year, the temperature is pretty warm and since global warming has made the raining season start later, then you might be able to get away with a night or two on a bench. Just watch out for that exposure, so dress warmly and SNUG if you go this route

Otherwise you can go do an all-nighter at an internet cafe. If you pay like 1000 yen (a bit more in some places) at around 10:00pm, then you get to spend the night there and all you can drink plus internet usage 'til you bug out. For some reason though, the internet cafes I was staying at were all real dives and look like slum housing inside. This contrasts greatly with the ones in Umeda, Osaka which were pretty upscale (just the people that ruined it). Internet cafes are cheap but they'll wreak havok on your health unless you're wearing a respirator. Almost all the folks there are heavy smokers and sleep can be tough to get as they also play music constantly. If you can get some blinders, ear plugs (and maybe a gas mask) - you might be able to get a good night's sleep. You can also get some fairly cheap eats there, though I'd prefer to go walk over to City Hall in Shinjuku and grab something there at the cafeteria. They have this sphaghetti with eggplant that's pretty tasty and filling, plus it costed only 600 yen then.

[Pat the Great]

http://www.khaosan-tokyo.com/en/

[kimtae]

Thanks for the replies, you guys must think i'm some kind of a bum :confused: !!! Actually I'm thinking in the US $100/night range. Just don't want to spend hundreds on what's essentially a forced layover. But thanks to all who replied.

[nightshade]

I enjoyed the idea of you sleeping on park bench. So wrong, yet kind of awesome.