I'm thinking of coming to Japan for a six week period next year.
I work as a freelance journalist and should be able to find enough interesting ideas which I could use as the basis of travel stories and magazine features to pay for the airfare and maybe even the accommodation - but perhaps I'm being overly optimistic here. You tell me.
So, here are my questions:
Where should I base myself? Is Tokyo the 'best' place - in terms of experiencing the frenetic pace, the culture and finding plenty to write about?
How much can I expect to pay for accommodation? Are there places where I could find out about short-term flat share or other cheaper accommodation options?
How much does it cost to travel in Japan?
What other advice would you give to someone in my situation?
I would figure out what sort of stories I was researching before I came. You don't sound like you are prepared enough.
Topic
Type of people to interview
Knowledge of where to go to meet those people
Are you hoping to talk to English-speaking foreigners, or is your Japanese good enough to talk to the locals?
If you are based in Tokyo, it costs minimally to "travel". If you go outside of the city, it all depends on how far and how often you go.
Who is going to pay for these stories? Do you even have a potential magazine or newspaper interested?
Glenski,
Thanks for your advice but I wasn't really looking for career advice. I just wanted to know how feasible my idea was in terms of being able to find reasonably-priced accommodation, etc for such a short period.
I don't have any stories organised but then again, I don't even know if I'm coming yet.
In any case, I've been working as a freelance writer for several years now and have learned not to rush into these things without some serious advance consideration.
Learn Japanese. That is the best advice, unless you are bringing an interpreter with you.
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<hr>Where should I base myself? Is Tokyo the 'best' place - in terms of experiencing the frenetic pace, the culture and finding plenty to write about?<hr></blockquote>
Sure Tokyo has all you mentioned. My preference would be Kansai area hands down though. Just about any major city holds endless distractions.
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<hr>How much can I expect to pay for accommodation? Are there places where I could find out about short-term flat share or other cheaper accommodation options?<hr></blockquote>
Hostels start at about ¥2500. Double and up for business hotels. There are discounted rates for longer stays in hostels. Can't really say much more with no specifics. You might look into couchsurfing.com
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<hr>How much does it cost to travel in Japan?<hr></blockquote>
A lot. Buy a JR Rail Pass. Take boats if you can. Hitchhike.
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<hr>What other advice would you give to someone in my situation?<hr></blockquote>
Do more research. These threads can answer most of your questions, but take advantage of the community to answer your specifics. You can write the typical 'stranger in a strange land' stories or come up with something a bit more unique. Hitchhike, spend your time studying zen, do the 88 temples pilgrimage on Shikoku, etc.
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<hr>Thanks for your advice but I wasn't really looking for career advice.<hr></blockquote>That wasn't career advice.
As I see/saw it, until you decide what the topics are for your stories, how can you plan where to stay? Don't worry about how to stay (hotel vs. hostel vs. business hotel, etc.). That's easy enough, which is why I didn't mention any specifics there.
If you feel your topics will be such that you can get your information satisfactorily in just one city, ok. I stayed around Honshu and Shikoku in 1995 for a three-week period. I stayed in modest accommodations along the way (averaging 5000 yen/night, and some of those included a sparse breakfast). Go on that for a rough estimate. Depends on what you feel comfortable with. Personally, I'm not a hostel person (or a hostile one!).
Just to repeat myself and Cocodrilo, if you end up interviewing Japanese locals, don't count on using much English. Plan for that very likely scenario.
I ran into a commercial photographer from Sweden on my 3-week trip. He was being financed by a magazine to spend 2 months or so traveling all over the country to take pictures of various advertising, from signs to sculptures on buildings (like chrysanthemums). Fortunately for him, he didn't have to use Japanese except to chat with hotel staff. But he was a shutterbug, not a writer.
You might want to glance at www.japantimes.com (look at the stuff near the bottom of the first page) or www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/ (especially the Lens on Japan features) or http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/ for ideas. If nothing else, it might show you what has already been done.
Since you haven't really decided yet whether you are even coming, let me ask this in order to stimulate some brainstorming (as pixelskew has already started for you): what is it that interests you in the first place in coming here for such stories?
Thanks for the advice so far. It's great to get so many suggestions for stories and if anybody has any more, keep sending them.
However, it's really the practicalities of the trip that are going to determine whether or not I can come. So, I really would appreciate it if anybody can tell me more about accommodation, particularly the possibility of some sort of short-term rental or flat share, and other practical issues.
Thanks a lot.
I haven't heard of short-term rental. You might search around the internet. There might be something like a Craig's list for the major cities. I would also recommend Kansai (Kobe-Osaka-Kyoto). I think that Tokyo and Kyoto have been overwritten. They are the places everyone goes to and everyone knows.
A plug for a great book about hitchhiking Japan, well about Japan in general, really - Hokkaido Highway Blues.
If you stay in one place and you can't find a short-term rental, your best bet is likely going to be a youth hostel. I've heard of people arranging special discounts for a long-term stay by paying in advance. Some of them have kitchens, so this would be a way to cut down on food expenses. I'm a big fan of Osaka and Kobe, and certainly you could just walk around the cities and find plenty of distractions (as pixelskew said). If you start eating out and taking transportation just around the cities, plan to spend 10000 yen a day, not including room. If you travel around anyway other than hitchhiking, double that. There are highway buses that can cut costs. Look for these near major train stations. Finally, if you go out for drinks at night, plan to spend even more (up to 800 for a glass of beer).
Have fun.
There is short-term rental known as "weekly mansion" in Japan. You may need a guarantor to secure rental however.
Look for places called guest houses or gaijin houses. They offer rentals by the week or month. They are like boarding houses, so you might or might not get a private room.
LeoPalace21 is a popular place with modern apartments that can be rented somewhat short-term, but you will have to pay for the entire stay up front, plus a cleaning fee, I think. No guarantor is needed, unlike a regular apartment.
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