Grace is a Texan girl, married to a Japanese salaryman, living in Tokyo. She is a master of everything cheap and spends her time cooking, biking all across Tokyo to save on train tickets, and going to midnight grocery sales to buy newly-expired food for a fraction of the cost.
As a freelance writer, comic book artist, and occasional tv personality on Japanese tv, she has plenty of time to explore Tokyo.
Anyone can tell you Japan is expensive. In an earlier post, we showed you how to skip some of the expensive realtor fees when renting an apartment in Japan. However, the realtor fee isn’t necessarily the most expensive thing about owning an …
Travelling is fun, but it is expensive. Tokyo is no exception. Hailed as 2013’s Most Expensive City to live in, Tokyo is both a dream and nightmare for budget travelers. It is a dream because Tokyo is, in my opinion, one of the friendliest, …
Tokyo is characteristically small. Apartments are not known for being spacious with ample storage space, to say the least. Most likely, if you are living in Tokyo for any extended period of time, you will have to “purge” your apartment of all …
The cheapest clothes in Tokyo tend to come from second-hand shops, but used clothing isn’t for everyone. I’ve met plenty of perfectly awesome and sincere Cheapos who never buy used clothing. Used clothing may have “soul,” but they also have …
100 Seria is a 100 yen shop that seems to be the epitome of every DIY enthusiast or Japanese school girl’s dreams: a chic 100 yen shop with a wide variety of cheap, fun French-themed interior design materials. With over 1000 shops, Seria is well …
One of the most common questions I hear in Japan is “What’s your hobby?” I don’t have a hobby. I’m an undergraduate student working any number of part-time jobs; any time that I do have left-over is usually wasted on the internet. However, I’ve …
Uniqlo is my go-to store for affordable, chic clothes, mostly because it's one of the only clothing stores in Tokyo I can actually afford to shop at. Uniqlo is a Japanese chain store that focuses on casual wear. They officially debuted under the …
Japanese food is delicious, don’t get me wrong, but as an American living in Tokyo, I occasionally get these cravings for the food of my motherland, Tex-Mex (I’m from Texas), imported wine, corn chips, nutella, and caramel popcorn. That’s when I …
One of the first things you’ll notice living in Tokyo is the fact that most Japanese women are impeccably dressed, from head to toe. However, while clothes, shoes, and even nails are easy enough to change, hair is a bit more difficult. …
The mascot of Inokashira Park Zoo is a squirrel, so to be completely honest, you shouldn't really be expecting much in terms of animal variety. However, at 400yen for a passport-less adult (with a passport, foreigners get a 20% discount), the …
The most difficult part of living in Japan is the fact that everyone looks so presentable, all the time. And by presentable, I mean absolutely immaculate, with flawless make-up, and chic or edgy fashion. However, the problem with chic or …
Anyone in Tokyo can tell you transportation is expensive. The trains follow their schedule to the minute, are nicely climate controlled, run smoothly, and are almost always quicker than travelling by car. Unfortunately , these comforts come with …
In the simplest terms, Musashino Place is a library. In reality, though, it is so much more. Musashino Place is a gem of a building located across from the Musashi Sakai station of the Chuo Line. I call it a gem of a building because it has been …
Ichiran (一蘭) is a famous ramen chain restaurant that has several qualities that are quite unlike a typical chain restaurant. Their unique selling point is the fact that they only sell one type of ramen, priced at 790yen, but then allow you to …
