Money and Nightlife:Japan Style

As a 20 year college student, I can say I definitely enjoy the night out on the town. I am a virgin to a night out on the town Japanese style however and am oh so excited to experience it! First off, the legal drinking age in Japan is 20, which the Japanese call ひたち, the year old adulthood, so i am coming to the right country at the right time.

Tokyo, with its over 30 million inhabitants, is the largest populated city in the world. In the four months I will be there, I anticipate wild and exciting nights out and unfortunately, much money spent. In addition to having the highest population, it is also the most expensive city in the world. 1 U.S dollar is equal to 83.69 Yen. So a getting a cocktail at a bar is 600+Yen ($7.25) and going to a late night cinema costs about 1,800 Yen ($21.00, and thats before the popcorn and soda). On the bright side, tipping in Japan is considered very rude and waiters, taxi drivers and bus boys are not tipped as they are in the States.

Karaoke is one of the most common forms of nightlife fun in Japan. The word Karaoke is actually a Japanese word ( カラオケ) that means empty orchestra. The activity first became popular in the 1970s and later spread to other countries and is now also popular in the U.S. Students who have studied at TUJ in the past have informed me that karaoke is a popular trend among young groups of friends.

Roppongi (六本木) and Shibuya (渋谷区) are two districts in Japan that are famous of having many bars and clubs and an alive nighttime. Roppongi is known for having a lot of foreigners in it, which can be a bad thing it can get more expensive and locals can try to take advantage of the naive. If I check out these two areas, I'd prefer to do it with a Japanese friend, or someone who is familiar with the area.

Another negative: the subway closes between 12 and 5 am, so a night out either had to end very early, last very late or end with a very expensive subway ride.

I'm happy I spent my 2010 working 3 different part time jobs, saving money for Tokyo. I want to be able to enjoy myself and not hold back because money as an issue. At the same time, I am pretty frugal and the topic of money causes me a lot of stress. I was pleased to learn that TUJ holds a lot of trips and activities out and about the city for student, so I will most definitely take advantage of those!

I'm sure a few special occasions will call for a splurge though. After all, I will be celebrating my 21st birthday in Tokyo!

マリㇱサ