9/12/2005 10:09:00 PM|||The Zen Master|||I've been trying to figure out if I could afford to spend a week in Tokyo over my October vacation for Chinese National Day. I've been told I could do it on a budget, but I could easily see blowing $10,000 that I don't have if I had seven days in the country I'd love more than any other to see. This incredible article from the Times travel section proves me unfortunately right, I believe. $250 a day might be a tight budget to some, but to me it seems pretty damn extravagant, even for a city like Tokyo! I knew my hopes were dashed from the first paragraphs:

Mention to any traveler that you're headed to Tokyo and be prepared to hear a litany of warnings: hotel rooms in Shinjuku equal to the cost of a month's rent in New York, breakfasts that can cost more than dinners at Per Se. Even the most in-the-know travelers persist in believing that Tokyo is a destination fit only for the superrich.

But given today's strong euro, Tokyo can actually be less expensive than some major European cities (and even cheaper than New York) - if you know where to go and what to avoid.

One weekend in June, I had a chance to test this theory. My goal was to enjoy two days in Tokyo on a total budget of just $500.

I guess if I were going to be there for just two days I could and would probably cough up the cash, but right now a week, even at that budget, would be much more than my two bank accounts on opposite sides of the world could possibly afford, even in concerted unison.|||112653418375205029|||Obscenity in the travel section