Like pretty much all the other mammals cohabiting planet Earth, the cheapo is hardwired at an animal level to find a mate and get jiggy. In this article, we hope to assist fellow cheapos living in or visiting Tokyo with some tips and pointers for economically achieving success in this arena. Never in the history of humankind has there been such an abundance and density of humans living amongst one another. While Tokyo is vast and densely populated, the central areas provide the most opportunity and likelihood for meeting future loved ones.
Shimbashi, Akasaka and Yurakucho are the haunts of salarymen. A true cheapo, however, knows far more cost-effective ways of finding a potential mate. Perhaps the best opportunities come in the form of festivals or matsuri , of which there are an abundance in Tokyo, especially in the summer also the season of fireworks. Check out our events pages , or better yet sign up for our cheapo weekend newsletter and get the hottest Tokyo event listings delivered to your inbox each week. On weekends during hanami season, Yoyogi Park is a veritable zoo resembling some sort of deranged music festival in which all the performers, bands, organizers and security failed to turn up.
But most parks and locations of sakura cherry blossom trees are usually teeming with punters and festivity. Need we say more? Last but not least, house parties are always a great and cheap environment for making new friends. Due to the lack of space and the noise prohibitions, few households throw parties, but there are some exceptions. Tokyo is without doubt one of the safest cities on the planet at least in terms of crime; earthquakes, tsunami and Godzilla notwithstanding. And there are many tales of the police being uncooperative in helping tourists trying to file crime reports, etc.
One possible exception is host bars. The intrepid can take advantage of these deals, but a few rules of thumb: 1 Speak some Japanese or take a friend who does to make sure the deal is clear. Or perhaps you just fancy a change from the aforementioned pokey apartment. As a rule, the cheapest place is never the first one you come to. Another consideration with love hotels is that you often end up getting what you pay forβthe absolute cheapest option is often a poor value proposition, so paying slightly more than the minimum will get you considerably better value.
Some hotels offer point cardsβthough you might want to keep your card to yourself if you are taking multiple paramours to the same spot. Be warned: rumor has it that some karaoke booths have cameras installed. What karaoke booths do have going for them is that they have actual doors and ceilings, as opposed to manga cafe booths, which tend toward open-ceiling-ed cubicles with half doors that are easy to peer over or under.
