Daily Spending Money is Tokyo...
 

In US dollars, what would be a decent amount to need for food and transportation around Tokyo? 50 US dollars? 100 US dollars?

I am pretty frugal and enjoy a good bargain. I am in the middle of researching the exchange rates, and was wondering how much money would I need to save, in terms of personal spending money, for travel in Tokyo.

Food cost really depends on what and where you eat and how often. If your breakfast is included in the hotel, it's free. If it's a good hotel, it will be a great buffet and you'll be able to skip lunch. If it's not included hotel breakfasts run ¥1000 to ¥3000 per person. You could go to Starbucks for under ¥1000 yen per person, or McDonalds for less than that. There are plenty of coffee shops for a coffee and bread/sandwich breakfast for under ¥1000 yen as well. Lunch...¥500 to ¥50,000...depends on what you choose. Dinner, same thing.

Transportation...buses and trains and subways are inexpensive. Taxis are reasonable if the distance is short, but long distance, the fare adds up fast.

Do you shop? There is tons of shopping. You might want to consider that.

When we travel outside of Kanazawa, we usually spend ¥5000 - ¥10,000 per day on food, entrance fees and local transportation...for 3 people. We don't tend to be frugal.

thank you, so much! now I will head over to a fave website and see how much 10,000 yen is in terms of US dollars....

Exchange rates do not change much from day to day. Around ¥115 - ¥120/$1.00 is the range we seem to be moving in these days.

There are plenty of cheap eateries in Tokyo--noodle shops, etc. You can get a not too bad meal for $5 USD.

As Kim said, Tokyo allows you to work within most budgets - except the rock-bottom you may find in other parts of Asia. Apart from accommodation, a good average spending money per day would be around 5000 yen, to include a modest lunch (under 1000 yen), reasonable dinner (2500 yen), public transportation and admission fees (pretty modest, averaging around 500-1000 yen). This assumes you go to modest places that average Japanese go - set lunches and noodle shops used by office workers and evening meals in similar places, but you can always splash out on gourmet meal from 10000 yen plus.
5000 yen is just under $43. For a week I would add another $100 and make it $400, as you may like to eat once at a better restaurant and go to more expensive entertainment, such as kabuki.