Advice on backpacking across the country exclusively by bus and local trains

19 comments

1. Hey it’s definitely possible to go around Japan on only Highway buses and they’re usually cheaper since buses are competing with the convenience of trains. I would say that you’ll have to be prepared to research the schedules in advance and maybe book in advance too since some buses might not run as frequent especially to small towns eg. 3-4 trips a day. Night buses between big cities are very common and comfortable.

   For using the Suica I would say that it generally works in cities and trains. I have only had one experience at a train stop where they didn’t take suica but it was near Iya valley in Shikoku so it’s incredibly small. In this case, I had to pay by cash and they write you a slip to show the ticket office next time you go through a fare gate so that you don’t get double charged.

   Hope this helps! There were a lot of questions in your post so let me know if you want answers to something specific.

2. For any long distance, your best option is probably the night bus. Even if you could do local train only from Tokyo to Kyoto for example, it will require many change of train and will take a lot of time. So it’s easier to get in the bus, sleep (so potential save of a hostel night).

   In any case even if you do not take the bullet train, to have cheaper train, you cannot use the limited express either. You should make a more detailed plan and check options for train/bus. For train, check Hyperdia website and in the option, remove shinkansen and limited express. You’ll see how far you can go in a day and how much it cost.

   One thing I would really do is Osaka-Tokyo by night bus and not taking 5 days to do it. In anything, take your time on part 2 to 4.

   What you want to do is possible, there is a discount ticket for that [https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2362.html](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2362.html) however, you’ll have to check schedule do see how long it will take and decide if it’s realistic.

   No you cannot do Nagano Matsumoto in 30 minutes by bus. That is a 1 h local train ride, by car would at least take 1hour… bus are not twice as fast. For bus tickets, if you are checking for reserved only bus, yes, it’s possible that a bus will be full. So local train might be more flexible for that. Also compare price.

   JR Pass might be a better option as at least you can get in shikansen and limited express, I can tell you, I’ve done similar trip on JR Pass, and taking train 2 to 4 hours every day, even when using fast train and shinkansen. So maybe in your mind it will be 3 hours ride in the train, but in reality, it might require 5-6 hours train rides in some days.

   You might save money on going to hostel in larger city using faster trains than going to business hotels in small countryside cities.

   Would the pass be cheaper ? Maybe, maybe not. Only way to know if to write a complete itinerary and calculate. Also, most likely do not need 21 days pass. You can probably manage with 14, or you can even realize that there is a 7 days that are more transport heavy and only that part is worth using a pass. Maybe there is regional pass that would work better, or Non-JR Pass (depending on where you go). JR pass does not offer more flexibility (If anything it’s the opposite) the only reason to use it is to save money. To know if you will save money, you need a plan.

   Suica does offer the ease of payment. You touch in, touch out. HOWEVER, it does not work everywhere, especially in rural area. So it can be better to know how to get paper tickets, that is not terribly hard. Also, use on bus really depend, for example in Matsumoto they do not use Suica in the local bus.

   In more rural area, there is station without staff. Some are ok for suica, there is a machine at the gate, but in some, there in nothing, so you need to have paper ticket… that you deposit in a box. In some lines, you exit by the front door of the train only and you pay to the driver (might or might not accept suica). I can name lines and stations for all these scenarios.

   ​

   My first times in Japan were before smartphone era. If you want to have flexibility, get a sim card or pocket wifi. You’ll be happy to be able to find train schedule on the spot anytime you want (and not miss last train because you do not know the schedule), open google map to find your way or find a restaurant, to google translate if you have a menu you cannot understand (even if you study Japanese, it will happen, trust me), etc. wifi hotspot are not so frequent or reliable, especially in countryside.

   ​

   I would personally prefer to have more solid plan than to carry a sleeping bag/tent. Even if people can tell story of camping anywhere without problem, I think it’s technically not legal so not impossible you can have problem if you do. And depending on the period of the year, last minute booking can be harder. For sure you will have less choice than if you book in advance, In some occasion the hostel I wanted to go was full and I had to settle with one that was not as convenient. Keep in mind, smaller city mean less cheap accommodation options too. Speaking of cheap accommodation, there is cheap ryokan or even youth hostel with onsen (but don’t expect a kaiseki meal included).

   There is a lot of occasion to find good food for less than 1000 yen in restaurant (for me that is pretty cheap), yes a bit more expensive than konbini, but lot of really good things.

   You can totally enjoy Japan without spending a fortune on tickets, but you have to decide on what you want to see. For example don’t even waste your time to go to Kinkakuji if you are not paying for the entry ticket, you won’t see anything. So yes, making plan based on things that are free is totally possible.

   1500 euro for 21 days is possible.

   ​

   In short what I would do

   * Make a more detailed plan to compare price and see if a pass can save money or not
   * When you make your plan, evaluate time required between city and availability of cheap accommodation
   * Really consider a way to have internet (sim card or pocket wifi)
   * Plan you visit based on things that can be done for free. There is things that are absolutely not worth going even close if you do not plan to pay, some that can be done without paying with some interest (like Todai-ji in Nara, but seeing the massive buddha inside the building is totally worth paying) and other can be fully enjoyed without going inside, like Himeiji castle for example.

   ​

   If you have more question, of my answers are not so clear, feel free to ask.

3. I’ve traveled all over Japan without a JR Pass but I always have to crunch the numbers to make sure it makes sense. Have you looked at Hyperdia yet? The fares are pretty spot on. I like to plan everything out to the cent and then leave some wiggle room. Hyperdia allows you to do just that.

   To save the most money I would forgo a night in a hotel or capsule and use it on a overnight bus like the Willer Express. Say I wanted to go from Tokyo to Kyoto I would spend maybe 7000 yen and sleep the entire time. I think it was a 7 hour journey? Much better experience than taking a Greyhound bus in the states, plus saving on hotel/transportation costs.

   I found that it was hard to book travel on the spot. I always made sure everything was booked in advance.

   The Suica card really is as simple and easy as everyone says. I keep mine at the end of my trip because I know I will be back. I even keep a balance on mine so as soon as I land in Japan I can use it at 7/11 or Lawsons to buy a quick meal.

   To answer your question about small stations you still need a ticket or to swipe the suica card to enter. They have ticket vending machines at every station I’ve ever been to. That shouldn’t be a problem.

   I never buy a wifi sim card. Free wifi is everywhere. It’s just not a needed expense in my opinion. But I would price out hostels, transportation, and even look at frugal restaurant menus. I personally wouldn’t bring a sleeping bag nor a tent. You might spend more money getting to a campground then you would save just sleeping in a capsule hotel. Most train stations will kick you out and you won’t be able to spend the night there.

4. 1. Fukushima part: if the appeal is to see the disaster area (considering the route you are taking it is the possibility), just don’t do it. You will most likely get reported and a best questioned by the police. There is no really reason for a tourist/backpacker to go even up that part of the coast past Hitachi (with Hitachi Seaside Park).
   2. Getting from any part of Fukushima/Ibaraki to any part of Nagano not using shinkansen or limited expresses is going to be extremely painful and frankly is not really going to save you any money versus local JR East passes.
   3. For a 21 day trip, using trains below shinkansen and limited express speed is just losing time. You will probably have something like 14 days on which you actually do anything of note.
   4. Suica (or any other major IC card) works mostly in major metropolitan areas, but well… it’s not accepted on most highway or rural buses. Also interchangeable areas are separated by specific blank spots, eg. in Nagano Prefecture, Suica works on JR Chuo line (between Matsumoto and Kofu) and nowhere else.
   5. In case, there are no attendants at the station, you will be charged either by train conductor (cash only) or at your destination.
   6. With regard to mobile internet – unless you read and speak Japanese, and you are able to register to Wifi hotspots on the fly – it’s a very bad idea. In rural Japan, wifi can be godawful. And with your propose mode of travel, you will rely on knowing what your options are if you get delayed and to find places you can spend the night on.
   7. 50€ per day excluding accommodation and long-distance travel is considered a good starting. One should note that outside big cities with hostels, you may actually struggle to find cheap accommodation (cheap guesthouses in the countryside are usually more expensive than hostels in Osaka, Kyoto or Tokyo). Realistically speaking, all things included, when moving around in Japan, anything below 100€ (for a single person) would be close to scraping the bottom of a barrel (especially when moving around).

5. I’ve never biked or backpacked through Japan, but I can answer some of the questions you have and provide some random “resources” that might help you figure things out.

   ## Biking vs Backpacking

   First off, I think if you bike or backpack, either is completely fine. This youtuber biked across Japan and saw all the sights etc, so I don’t think you’ll miss anything by biking. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC_ZDJrBLpk&list=PLSOR9_iNzVfl4ghftQDpTA4CXUvCKRlsL](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC_ZDJrBLpk&list=PLSOR9_iNzVfl4ghftQDpTA4CXUvCKRlsL)

   This guy also talks about bikes and trains, I don’t think it would be a real issue. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvfws1RdxTo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvfws1RdxTo)

   ## Trains and Buses

   I assume that if you are backpacking you’ll end up taking buses or trains more often than if you biked. A JR pass COULD be worth it, but, in all likelihood it won’t save you much money if you are only going to use local trains as needed. If you want to be sure, you can use [http://www.hyperdia.com/](http://www.hyperdia.com/) as a tool, it will allow you to remove bullet trains from the route so that you can see which train segments are possible without them. It is completely possible to travel up and down the entire Mainland Japan without a bullet train, just takes a lot longer. But since you would be biking or hiking to a point, and then possible taking a train the “rest of the way” to a particular destination, you won’t have any problems at all.

   As for buses, your biggest issue is going to be that outside of major cities, there is pretty much no English on buses, and bus schedules are hard to find without going to the actual stop and seeing what is posted. Especially as you get more rural. That really would be the biggest hurdle. Even in more remote areas the bus will come once an hour or once an hour and a half. Anything near a city could be multiple times an hour.

   If it’s a local bus, you don’t need to worry about crowds unless you are there during a busy season (Spring, Fall, Chinese New Year). If you are going to use “highway buses” to travel long distances instead of trains, those you usually need to reserve (you can do it online or in person), but it is simple enough.

   With your Nagano to Matsumoto example, I would just show up and see what buses are available (Google can actually help you out here: [https://goo.gl/maps/WgHQo9Ma1DUfkzXWA](https://goo.gl/maps/WgHQo9Ma1DUfkzXWA)) But even if nothing is available the trains are running so you wouldn’t be stopped at all, just might have to spend a bit more for the train in that instance: [https://goo.gl/maps/9tT8aNYfUH7nvTmx8](https://goo.gl/maps/9tT8aNYfUH7nvTmx8)

   ## JR Pass

   For 21 days, it’s not worth it for what you are doing. BUT, if there is a 7 day section where you will need a Shinkansen and afew other trains, it might be worth jsut getting the 7 day one and putting the start date right when you need it.

   You can basically calculate the value here: [https://www.japan-guide.com/railpass/](https://www.japan-guide.com/railpass/) Then you’ll know if you’d even come close or not .But of you are avoiding Shinkansen, I don’t think you’ll need it at all. Especially if you are using local trains, some will be private lines and local buses aren’t generally JR.

   ## IC Cards

   TLDR

   >Can I just hop on nearly any bus/train in the countryside/smaller cities and use the card as if I was using it to travel through Tokyo’s metro system?

   Yes, if it has an IC machine, it probably takes Suica, scan when you enter, scan when you leave. that’s it.

   Longer answer

   1. Always keep cash on you for buses as cash is king and many local buses (especially in rural areas) will only take coins
   2. Other than that IC cards are exactly as described, pretty much usable for most situations, you literally touch it to the wireless sensor when you get on and when you get off. The machine will tell you your remaining balance so you’ll know when to charge it back. Yes, it is that easy.
   3. Almost all stations, even rural ones have either ticketing machine or a person (if they dont’ take IC), you just look at the map, find where you are going, pay for that amount and you are good. There are rarely unmanned train stations, and if you didn’t pay enough. And even if you didn’t pay enough, there is always a way to correct it when you get to your destination.
   4. There was one time near Kyoto where I had a JR Pass (which you normally just show as you walk by and they check the date), and no one was there, so we all just walked through, there was nothing else to do and no one fretted about it.
   5. A note on Suica, you have to buy it in the Tokyo area, once you leave you can recharge it, but you can’t get a new one. each region has their own card, and while you can use these cards in other regions, you generally can only obtain the initial card in it’s origin region. Suica I believe has the most compatibility, you will rarely find a place that doesn’t accept it.

   ## Other Stuff

   >I am not planning on getting mobile internet.

   Totally fine, there are apps that will help you find wifi spots anyways, locals are friendly, even if their English is bad, just learn a few phrases and they’ll get you where you are going.

   ​

   >ultimately there’s no need to do so if I can be certain I’ll find a bed somehow that takes a last minute request

   Unless you are travelling during a busy time, I wouldn’t expect you to have many issues finding a place to sleep the night of. In cities there are so many places to stay (even airbnbs if you run out of options). Conversely, in small towns if it is off season, no one is there (but the locals). The only issue I see is if you are in a mountainous or very very rural farming area that just wouldn’t have a single place to stay in general. But you can check that out a bit before you go based on your loose plans.

   ​

   >I am a very frugal person and I don’t like to pay much for things

   Many temples are free, or a very low cost, unless you are going to a museum or amusement park you probably won’t need to worry too much about entry fees. One of the best things about Japan is that just being in it and seeing it is amazing, you really won’t miss out by not doing ticketed attractions. I think you’ll find it pretty rare (other than temples, shrines and onsen) to find anything you want to do blocked by a ticket cost.

   ## Finances

   Food is cheap in Japan (or at least it can be), For budget conscious trips I usually estimate 35 € – 40 € a day, you might hit the top end of that since you’ll be expending a lot of energy walking / riding. You can of course get cheaper, but then you are eating konbini onigiri and tamago sando for each meal every day. Total food could come to 800 € essentially, which leaves 700 € for trains and hostels.

   Hostels can be as cheap as 20 € but you probably won’t get that everywhere. And in some rural areas that don’t have hostels you are looking at 100 € Ryokan potentially. So estimating 550 – 700 € for accommodations (if you were to have a roof over your head) isn’t necessarily out of the question. There are options where you could do an internet cafe for less than 15 € for a 8 or 12 hour period. Many of them have beds you can sleep in.

   Finally, trains and ticketing costs for onsen etc. This is a tough one to estimate for what you are doing, but you can get an idea using hyperida or google. I would imagine that you would need a minimum of 200 -400 € for all travel everywhere, but this is a bit of a stab in the dark. Could well be much much less depending on how much walking / riding coves the bulk of the travel you do, and if you take a shinkansen or not.

   So total cost could be 1500 € on the low end, but you might have to sacrifice some things, I think 2000 € is more comfortable and would provide a better experience.

   I think u/gdore15 has the right idea in his summary up at the end of his post. Just be more certain with your plans and you’ll be good

   If you have any questions on specific resources feel free to reach out.

6. I think you’ll see a lot more and save money if you cut this down to half as many locations and spend more time exploring them. Japan is a very dense country, and you could easily spend that entire 3 weeks in just one region if your really wanted to–especially if you’re planning to do things slowly and spend a lot of time on bicycle and foot.

   As to your questions about transit–I think if you’re really moving around that much, a JR Pass is going to be your best option, though not necessarily a 21 day one. Buses are okay if you’re going from one destination to another, but when you start stringing locations together, the time and expenses can really start to add up.

   >Days 1-4 > Tokyo and surrounding towns depending on what I feel like visiting. I have the basics covered.

   >Days 5-8 > Travelling North towards Fukushima prefecture, probably via Ibaraki.

   >Days 9-11 > Travelling Southwest towards Nagano, via Gunma or even through Niigata’s coast.

   >Days 12-16 > Travelling towards Kyoto via Gifu and through the north side of Lake Biwa.

   >Days 17-21 > From Osaka to Tokyo on more or less a straight line.

   >I could go for the 21 day pass, but the price is outrageous.

   So cut the number of places you’re going down and give yourself time to actually see more than a tiny fraction of each place you visit. Japan isn’t like the rest of Asia–expect to spend about as much as you would in North America or Western Europe. You could spend 2-3 times as long in each of these places and still barely scratch the surface.

   >many unique experiences that I specifically don’t want to miss on (onsens, food, temples, rituals, hikes, etc).

   All the more reason to move around less. You actually see a lot more when you don’t spend half your trip running around the entire country like a chicken with its head cut off.

   >I understand that Japan won’t allow me that freedom and that I’ll have to plan my route at least 2-3 days in advance

   That’s really not true unless you’re only taking highway buses or flying, and even then you could probably manage a quick booking if you’re okay with fewer choices and paying a bit more. Having said that, I would still much sooner recommend trains.

   >For what I’ve read, a Suica card could give me the flexibility of not having to worry about paper tickets, calculating prices or having to step in the ticket office. But is that actually true?

   For trains, generally yes. Buses are more hit and miss–and even trains can be hit and miss in more rural areas. Highway buses are completely separate and you would need to book tickets in advance.

   >I don’t usually buy tickets to visit places, I am happy to see them from outside… and so on.

   Don’t make the mistake of skipping literal world wonders because you’re too cheap to pay a couple bucks. I’ve read trip reports where people do this and it’s just depressing.

   >Finally, I am thinking about spending around 1500€ for a 21 day trip

   This would be much easier if you picked like one or two areas and stuck to them. The cost of transit is real, and you can see a lot by foot, bicycle or short transit trip in some areas. Again, the country is very dense. You really, really don’t need to travel long distances to find new and interesting things to do.

   >I am not planning on getting mobile internet. I want to focus on using my hard-earned adventure skills to get from A to B , and there’s many wifi spots anyway for when I really need to use the internet.

   Don’t count on free WIFI–especially if you’re going to rural areas. Even in the major urban centers it’s less common than in western countries. Kyoto used to have a system where you had to send a text message to get a code to use the free public WIFI around Kawaramachi, and you might run into other nonsense like that, so basically don’t plan on it always being there.

   >I’ll take a sleeping bag for emergencies, last train situations, etc. Should I also carry a small tent in case I am stuck somewhere in the countryside? I can sleep anywhere and I understand Japan’s thought on the matter, but ultimately there’s no need to do so if I can be certain I’ll find a bed somehow that takes a last minute request.

   A better solution would be to just plan a tiny bit. It’s not that hard to not get stranded.

7. Are you thinking of getting the ‘seishun juhachi kippu’? Apologies if I missed it, but it seems exactly what you’re looking for, provided your trip lines up with the eligibility periods.

   Anyway, your plan sounds totally possible, and as someone who loves traveling by local train, I think it’s a much more interesting way to see the country – you’ll pass through random towns and villages that you won’t notice on the shinkansen since half the shinkansen line is either in tunnels or has those sound barriers which mean you can’t see anything out of the window.

   Just a caution though – even with saving money on trains, cheap hotels, food etc. will still add up…Japan is not the place for a budget trip…it’ll be super difficult to keep to the 1500euro budget, but I wish you luck!

   Oh, and about the wifi…please don’t rely on finding free wifi in Japan…the wifi situation is getting better, but I still wouldn’t want to rely on public wifi, especially if you’re taking local trains through small towns, you might need to look up a train schedule unexpectedly. At least, you should get a sim card that has roaming for back up.

8. Everyone has some good detailed responses to your specific questions but I’ll add a few short thoughts:

   WRT trains, it is not bullet train or nothing. You can take local rail lines to get around at a slower pace and can give you the option to hop on/off at interesting stops.

   WRT buses, there are many bus options, they’re cheaper, but IMO less flexible. There are also JR Pass style things for regional bus lines which might be worthwhile depending on how much you’ll bus around.

   > there’s many wifi spots anyway for when I really need to use the internet.

   This is not a safe assumption, particularly in more rural areas.

9. I used the high speed trains to travel from major area to major area, so I can’t comment on a lot on that front.

   I’ve been 2 times for 14 days and 30 days. I’ve always gotten a shorter JR pass than my visiting time. First time I got 7D, 2nd time I got 14D. I used it tactically and activated when I would travel the furthest/most. I recommend using the Shinkansen for going north of Tokyo because all the other routes (not Shinkansen) gave me long estimates. This might be different for your case/lifestyle since you wanna see that. I also used the Shinkansen to get to the Kansai region from Tokyo, but this was due to my goal of realizing my plans and getting the most out of each city/area I visited. You can totally do night bus for every big town/city.

   I’m mostly commenting on the mobile data part. Get it lol. My first time, I went with no data because I thought the same due to all resources saying there’s wifi everywhere. That wasn’t really the case, even in Tokyo. You’ll get disconnected often, lots of paid only wifi spots, lots of signing in, bad signal. The best wifi will be at your lodging and that’s it. The places I saw wifi the most were train stations but it was spotty and it usually required a registration/sign in.

   Get mobile wifi.

10. I want to reiterate that free WiFi is not a given in rural Japan. It’s a lot less common and when you do find it, sometimes it doesn’t work very well. Having cell service in rural Japan is incredibly helpful and has allowed me to find all kinds of things that I would never have been able to find about otherwise.

    Also, I’m not sure a sleeping bag and tent is a great idea. For the areas you’re going to. In more rural northern Japan it wouldn’t be that big of a deal if you low key put up a tent in a hidden place in a forest park at night or something, but it’s frowned upon in the more populated areas. You also probably won’t need it. There are often small hotels everywhere. Just make sure you don’t get off at a really small stop with nothing within easy walking distance.

    I’ve always had luck with getting train tickets day of. The overnight buses need to be purchased in advance and sometimes the city to city ones do too. I personally dislike traveling by bus in Japan though.

    Suica cards can be used in most cities and at a lot of local train stations. The stations that don’t take them normally have machines that take yen.

    My biggest recommendation here is don’t underestimate Japan’s size and the time it takes to travel between destinations. People look at Japan next to China and they think it’s tiny, but it’s bigger than you think and absolutely covered in mountains. It can take a frustratingly long time to get places that seem relatively nearby. I live 65 miles away from Hirosaki. Where I’m from, that would probably be an hour to an hour and a half drive. Here, it’s a 2.5 hour drive per google maps, but realistically 3 hours. And the local train takes the same amount of time.

    Im someone who also likes to take backroads and explore a country in a slower way. But when you only have a couple of weeks here, you’re probably going to want to rely on the Shinkansen more. The local trains and busses take a really long time.

11. Look up the seishun 18 kippu. It’s a discount ticket. It contains 5 tickets, and each ticket lets you travel as much as you want for a day on local trains.

    It’s 12050 yen, so 2410 yen per day. You don’t have to use the ticket on consecutive days, but it is only sold and valid during certain time periods.

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13. Just want to reiterate what others have already said: wifi is hard to find even in big cities, and basically non-existent in rural Japan. I would highly recommend getting mobile wifi, even if you rarely use it. It can be invaluable in a pinch for translating, checking train and bus schedules, google maps, making hostel reservations, etc.

14. So, one point that I haven’t seen covered here so far is the level of freedom that the JR pass provides. It actually might suit your approach if you’re wanting to wing your itinerary. I’ve done this on one visit – our route was chosen based on our energy levels, weather, and cost of accommodation. We ended up traveling from Tokyo all the way to Kagoshima and back! We didn’t stop often along the way, as our big travel days doubled as rest periods. It’s certainly not the cheapest option though.

15. Seems you’re exactly the sort of person that the youthful 18 passes are aimed at. It’s a book of 5 tickets, each ticket gives you one day on unlimited local train use. No express trains, just local trains. You can do Tokyo to Osaka in around 10 hours on various local trains along the tokaido line for example.

    https://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/seishun18.html

    The book of 5 tickets costs jpy12050. Just note, if you board a train before midnight and disembark after midnight, you have to burn two tickets.

16. Japan’s a pretty safe and easy place to hitchhike. The only tricky part is getting to a service station near a main road to get going in the right direction if you want to cover a lot of ground.

    If you end up hitchhiking minimising packsize helps with getting picked up. I’d take a bivvy bag with a sleeping bag, so you can grab some sleep behind a wall or bush in more remote places.

    You don’t really have to plan everything and can just wing it, the only issue I find is bus times in more remote places can mean a only 3 a day, hostels do get fully booked and other accomodation can be extortionately expensive.

    Honestly it’s faster to hitchhike in remote Japan than wait for a bus. You get a real mix of people who will pick you up, from business men who want to practice their English to college students and retired people just being helpful.

17. Depending on when you are going, seishun 18 is a great value. Unlimited travel on local JR trains.

    [https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/pass/seishun18.html](https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/pass/seishun18.html)

18. Jorudan (like Hyperdia) has an option for the seishun 18 kippu. (青春18きっぷ). The English side of the website does not. [https://www.jorudan.co.jp/](https://www.jorudan.co.jp/)

    It’s doable but you’ll need to plan out your trip well so you don’t get stuck in places and have to pay for accommodation. As an example, on the seishun 18 kippu going from Tokyo to Osaka takes about nine hours, but on the shinkansen it’s less than three.

    If you’re a heavy sleeper night buses should be fine, but if you have trouble sleeping I wouldn’t recommend it. The bus stops every couple hours for bathroom breaks and to give the driver a rest and I find it hard to get back to sleep. Inflatable pillow, earplugs, and eye mask are inexpensive, lightweight travel accessories that can be invaluable.

    You probably don’t need the weight and bulk of a sleeping bag and tent. Capsule hotels or internet cafes can be found in most places. Watch your valuables in internet cafes, especially when you get up to use the bathroom/showers.

    Picking up wifi after you arrive in Tokyo could be cheaper than arranging it ahead of time.

19. You know what if your looking to save a lot of money, I would highly recommend a night bus. For like 40$ USD you could travel from Tokyo to Osaka overnight.

    I’ve somewhat backpack across Japan and all I can tell you is that I hope you are not feeling time constrained when you do it. If you never been to Japan before, everything is so close together that if you take a wrong turn, you could easily get lost. Heck you could get loss even if you walk 1km away from your airbnb. I didn’t use a GPS and relied on convenient stores free wifi to find my destinations.

    If you want to save money, I say skip the Tent as it is extra weight. Sleep nearby a store or something to save money on rent and consider showering at an onsen. Eat half priced meals at night at convenient stores only and enjoy. for 200 yen you could at least get 4 rice balls that should fuel you throughout the day. Oh ye there is a lot of critters at night so be careful, stay nearby a store.