Just applied visa last week..yea personal is 6k. Family dunno la..

but i'm going there for a month, the person told me 6k is enough already.
now hardcore researching because leaving on the Dec 7th

osaka 2 days, hokkaido 16 days, tokyo 5 days, kyoto 6 days!

Just started researching on Tokyo:
Can divide to a few parts:

Akihabara/Ueno/Asakusa

Shijuku/Harajuku/Shibuya/Kabakuchi

Ginza/Roppongi


What I'm interested now is to get into more "intricate" Japan,
no point looking at the surfaces.

For example I'll be spending new years in Tokyo, I wonder what are the countdown celebrations like Club/Bar during countdown, or just hitting the streets of Shinjuku, going to shrine early in the morning.

And will be trying to explore Kabakuchi area, "red light" district at night to have a look on what the culture is..love hotels, pink salon, etc lol

and those Akihabara otaku culture...those seemed hidden..even though I've been there twice I need exact location of what to see and what to do!

Kyoto part will be the more traditional culture i guess..hot springs, temples, markets, sightseeing, hot dumplings lol


Edit:
Budget hostels I'll be staying in:

Taiyo Hotel, Osaka..only 2,000 Yen (per person) per night for a Japanese Styled Room! (2 person bedroom)
New Koyo Hotel, Tokyo..only 2,480 (per person) per night for a Japanese Styled Room! (2 person bedroom)
and lastly K's House Kyoto. Slightly more expensive; 2,980 Yen (per person) for a Japanese Styled Room (2 person bedroom)

search for them in google..those are the few cheap ones which I've found, without the need to share room with strangers

IF you prefer sharing rooms and meeting people..I think you can get them averagely for around 2,100 Yen!

This post has been edited by Aileron: Dec 3 2009, 12:14 PM

Thank you so much for the reply guys especially the zozoji and the emperor open house visit!

Yeah..16 days in hokkaido..I'll be there Wwoofing
have you guys heard of it?
Wwoof Japan
It's an organization of organic farming, basically we work for them for free, and in turn they provide us with
accommodation and food!

So it's a good chance to experience their culture! Those interested can try to find suitable host which are all over Japan!

So I managed to find a host in Niseko, which is near the ski resort! Our aim is to ski while work to support our stay there for free!

But now at the last minute, 3 days before my flight, I sent a reminder email to them telling them about my date of arrival.
Then their reply was, "we are full, there are many more applicants! Could you find other hosts?"

I was like OMG!! and now I've just sent them a email asking them to reconsider. It's a bit hard communicating because the host
are not really fluent in English.

Worse come to worst..we have no place to stay at all while we fly JAL Airlines from Osaka to Sapporo for a period of 16 days..
and then we're gonna backpack by ourselves all around Hokkaido! Just the two of us..but we haven't plan any yet..this last 2 days will be crucual to us..the flight is on Monday!

So now this is the major concern..I can't really think of other parts in Japan at the moment..have to settle this one first.
Any tips of travelling in Hokkaido? We plan to stay a few days in Niseko to ski..(Niseko backpackers hostel, haven't booked yet) travel some places in Hokkaido..ultimately staying in cybercafes in Sapporo.

Sapporo Cybercafes

Damn..expenses will increase...but the challenge seemed really interesting now..thanks to my supposed host