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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jos Stratford" data-source="post: 3200580" data-attributes="member: 12449">Practical DetailsUrban myths, Japan is an extortionately expensive country, Japan is a difficult country to visit as an independent traveller. As someone requested, a few practical details to assist potential visitors to Japan ...on the issue of costs, please do bear in mind I essentially do not eat very much and my idea of luxury/comfort is probably a little below that of many others <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" />Spending twelve days in the country, during which time I rented cars, took domestic flights and a enjoyed a long-distance ferry, I have to say I was thoroughly impressed with the country – navigating and organising tickets and car rentals, etc, was extremely easy and, at least in my style of travelling, I can not say it was particularly expensive.Car Rental: I used the local company 'Times Car Rental' and found them to be very good. On both Hokkaido and Kyushu, it took mere minutes for the very friendly operatives to sort out the paperwork when collecting the cars and even less when returning them. Note:1. with car rental companies in Japan, if you do not opt for 'zero excess' on the insurance, then you can be responsible for not only damage to the car, but fees to cover loss of use of the car whilst it is repaired!2. An international driving license (1949 Convention IDP)  is compulsory in Japan – you can not drive or hire a car without this. In the UK, any main post office will issue these for £5 to UK license holders. If you live in a country that does not issue the IDP (for example Lithuania), you are stuffed! The widely available ones advertised for sale on the internet are not accepted - they need to be official IDPs. The local Japanese embassy in some of these countries will provide official translations, but I'm not sure car rental companies will accept them.3. Road signs are in both Japanese and English, so easy to follow. Both cars had sat nav, but even when set to English, inputting destinations had to be in Japanese! For getting in and out of cities I used sat nav on my mobile phone (downloaded before trip, no roaming costs).Oarai-Tomakomai Ferry:There is no possibility to book tickets online – the ferry company's website provides only a telephone number for advance bookings (and almost certainly whoever answered would not speak English). Without expecting any reply, I sent an e-mail to the parent company to ask if there was any possibility to reserve a ticket and was very impressed when they telephoned me in Europe to happily informed me that they had made a booking on my behalf and the ticket would be waiting in the terminal.As it turned out, the ferry was half empty and there would have been no problem obtaining a ticket on arrival. Travelling on the late night ferry, the cheapest ticket includes a good bed (with all bedding) in a four-bunk room ...but I was given a whole cabin to myself. A microwave and water boiler is available free of charge if you carry food on board.There are two ferries daily in either direction – one leaving about 6.30 p.m. and the other at 01.45 a.m. As the ferries take about 17 hours, the latter gives the greatest number of daylight hours at sea. Costs:While Japan is not a cheap country, it really did not hit me as really expensive. No doubt helped by a falling currency and years of deflation, the country was no more expensive than most European countries (except car hire). All costs given in British pounds.International flight: £370 (very good deal!)Domestic flights: ANA, Hokkaido-Tokyo (2 hours)/Tokyo-Kagoshima (2 hours): £60 each flight.Vanilla Air, Kagoshima-Tokyo (2 hours): £55Car rental (2 cars, seven days): £238 (plus £56 with zero excess insurance)Petrol (for 1235 km on Hokkaido & 920 km on Kyushu): £89Oarai-Tomakomai ferry: (including cabin): £66Train: Tokyo-Oarai: £12, Tomakomai-Kushiro (incl reservation fee): £51Hotels: I only stayed one night in a hotel (in Tomakomai), £23! However, similar price hotels were seen near Narita Airport in Tokyo, in Kushiro, at Kagoshima, etc. The usual birder accommodation at Furen Lodge is just under £40 including meals, the lodge at Washinoyado apparently similar.Food: I don't eat very much and bought food exclusively at Seven-Elevens (salads, sausages, pasta dishes etc available, as well as yoghurt and normal shelf stuff). Total food bill was about £35 for whole trip, another £20 going on my heavier dosage of coffees, milk and fruit juice.Entry fee: only applicable at Akan Crane Centre – £2.70.No other costs. So basically, travelling alone, my costs for this trip were as above. Obviously, travelling as a group would cut the car rental and petrol costs ...but if you are a normal person, you could probably multiple my food and accommodation bill by a factor of ten or twenty :t:</blockquote>

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