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Echoing what Pyron is saying, most of the lines that run through central Tokyo are Tokyo Metro rather than JR.  As Pyron can tell you, my home is nowhere near a JR station, and I live about as centrally as you can get.  (I have a view of Tokyo Tower from my living room.)  As a resident of Tokyo, I think I ride the JR at most once or twice a month and that's usually to go to places like Costco.    

However, many great tourist spots are accessible by JR.  If you're traveling outside of Tokyo frequently, then I think the JR pass could be worth your money.  Otherwise, I'd just stick to the Suica/Passmo (the cards that you touch down on the reader at the gates) and refill those as you go.  

Edit: I forgot that you could walk to Tokyo Tower from Hamamatsucho which is a JR station. 

Still, 600 before tax........ Is not possible to Japan.

Yes, they are.  Why is this so hard to understand?  "Taxes" here are NOT the same as sales tax.  It includes the gas surcharges.

The base airfare is actually not that much and does not itself change drastically each year (though it does change between seasons).   If you look at the page she linked, there definitely were flights to Japan that were under $700 pre-tax. (BASE FARE)  The fact is gas surcharges and other taxes (this is what we mean by taxes) are MORE than the base price of the ticket.  Once you clicked on her link and went all the way to where they calculate the rates, the rates are the same as the other sites which calculate the taxes in for you.  This does not mean that the ticket was not under $700 before taxes.  It was . .  the reality is that the price before taxes is MEANINGLESS. 

There are flights from Japan to LA that are under $200, before taxes.  Gas surcharges and other charges bring the flights up over $1000.  It doesn't mean that the ticket itself wasn't $200 to begin with.  This is why, as I said, check the prices POST-TAXES. 

ALL agencies here in Japan advertise the fares pre-taxes, so I'm not as unfamiliar as you with the concept of base ticket price.  Agencies in the US seem to do it only to be misleading . . . and it seems people here fall for it.   

ok i think i got a link. i duno if it would should show the most recent information that i got today but here goes.

http://www.cheapflights.com/flights-to-japan/oakland/

maybe umm its cause im leaving from oakland airport?

There are no direct flights from Oakland airport.  They're probably including a few transfers in there, likely through LA or Seattle, or sometimes worse, farther than you started.  If you haven't noticed, all of the cheap flights on this page say "EXCLUDING TAX."    The gas surchages and taxes will make them match the more expensive fares on the page.  This is why you absolutely have to look at the fare AFTER taxes.

yea i saw airfare for 600 on this website and that was back and forth, ill keep researching stuff tho. thanks for the heads up.  ;D

A lot of websites list fares BEFORE gas surcharges and taxes.  Gas surcharges are currently about $800, meaning that fare is probably closer to $1500 in reality.  A $600 fare isn't possible right now.

wait so the bus fare costs more than the trainfare? and when you mean trainfare... is it like those subway kind of trains (or aboveground kind of trains)?

i think i want to leave about late march to the beginning of april or sometime in between the month of april. i want to get there at just about the right time the cherry blossoms bloom. also i need to get back before fanime happens.  ::)

In Azabu, we only have subways.  You have your choice of three lines in the area though.  (Namboku, Ooedo and Hibiya.)  And yes, the bus costs more.  Less people ride the bus and there are less buses per hour, as opposed to millions of people riding the train system everyday.  The bus however is more convenient for certain stops.  For example, there is no direct train to shibuya, and rather than change trains, you can just take the Shibuya direct train from Roppongi Hills and be at Shibuya in about 10 minutes. 

There is an area in Roppongi Hills where the entire street is a row of cherry blossoms.  The ones here bloom at the end of March.  Due to global warming, the cherry blossoms have been blooming earlier and earlier, they say.  There are more popular areas to see cherry blossoms, but many people literally camp out for spots for their cherry blossom viewing (hanami) parties at these parks. 

hmm... so i was thinking that airfare itself should be around 1000 dollars or less and that I should save enough for my personal things hm.. about another 1000. all in total the MIMIMUM i have to bring is 2000. does anyone think thats a reasonable amount? the most i might stay is three weeks. two would be fine for me. one is not enough.

i did the math to about 40/50 dollars a day times 21 days (3 weeks). i can cut down on food and housing; its just transportation and extra spending cash that im worried about. im not too much of a person that needs to eat three meals a day. i can probably eat once and still be happy. i don't like shopping. if anything id rather just take pictures and video of myself just enjoying where i am. if i get a fandom urge to buy anything, the most i might spend on it is about 100 dollars.

i won't be going that far away from my relatives place. ill stay in tokyo for the entire time and like what pryon's friend said, azabu is fairly central, even if its not close to any fandom. if thats the case then ill probably just take transportation from azabu to wherever i want to go within tokyo. if anything, the tower is probably the only site i want to see that could be far away from me. (i was thinking that a shrine and maybe that fish market might be too far too) 

Hi,

Actually, depends on what shrine you want to go to.  If a small one is good enough for you, you can walk to one.  Otherwise, you can take the train for 210 yen from Azabu Juuban to Yoyogi, which has a very large one (Meiji Jingu).  The fish market is only 4 stops away from Azabu Juuban, only 170 yen for the train fare.  Tokyo Tower is only two train stops away for 170 yen.  (Tokyo Tower in addition has an entrance fee which I can't remember the amount of.)  Buses cost 200 yen per ride.   Fandom at Akihabara is farther away (about 30 minutes), but that train ride is also only 190 yen from Roppongi from what I recall. 

If you really don't spend any money and eat cheaply, you probably can live three weeks for $1000.  Average wages for new grads out of college here is about $2000 a month, and many of them have rent to pay as well.  However, you may want to carry extra for things you want to pick up, but that's up to you.  Last I checked though, airfare was more than $1000, due to gas prices. 

Let me know if you need anything else. 
 

??

system failure.  my bad.  :P

I only have about one more year left to plan thing this since my family who lives there in Tokyo will have to move because of their corporate business. This is really a good opportunity for me because they live right in the middle of Tokyo I think, or thats what they said... (they live in Azabu, Tokyo) and that I can stay there under their roof and stuff for vacation (so I'm cutting down costs for accomodation). How should I go about doing this? It's really more of HOW MUCH SHOULD I BRING so that I can be full of OTAKU GOODNESS (that can be from a literal to a symbolic/POSITIVE meaning) by the time I get home (and no, it doesn't have to be shopping wise. I hate shopping actually)

Sorry, system lost my post and I have to edit and repost. 

Anyways, Mikey (Pyron, one of my best buddies, who also comes to visit me once in a while) recommended that I post here.

I live in the Azabu Area, so I can tell you quite a bit about it.  It's one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Tokyo, and rather than your traditional Japanese families, you're going to see more upper class expats (foreigners), Japanese celebrities and other people of "elite" status here in Japan.  Stores in the area are more high end and pricey, but there are buses and trains to various places, as this is fairly central.  However, it's not very close to the center of fandom.

I do not recommend working on a tourist visa, and as Mikey pointed out, it is not easy to receive a working visa in Japan.  However, there are plenty of volunteer organizations in the area that you can volunteer your time to if you would be interested in meeting locals and helping out the community. 

I'm not clear what type of answers you actually want, but please let me know if you have any specific questions.

 

Yea, I'm always concerned that I may eventually change my major, but I do have many reasons for going into law. Plus, there are many different paths within that one major. Everyone tells me that law is 'boring' but in the end I know it will be worth it so I'm sticking with it.

Heh that is one way I am glad for crap like CSI. because of it's popularity everyone is going into forensics and criminal justice. So there is a lot of room and money for those who want to go into law.

Change your major?  I wasn't aware that schools started offering "law" majors.   ???  The major was "legal studies" when I was an undergrad, and WSJ recently indicated that this trend hadn't changed either.  Either way, it's an entirely different animal from law school, so you're being rather misleading when you say "go into law."  Forensic scientists usually have science degrees from what I understand.  And most of the so-called "lots of money" in law is made by lawyers.  Lawyers and judges are required to go to law school.  Very few of them even took any legal studies classes in undergrad.  (Most lawyers were poli sci majors.) 

Thats nice.  The only places I've been to was Osaka, Nara, Hiroshima, Tokyo, Saitama, Akihabara since I have Japanese relatives scattered around Japan.  I also went to the Okinawa as well but I forgot what district I visited or is there?  HAHAHA Pyron writes these "bakabakashii" post on these forums probably having fun wit it.

Isn't.... Akiba... IN Tokyo? :|

banzai banzai gundam kaaii sushi godzilla sempai chinpo

I felt like they're like different parts since I had to change trains for that?  Correct me on that one?

You're probably confusing Tokyo station with Tokyo as a whole....

Tokyo *station* is in Marunouchi, but Akibahara is part of Tokyo.  Tokyo is a large large city.  You have to change trains to get anywhere.  I switch trains on my commute and my commute isn't even 10 minutes on the trains.  I'm guessing you haven't been to New York, which is also the same. 

I'm not sure why you would list Saitama as its own special entry though.  That's like making a big deal out of going through New Jersey on a trip to New York.

What part of Japan are you from?  Cuz I've been to Japan so many times there myself with my family and once wit my Japan club.  My Japanese is only good enough to have a decent conversation plus I would LOVE to read more manga and sometimes newspaper to help my vocabulary.  So how is Pyron in person eh?

I live in Tokyo, but I grew up in the Bay Area.  Pyron is one of the best friends I've ever had. All my friends in Japan who've met him adore him (including one of my girlfriends who likes to just look at him eat).  A good day is vegging out with Pyron in front of the tv.   

[MAN]

But you need to shut up or be a MAN and speak more Japanese than the rest of us can do!

Speaking Japanese makes one manly?  Wow, I'm so macho and manly! 

I live and work in Japan.  I read, speak and write Japanese on a daily basis.  My daily reading materials are comics, self-help beauty guides and legal documents.  I watch tv varieties and the news.  And once in a while I am forced to watch *BAD* Disney dubs when Pyron comes to visit. 

an English teacher in Korea/Japan (they get paid hecka money. o.0).

I hope you wouldn't want to be an English teach in Japan just for the money.  Because it's really not that much money in Japan...

On JET and similar "better" paying programs out there, you're being paid about 30K per year.  If you're working for a language school, you're being paid less.  This is not a lot of money in Japan.  It costs more to live in Japan than it does in California, and, as you should know, 30K barely pays the bills in some parts of California.

I can't say anything about Korea.  I visited recently and the low cost of living compared to Japan was amazing.  And it seems like part time english teaching jobs pay very well there.  (My best friend's younger sister is currently studying abroad there.)

And since I posted in this thread, I guess it would be retarded to not post what I do.  I'm a finance lawyer for the Tokyo branch of a large American law firm.  As you can guess, this pays very well, but is an incredibly busy job.  Being bilingual in Japanese and English, there's definitely a broader range of work that I can do here in Japan, though, undoubtedly, I would have better hours in the States.  I do have a lot of friends here from the various phases of my life (college in Japan, anime/music industry friends from my con days, finance people), but it's incredibly nice when my closest friends like Mikey (PyronIkari) come visit from the States.