transportation...expensive!! help please
 

hey there
i will be in japan for about a month and abit and the price to travel is so expensive - roughly $40AUS a day with the rail pass.
can anyone please advice if there is a cheaper way to travel around japan?

i have previously posted a topic with some ideas with where i will be travelling with my boyfriend:
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...ease-help-.cfm


please help :)

1/. Stand by the side of the road in the direction traffic is moving to your destination.
2/. Stick out your thumb with outstretched arm and wave it up and down.
3/. Smile if a vehicle stop and enter.
4/. Upon reaching your destination say "Domo Arigato" and exit.

:)

This may help you.

http://www.bus.or.jp/e/index.html

http://www.jrbuskanto.co.jp/bus_route_e/

http://tiny.cc/uhkun

Aloha!

Hanuman ((Y))

Sorry forgot to add that you should bow as well. If the driver bow back then reciprocate with same amount of "bowing" angle.

In addition to bus travel as mentioned by HT, consider overnight travel by ferry for long distances. You can get sleeping accommodation and travel that way very inexpensively. That might let you move from region to region without having to buy a rail pass for the whole month. See http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2355.html

Adding to what WillJame said, there are rail passes other than the nationwide JR pass that might work better for you. E.g.,

JR East: http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/eastpass/
JR West: http://www.westjr.co.jp/english/travel/jrp/

General info: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html

thanks for your help

Rail passes are useful mostly if you need to travel long distance (intercity, inter-region) for many days on many trains. Is that what you're trying to do? Otherwise they may not save you any money at all.

For some routes, it may actually be cheaper to fly, like Tokyo to Osaka, compared to taking the Shinkansen Nozomi trains. And there are also 3rd party agents in the city that sell discount Shinkansen and domestic air tickets.