I'm travelling to Japan soon and I'd like to know how I can minimize costs in any way possible when it comes to food. I'm staying 3 months so the food has to be filling, preferably healthy too. As long as I stay alive :D
There is a possibility to make my own dinner. I have heard some people say eating out is cheaper, but I don't believe this. Ok, so I've heard Macdonalds is very cheap, but it's not healthy for every day. I've also heard about the 100 yen stores and that instant ramen is a good catch. I would like to know about ingredient prices. Can I save lots of money if I buy large portions of cheap rice, porridge etc. so I can eat it for a longer time? How about bean prices? Anything else to recommend?
Big markets and restaurants sometimes throw perfectly good food away, because it will go out-of-date soon. Any information about freeganism in Japan? Oh, and I'm also bringing some vitamins from home which should help a bit.
If you don't like budget eating and want to corrupt me please don't answer!
I'd recommend going to convienence stores. Rice balls are both relatively healthy and inexpencive. Getting curry rice (available at fast food style places everywhere) is cheap, as well. Food prices in Japan, from my expereince, are very exaggerated; like everywhere else, food can be either cheap or expensive, depending on if you know where to get it.
100yen instant noodles (ramen or yakisoba) from ドンキホーテ is probably the cheapest you will find. Note that you will get tired of it very soon. (100-200 yen range)
Next up is japanese fast food (yoshinoya, sukiya, matuya) but they also taste like shit after a couple of times. (400-500 yen range)
Next up is western fast food (makku etc) but I can't stand eating the stuff more than once a week. (500-800 yen range)
Above that you will find all sorts of restaurants, go crazy.
Cooking for yourself: usually I find that I end up paying more than just eating out, plus it's more work too. So I stopped doing it.
What do you think is the minimum daily budget if I eat 1 warm meal and something small in the morning and evening?
Any idea how much for example 2-3 kg cheap rice costs? That might be cheaper in the long run.
morning: cup ramen \160
lunch: cup ramen + canned juice \280
dinner: cup ramen \160
total: \600
but you will collapse from malnutrition inside of a week.
>>5
100円ショップで買えばもっと安くなるし。
There's a 100en grocery store chain in Tokyo, but the portions are tiny. They sell fruit and meat and stuff, though. There's one in Kichijoji near 0101, and another one in Tachikawa near the movie theatre.
>>1 Don't worry about everything.
I'll take care of you during your stay in Japan.
I'm very rich enough to treat you anythging you like.
but of course it's unconditional.
If you're a cute girl,it is needless to say.
But what if you're a guy , I hope you starve to death in Japan.
well,I can advise you how you survive in japan.
If you run out of money,see behind the convenience store.
Do you understand what I mean ?
anyway,I wush you have a good time in Japan.thank you !!
>>8
That's your prejudice.
you know,anyone wants to join what's amusing.
you don't know about the animal"human beings" at all.
by the way, I made a shameful mistake in the posting above.
correction
It's unconditional →It's not unconditional.
Posting in a legendary thread!
Bring food with you. Namely, oatmeal and maybe a big box of granola bars if you can fit it. Instant oatmeal is tiny and very, very portable--you could probably bring enough oatmeal for two months' breakfast by using oatmeal as padding in your luggage. As for granola bars, I'd recommend the chewy sort as it won't crumble to bits in transit.
Uncooked rice is really really cheap, you don't even really need to ask about its price. The precooked microwaveable stuff is pretty expensive though.
Unfortunately, >>8 is right. There are no girls on the Internet. I'm sorry.
>>10
It's too much exaggeration to say that there are no girls
on the internet,
I surely know a few girls who have a good time on the internet.
I'm a girl, and I'm not here right now.
It is an old joke. These days, studies have shown that the internet is about 50/50 male/female. But then again, that doesn't mean that the audience of a particular website (like 4-ch, for example) will be 50/50.
How expensive is vending machine food?
>>14
Depends on what you get. I got curry rice from a hotel vending machine once for like 700en... but it was self-heating and totally yum. It's probably cheaper to buy food from 7-11, tho...
>>7
Well, I'm a cute girl... kinda.. I have an almost complete girl's body except for one minor part...BUT I guess it's not so important! Are you interested?
I'm very interested in you.But I guess your one minor part
seems to be so important to me.
because almost all men usually like 凹 better than 凸.
sorry for my blunt expression ! lol
Is my guess right ?
It's quite possible to eat decently in Japan and save money at the same time. A lot of people think food is ZOMG teh expensav in Japan, but just like shopping for everything else, you just gotta go where the deals are and partake in the expensive stuff only in moderation.
For breakfasts, you can get oatmeal or cold cereals with milk. However, breakfast cereals aren't that popular in Japan, so you'll have a limited selection to choose from. However, the store I shopped at ("Nafuko" in katakana; sorry, not sure how to input Japanese on this computer) had big bags of granola for, like, 400 yen, so I'd often buy that and have it for breakfast. Sausage is decently priced; eggs are a bit expensive, but affordable. Pancake mix is cheap, and fruit jams can be cheap-ish; use those instead of syrup. Butter is expensive.
For snacks, convenience stores will be laden with potato and sometimes corn chips, as well as a large assortment of candy. For something healthier, get an onigiri (rice ball) which will usually run you about 120 yen, depending on the filling. My favorite was "okaka" (in hiragana); bonito fish. I usually hate fish, but that stuff was awesome. Most of the other ones will have names in kanji, though, so sometimes you'll have to play a game foreigners in Japan refer to as "onigiri roulette." Be careful with "shi chikin" (katakana); amusingly, it's actually tuna... Chicken of the Sea. Ice cream as we know it (sold in boxes or buckets) is impossible to find, but you can find it sold in single-serving cups, or as ice cream bars or other treats.
For dinner, pastas are cheap and tomato sauces are affordable; add in some hamburger or sausage and bam, ya got spaghetti. Sure, rice is cheap, but it tended to take a bit too long to cook for my tastes (pun intended). For roughage, potatoes are cheap and lettuce, tomatoes and carrots are affordable. Nafuko had an area of the store where older veggies were sold at a discount; I often raided that little table like a Hun.
Fruits-wise, bananas and "mikan" in katakana (tangerines, I think) are cheap; I ate a lot of those. Pineapples, apples and oranges are occasionally affordable. Forget about having any kind of melon. Fruit juices (jyusu, kata) are affordable; I drank gallons of one that was a mix of orange and "mikan" juice (unfortunately the name escapes me at the moment) that was friggin' delicious.
For beverages, besides the aforementioned juices, there's also plenty of green tea; my favorite brand was "hajime (hira) ichi (kanji)." There's plenty of Coke; Pepsi is a bit harder to find. Lemon-flavored sodas are popular. You'll never find a root beer. Sports drinks like Gatorade and Pocari Sweat (both romaji) are common. (Pocari Sweat tastes a lot like its namesake, by the way... barf.) Milk is expensive, and forget about finding low-fat or non-fat milk. You'll have a hard time finding a vending machine that doesn't sell both hot and cold canned coffee (ko-hi-, kata, though usually coffee cans will have plenty of English on them), and sometimes cocoa (kokoa, kata -- note the non-silent "a").
Sorry for the late reply, OP, but I don't visit this board very often.
>I usually hate fish
How could you live in Japan and hate fish? That's like going to France and not touching bread or wine.
Yeah, I know. It doesn't make much sense. But I survived, obviously. The Japanese know how to do some decent things with beef or chicken as well. 手羽先 (てばさき) is a Nagoya specialty, and now one of my favorite foods; it's highly-spiced fried chicken wings. And 丼 (どんぶり) is basically just a bowl of rice with something on top of that; a Japanese fast-food restaurant near where I lived called なか卯 (なかう) served it with beef or pork cutlet, and both were quite good.
食い物の話をこれだけ出来るとは相当食い意地が張ったヤツ
>>25
You're a kind of human being who could die from too much eating ! filthy pig !
人いねー
>>26
Get away.