Cheap places to eat! If you're traveling on a budget, or you're a poor English teacher new to Japan, here's a short list of all the cheap chain restaurants to look for in your area when you arrive ... After all, survival is the first rule of any day ... Saizeria - like Italian food? Look no further. This is a great chain of restaurants to visit if you like a good variety of food and a cheap bill at the end. You can get a fair sized meal for less than 1000 Yen, if you really want to save the pennies. However, Emiko and I have really splurged here many a time and still walked out paying little over 2000 Yen (about 10 pounds sterling between two people). Bamiyan - Chinese your style? Ask if there's a local Bamiyan restaurant. They have a good variety of Chinese dishes for quite reasonable prices. At the last visit most dishes were around 800 Yen (about 4 pounds). Gusto/Skylark - these are another great chain of restaurants where you can get a reasonable sized meal for about 1000 Yen or less. They have a variety of dishes, including hamburg steaks (rissoles/large burgers), and a pretty good drink bar (with fresh orange juice!). They also don't skimp on the fries like most other Japanese chain restaurants and Izakayas. Yumean - this is a great chain of family restaurants which offer Japanese cuisine at a very reasonable price. Check to see if there's one near you. Once again, you can get a pretty good meal for around a 1000Y or so.
			Useful Tips For Cheap Shopping in Japan! Find the 100 Yen store!! As soon as you arrive ask for the location of the local 'Hyaku En' shop. These shops sell an amazing range of stuff, from table wear to stationary to car bits and bobs to souvenirs. Most of the stuff they sell is of reasonable quality and quite useful. We kitted out our kitchen with 100 Yen utensils, all for less than 2000 Yen (about 10 pounds) and they're still going strong. They even sell some food items, so you might want to see what snacks they're stocking before you go spend all your money at the local supermarket. The stores usually have thename of Daiso or Seria in Ibaraki, though they may be called something different in your area. Go shopping at the local supermarket at the right time! You're probably wondering what I'm talking about, but there is definitely a right time to nip to the local Kasumi. I found the best times to be just before lunch time at around 11:30 am, just before early evening at about 4-5:30 pm or at about 10:00 pm onwards. Most Japanese supermarkets have a kitchen where they produce O-bento boxes or ready cooked meals, and other prepared foods, in store and at the above mentioned times in my local store they sell off all the unsold meals at a reduced price in order to make way for the next wave of food. It took a while for me to cotton on to this and, in fact, it was a man from Venezuela called Henry who underlined it for me and made me see the light. If you get to your local store at the right time you could pick a very good meal for about half the price, or even stock a few meals for the next few days for dirt cheap. Don't worry, the food is of exceptional standard and very fresh. Get there at the right time and you could eat a daily meal for 500 Yen (2.5 pounds sterling) or less! Well worth it. I began to save loads of cash in a very short time just by re-defining my shopping times. You will probably have to check out your local store and learn the food price reduction times but after a couple of days you'll be quite a bit better off. If so, donations to our website are always welcome :o)
	Back To The Home Page