NYTimes.com - Frugal Traveler: Kyoto, Japan

[flierboy90]

"something real" I'm so tired of people trying to find the "real Japan." No part of Japan is less real than any other part, just like no part of America is less American than any other.

[makinghistory2day]

America: In every nook and cranny of the world...and blond. :)

[arulisms]

This NYTIMES standard ? lol

[canow123]

because of him im going to start to create 100 different nicknames in youtube so i can dislike this video a 100 times more!His face isnt even worth a punch!!

[KBREEZY6195]

ah, i lived in Kyoto for almost 7 years and this information is not only some what incorrect but disrespectful as well. i am half American and i do not like the attitudes these Americans give. and going around a getting a free meal off of someone else and not even buying a single thing, that is so disrespectful. and a lot of the comments are right! 500$?? i have been to Ryokan so much cheaper than that :/

[jm01031976]

"...except for all the tourists here, who all seemed to want to take pictures." Like you, you stupid asshole.

[sxystar41]

They guy's a DUMBASS.. OF COURSE it's going to be crowded... DURING the FALL and SPRING SEASONS.. because spring is to gaze at the sakura and fall is for the vivid color. Try coming the winter or summer.. where it's less crowded...

[bootcut984]

I used to beat this guy up in college.

[PolskiMale]

I could write for an hour about how much I dislike this video.

I'm only 17 and realize how much of an idiot and how disrespectful this guy was.

Posting this video was a waste of time and not informative at all.

[welcomegohome]

"-weekend budget of FIVE hundred dollars"? FRUGAL TRAVELER?

[sacopenapa]

Typical North American abnosious turist!

[wickedlady4180]

$500 dollars is mega expensive! 9,000 yen Ryokans are available, sometimes even cheaper (under $100) and you can buy delishious bento boxes at any Conbini (convenient store). An overnight stay in Kyoto (even in the nicest areas Gion/Higashiyama), with food, should be no more than $120. Period. THAT'S FRUGAL!

[Peekingduck]

Just sharing... The 'Wagashi' are actually called 'Yatsuhashi'

[001jd]

that american chick seemed like a know-it-all bitch, i would feel guilty just eating the free samples and not buying anything

[Mrfroufrou09]

Had he been worthy of the journalistic profession, he would have known that. But heck, he's american... and a cheap one at that. Next time, do us all a favor. Stay home!

[Mrfroufrou09]

This is so insulting, to both the Japanese, and the New York Times, not to mention the readers and viewers. What were the NYTimes thinking?

First, it ought to be said that the reporter, and I use the term loosely, was in Kyoto at the height of the season, when the colors turn. It's huge in Japan, much like Cherry Blossom, hence the many the many people, taking what seemed like the same picture... as he so condescendingly remarked.

[Peekingduck]

@Mrfroufrou09

agree.. These clips don't show american attitudes in a very flattering light. The advice given could easily backfire as you aren't supposed to abuse the free samples, and you could be asked not to return were you to be found out using them as a free meal...

[jaytduce]

This jackass makes me ashamed to be an American. If he did not have the money to go to Kyoto and eat then why on earth did he go in the first place?

He probably would have been better off and much happier at a McDonalds in NYC.

This was a bad video and a total waste of time.

[nishunaruto]

i bet he's a loner

[sekai954]

This journalist, term used lightly, should be ashamed of himself. I'm proud to have lived in Kyoto off and on for 7 years and it is not all about begging for samples at Takashimaya. It's people like you that create stereotypes by the Japanese against foreigners. Walking around eating samples...really?

[patricia1777]

neko!!!!!!!!

[zousandazou]

全然京都の紹介になっとらん。

[Abu7929]

Half the video dedicated to getting free samples from a food court, amazing. Because ofcourse I can't already do such a think in an Australian city, only in Kyoto. FAIL.

[TheGrandy123]

Merci pour la video! un regard original et drôle d'un américain à kyoto! Trop drole! Thank you. Funny, realistic and usefull!

[merakhagen]

Which season did the guy went?

[bleucheese14]

Jesus Christ. Journalist from the New York Times goes to Japan and dishes trailer trash begger's advice!

[AlexDumortier]

@bleucheese14

You've summed it up nicely. That was absolutely awful, a complete waste of time. The reporter makes it sound as if the highlight of his trip to Kyoto was scrounging food samples in the basement of a department store -- something you can do in any city in Japan if you are too poor to afford a bento box.

[TETSUSakura91]

Kyoto's beautiful, i would like 2 go there someday 

[liebemin1]

After watching this video, I can't decide what is worse: the way he pronounces Japanese words, or the fact that people might take his advice.

[faustgeist]

I toured Kyoto for a week in Mid January = TOTALLY wonderful. no crowds, still the same foods, sights, and gorgeous environment. The temp was in the 40s but no rain & deep blue skies. Probably have to roll the dice on the weather tho. My hotel was a modern western hotel called Mystays on Shijo Dori and was $90 US a night (this is January 2010)

[grimlocksmash]

If you're brave enough, Camping in Japan is really cheap and a great way to see the country on a tight budget. Most campsites are (yappari) immaculately maintained and often have good facilities. Even if you can't find one, the Japanese will usually turn a blind eye to discrete pitching of your tent on a corner of some unused public land. Or the beach!

[moosenator2yo]

hint: give yourself a lot of time, go on a day that is not the weekend, and avoid the HOLIDAYS to avoid panic attacks.

[TheDesireToInspire]

Weekend budget of $500!!!! I found studio apartments for $500 a month in Kyoto. Just gotta do your homework. Frugal my ass.

[ParkerMCN]

@TheDesireToInspire Yep. Agreed. People making out that its soooo expensive.

Do your homework before you go and you'll find its just as much as everywhere else.

Well maybe give yourself a bit more for food expenses but thats because you want to enjoy your stay, no surviving off of rations.

[monkeyf8s]

my mother used to live in Kyoto and i was raised there for about three yrs......Highly recommened anybody to vacation there. might be a bit above ur budget but its worth the sight if your in to sight seeing!!! aspecially if your into Japanese Cherry Blossoms!!!!! im here now for vacation and the Shinto Shrine!!!

[AlphaRedFox]

i bet someones head would get cut off with a katana if they were to chop down one of those beautiful trees!

[KobeBrian98]

dang i didnt know japan was that expencive for a vacation!!! oh well atleast you can get a meals worth of samples!! :)

[commachan]

Another whining American who appears to have missed the beauty of Kyoto...

By "futon room," did you mean tatami room??

I fear for what the Japanese must think of sample smacking visitors like you.

[tokyocityrat]

Better stay at business hotels instead of these inns show here. Business hotels are everywhere in Japan and they cost 60 to 70$ with breakfast. We, Japanese sales person use it when we go for business trips.

[krelllabs]

@tokyocityrat  Thanks for the excellent advice!!

[xmaxjacky123]

freeloading sample bastard 

[avon96734]

@ MrGrog99: I found his complaining about the crowds annoying after about the 5th time, too. Too good to be where all the rabble is, I suppose? Kyoto is one of the most amazing places in the world. There's a reason there are tons of tourists there. And tone it down w/ all the free samples, too. I know it's called "Frugal Traveler," but man! A little tacky.

[cayleepeterson]

Want to save up to $1,200 on YOUR vacation? Message Me.

[xoxjungle16]

@cayleepeterson i wanna but i cant go now can you still tell me i plan on living there :P well not in kyoto meaby but in japan :P

[ashtonnesmith]

You free loading bums you. gah !

[MrGrog88]

mate stop ya complaining about the crowds! japan is a small country with a population of about 130 million! what ya expect?

if you want to visit a place with no crowds or no people around ya for miles and miles come visit outback Australia! you can sleep on the ground and if your hungry u can shoot a kangaroo and eat it for free! it would last ya for a week too.

be thankful that u get to travel around to these beautiful places, dont complain about it.

[xoxjungle16]

@MrGrog88 lucky you live in australia maeby i should comme live there insted of japan ^^

[MrGrog88]

if it has a toothpick in it, its free!

[vicquial]

If you don't wanna see tourists then go to somewhere in middle of the Amazonas... of course there will be tourists there... do not expecto to go to a top touristic city and don-t find tourists.

[lastinlineband1]

I wrote a book about living in Japan. Just for fun. Good learning experiences.

[dreamchaser171]

i dont want to go to kyoto anymore =|

[MrTheBestOfAgAnK]

@dreamchaser171 why????

[dreamchaser171]

@MrTheBestOfAgAnK

The crowds put me off. im more of a relaxed person.. with quiet beautiful hiking trails and quiet lakes kinda gal. Know any place in japan like that?

[ercasseholly]

This boy paid 100 dollars for that ryokan? He got ripped off.

I agree with most of the posts here, if you don't like crowds don't go to Kyoto in May. I recommend Oct-Nov or late March just before the sakura.

Also don't go to the bloody philosopher's path and expect it to be empty, that's one of the most famous places in the whole city.

[Buranokan]

Titles of other videos must include "Venice - what's with all the Gondolas" and "Hawaii - A little bit out the way isn't it?".

[hawaiinikkei]

やれやれ。

[banffkev]

Just an idea: if it's crowds you hate?? Why visit in the peak seasons?? For any budget traveller, visiting Kyoto in winter results in a lot less people, and doing so midweek...Mon-Wed still you find most temples and shrines open with very few visitors. Doesn't this sound familiar? Oh yes...like Americans visiting national parks on long weekends right? Same principal applies if it's crowds you need to avoid.

[rss313]

God this video sucked. Can I be the next whiney white boy to get a free ticket to Japan to complain about its crowds?

[GJolie]

This was the STUPIDEST fucking video I have ever seen. I can NOT believe this is endorsed by NYT. Holy shit.

[kvsundaram111]

One must learn Gardening from the japanese.I wish the Japanese teach us Indians how to make our cities beatifull also.

kvs

[TheLavinda]

REtarded

[shadowsteve]

hahaha you are always likely to find the most unlikely people in the most unlikely places

[Punk7680]

Kyoto is such a beautiful place. But as is often the problem with beautiful places, it is so crowded it looses a lot of its appeal. Usually though, side streets and outskirts are good places to go for cheaper food. The locals can't afford $60 a meal on a regular basis, so they must exist.

[holyshuang]

First, this video maker is simply ignorant about Japan. He does not understand Japan's culture at all.

Second, he definitely did not do any homework about where to see, live, and eat. There are DEFINITELY places in Kyoto (even the most crowded area) to stay with an affordable price. 500 dollars a weekend, might as well use that money to rent an apartment for a month!!!

This video is poorly made, and I am pretty sure you are one of those shitty tourists that complains about everything.

[hagebunshin]

now even the most idiotic people can get into Japan, what a shame.

[blahk04]

I dont think Kyoto is even in the top 100 most visited cities, so I dont know wtf youre talking about.Most of those tourists were Japanese people who either lived in Kyoto or are from another part of Japan.Japan has a surprisingly low amount of tourism.If you want to be alone maybe you shouldnt go to extremely well known temples.This was like hearing someone complain that they werent alone at the Eiffel Tower.Oh and if you need to live off of free samples, maybe you shouldnt be traveling

[shoegalsho2]

I totally agree!! This video really annoyed me!

[glovetailor]

show me the comments

[kensan0809]

I'm Japanese. I think the best way to avoid crowds is to get up early (around 5:00 am) and get on first train or bus for the site you want to visit.

[xoxjungle16]

@kensan0809 cool thanks alot :Preally good idea :P

[kensan0809]

@xoxjungle16 Of course, some places would be still closed such early in the morning, but there're many good places without entrance gates. You can take many good pictures of them without many tourist heads.

[CoryTheRaven]

Y'know what's more annoying than other tourists? Tourists who complain about other tourists.

You are not a unique snowflake! You are not the first person who ever thought of visiting Japan! Other people want to see the same things you do! The people who live there have to live with crowds and lines, and so do you!

[Celondor]

That's absolutely what I thought while I listened to this stupid guy. Horribile. I'm German and it's already enough to hear the senseless complainings of my people.

MOAH, STAY AT HOME, IDIOTS!

ps: I'm going to visit Kyoto with my girlfriend. She's studying asian science in Bonn, so she can maybe act a bit as my personal translator. ;) Wow, I'm really looking forward to hear some Kyoto-accent. It's a very beautiful way of talking, even though I understand nothing what they say. :D

[xionga1]

i travel a lot. i respect other tourists when i see them. it's the ones that dont know the language and expect to be understood when they ask for something that gets to me and then decide to make a scene by shouting when they cant get what they want.

[krysap]

Too much people everywhere, everything is expensive.. SO WHY DID YOU GO TO JAPAN? Some people shoul better stay at home :-(

[liebemin1]

Look into couch surfing. You get to meet locals and maybe crash at their place for free (bring some souvenirs for them from your home). If you're on a budget, then conbini (convenience stores) are your friend. You can get whole meals for a couple hundred yen, and it's not awful. But you should splurge at least a couple times for good food.

Please don't be the crass foreigner who mills around the samples. It's embarrassing to the foreigners who actually live here.

[xoxjungle16]

@liebemin1 i totaly agree it probably is ambarasing i would never dare

[GamblerGirlX]

Oo

So much money Oo

for just one night ;(

How will I ever go there :(

[Torkan91]

You don't have to pay that much. It's just stupid to pay a lot for a living. Go to a travelers inn instead and spend money on useful stuff. Who cares if you have a japanese window or if you sleep on the floor?

I was in Kyoto by this spring and it was awesome. Me and a friend is going there in about 2 years to study (for a year), as my sister did (and that's why we went to Kyoto, to see how Japan was and to meet her).

Altho, as he said... a lot of tourists, almost too much.

[seonidh]

"Go to a travelers inn instead and spend money on useful stuff."

I agree I stayed in kyoto for very little and had a great time. Its like other places like Paris or London, if you go to expensive tourist traps you'll be fleeced and its too expensive. But like in any city just off the beaten track theirs affordable rooms and low cost restaurants. Japan must be the cheapest place I have seen for food.

[Torkan91]

Well yeah. But the reason why the food is so cheap is because most people don't cook themselves. They have a lot of work. And like, if my family are going to have a party with friends and stuff, they make dinner and everyone eats at our house. That's not how you do in Japan. If you are going to do something like that, you go to a restaurant etc. Japanese people eat outside their homes a lot = The cheap prices. But I gotta tell the Americans, It's better than McDonalds :)

[ruinsofTerra]

stay in youth hostels and live on udon noodles

[KEPHALLE]

ok, if your goal was to post a stupid useless video, well you got it!

and the rush to the samples is so incredibly gross!

[ruinsofTerra]

what? a bit critical are we?

[xoxjungle16]

@KEPHALLE agreed

[gtpluvr]

very nice video!...I was in Kyoto in 2004 and enjoyed it very much...thanks for posting!

[kyotofukyotosi]

Wow! I highly recommend anyone to go check department stores and try some of free sample; however, asking samples one after another as if you are munching something in your mothers kitchen is not the way. Japanese department are relatively high-end and provide sample to encourage buying with confidence but those sample are not for hungry tourists.

[liLaZnjiax3]

huh? hows 6,500 yen 65$? i thought 1$ = 1,000 yen..

[deviryuu]

Nope, 1$ is roughly 100 yen. Its easy to think of it as:

$1 . 00 (100 yen)

$10 . 00 (1.,000 yen)

[9057979]

You have to love the tourists who are so annoyed that there are other tourists

[emborios]

Japan actually isn't very expensive at all, and yes, of course there are lots of tourists. Kyoto is part of a huge urban agglomeration of Keihanshin with 20 million people. I don't get what this guy is whining about.

Just try to avoid the major holiday weeks in spring, and you'll be fine.

[xRichieTokyoHoex]

god, hes so negative wtf

[ligger2]

I found a nice family run Kaiseki restaurant just south of Kyoto station behind Avanti department store. It's called Kashin, and Keiko, the daughter and sous chef, can speak English and explain the menu.

An eight course traditional Kyoto-style seasonal meal with sashimi and tempura is only 5,000 yen. Actually quite a bargain for this sort of extravagance.

[meow23]

i dont understand nothing

[nuda0205]

The smartest tourist used to stay in Otsu city either old traditional place adjacent to Kyoto just 2 JR rail-stations away from there. Calmer Cheeper to stay.

[bigbuggie5]

You can stay cheap if you stay at a hostel

[CrimsonZeroX]

Yeah, that's what I did in Yokohama. I spent 368 USD for two weeks in Ichikawacho. Breakfast was pretty good too. ^^

[PurpleLemonTree]

there are so many nice ones in kyoto, too and they're round 2500 yen per night! i loved kyoto. ^^

[CrimsonZeroX]

2500 yen a night? That sounds even cheaper than the place I stayed at. Might stay there for a bit too since I have to study abroad in Japan next year in the summer. I'll probably go and stay there for a few days after I finish before I leave back to America.

[Toxicrafa]

100$ a night in a ryoukan??? I've been living in Kyoto for one year and normally the price for a ryoukan is around 3500/4500 ienes a night. I think it's around 45 in US$...

[VOLVERHURTS]

$500 how is that frugal ?

[Lostfaith1980]

I do so love pickled daikon. ^_^ Extremely difficult to get here unless I go to an expensive japanese restaraunt. ~_~ *Cries*

Some day when I've payed off my university debt and managed to get a job... I might actually be able to visit japan. I hope so. It is a true dream of mine to live there.

[xoxjungle16]

@Lostfaith1980 me too !! i totaly want to live there when im finished universaty too, but im onely 15 and learning japanese so i have a couple of years to wait :S