It’s exactly been a year since Japan re-opened its border for visa-free and independent travel — Even better, there are now no more restrictions or needs for vaccination certificates for most countries.
Last but certainly not least, the USD-JPY and EUR-JPY exchange rates are still very low, making it the perfect time to combine career change and exciting travel!
From visa rules to tips for accommodation, here is our ultimate 2024 Tokyo travel guide.
1.No visa needed for many countries
If you are from one of the 70 visa-free countries, including most of Europe and North America, you do not need to apply for a visa in advance. You can simply fly into Japan and be given a 90-day tourist visa upon arrival (there are few exceptions for countries like Thailand and Malaysia which are listed on the MOFA site).
If your country is not in the above list, you will still need to obtain a short-term tourist visa for 90 days. Le Wagon Tokyo will be able to assist you with a required invitation.
2. Longer visas for our part-time programs
Note that a 90-day tourist visa allows you to enroll into our full-time 9-week Web Development course or Data Science bootcamp. If you are planning to join our 24-week part-time courses, a couple of options could be available for you:
3. Plan ahead!
From Day 1 to Demo Day, our bootcamp lasts for exactly 61 days, and 68 days if you are also planning to join our Career Week, giving you 3 to 4 weeks to make the most of your trip outside of the bootcamp.
We usually recommend flying in a few days before start date to get used to the time difference — most of our students coming from abroad also plan a couple of weeks to visit the country afterwards. Check out some of our graduates’ trip advice!
Where is our campus?
Let’s start with the obvious: Tokyo is a huge city, and you will want to make sure that you pick a place not too far from our campus!
Our campus is conveniently located an 8-minute walk from Meguro station. From there, you can catch the most famous Tokyo train line, the Yamanote, which goes through famous tourist spots like Shibuya, Shinjuku or Ueno.
The go-to option for mid-term stays: Share Houses
The cheapest, most convenient, and basic go-to option for those who want to stay a couple of months while studying at our coding bootcamp is a Share House. It also happens to be a really good way to meet locals and fellow travelers, and you won’t be annoyed by paperwork.
Here is a list of the most popular Share Houses around Tokyo:
Sakura House, Oak House, Borderless House, TokyoCityApt, Create,
Other options
Craigslist also has a good selection of apartments for rent for short or mid-term stays.
You can also find more nomad-dedicated places, like Tokyo Chapter or Section L. They’ll organize events, introduce entrepreneurs, and overall connect you to the right people.
We’ve asked some of our recent graduates where they chose to stay, and they mentioned that Hmlet and Homestay could sometimes list interesting deals.
Lastly, Airbnb tends to be quite expensive, but you may be able to get a decent deal for a 2-month stay if you reach out to the owner.
Photo by Edward Ma on Unsplash
How to pick a neighborhood?
It’s difficult to pinpoint what the actual city center is, and it often refers to very posh neighborhoods dedicated to expat living. There is so much more Tokyo can offer in terms of local living, and up-and-coming areas such as Shimokitazawa (listed as one of the coolest neighborhoods in the world by Timeout) or Nakameguro can be perfect bases for a short stay, being close to our campus.
One last thing you need to know: rents are very “linear” in Tokyo, and mostly depend on the neighborhood, distance from the nearest station and building construction year. This means two things: you’ll always get what you pay for, and you have access to the full range of prices.
Budget: 80,000–100,000 JPY / month (550–700$)
Normal day
Now you have a place to stay. What do you eat? 800 JPY for lunch and 1,200 JPY for dinner will be the minimum you’ll spend. We also have a supermarket next to the campus where you can buy some decent lunch boxes for 500–600 JPY.
Budget: 2,000 JPY / day
Photo by Danis Lou on Unsplash
Party time
A lot of places offer all you can eat & drink for as low as 2,500¥, but if you’re the party type you’ll probably hop from one bar to another, and finish your night (or early morning) in one of the local clubs.
Budget: 5,000 JPY per party night
Sadly, we recently bid farewell to the beloved physical versions of Suica / PASMO transportation cards. Don’t worry though — it’s the 21st century, and you can now install the digital version directly on your mobile phone!
A train ride in Tokyo can cost anywhere between 1 and 3$ depending on where you’re staying, and there are very few discount options.
If you are not a fan of public transportation, consider getting your hands on a bicycle. Sites like Craigslist or Facebook groups list options for all budgets. Fun fact, since it’s costly to get rid of pieces of furniture, fridge, television, etc… a lot of foreigners leaving Tokyo will just give their bicycles away. Conveniently, our campus even has a free bicycle parking option!
Budget: 5,000 JPY (45$) for a bicycle, 300 to 600 JPY (2–5$) a day for commuting.
It’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to get a Japanese mobile number unless you are a resident of Japan. However, buying a data-only prepaid mobile SIM card is super easy. These SIM cards can be found at major international airports, electronics retailers like BicCamera, and ordered online from Japan’s Amazon.
There are many brands you can choose from, but we’ve heard many good reviews about Nippon Sim. It is known for its good prices and also offers one of the longest terms available, up to 180 days.
As you probably already know, the official currency in Japan is the Yen — And great news for international travelers, especially those coming from Europe and the US: it is at a 20-year low!
Some exchange rates at the time of writing:
1 Eur = 157 JPY
1 USD = 148 JPY
1 CAD = 109 JPY
1 AUD = 95 JPY
1 GBP = 181 JPY
Now more than ever, the reputation Tokyo has of being one of the most expensive cities to live in is not deserved. Let’s make a quick budget for our 2 months stay in Tokyo!
Accommodation: 80,000 to 100,000 JPY
Food & Drinks: 60,000 to 100,000 JPY per month
Party (optional!): 30,000 JPY per month
Transportation: 20,000 JPY per month
With a little bit of margin, that gives us a minimum monthly budget of around 200,000 JPY — That is just short of 1,400 USD / 1,300 EUR!
With over 70 different nationalities among our 800+ students, the Tokyo branch of Le Wagon may be the most international one worldwide. This creates a unique bootcamp experience, mixing different backgrounds, cultures and life aspirations!
See you soon in Tokyo!
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Ready to change your career and study at our Tokyo campus in 2024? Our next full-time Web Development and Data Science sessions will run as below:
Winter course: January 8th — March 8th 2024
Spring course: April 1st — May 31st 2024
Feel free to schedule a short call with our bootcamp manager and discuss your journey with us here. Looking forward to seeing you in Japan!
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