Food
When someone thinks about visiting Japan the first food item they think of is sushi. While sushi is a traditional Japanese food, it is expensive. This is why most Japanese do not eat a great deal of sushi. If sushi is what you really want to look for, the less expensive sushi bars mostly are located in major department stores or supermarkets.
Noodles are one of the cheapest ways to eat in Japan and this is what a majority of the Japanese eat. There are many variations of noodles with meat, flavored noodles, instant noodles, and seafood noodles. There are also many noodle restaurants located around any given town or city you may decide to stay in. If you are going to cook the noodles yourself, they have what we call the ramen noodles.
Rice balls or what the Japanese call onigiri are reasonable but are not very filling. There is usually not enough to make a meal but they are good for a snack.
For a real bargain try the cold box lunch or the hot box lunch. This is what the Japanese call an obento. The cold box lunches can be found in any small store or shop called conbini's and can be heated if you choose. The hot box lunches are usually found at a place similar to a road side stand. This usually consists of a main dish and rice.
Another thing to remember is the sabisu or sabisu teishoka which is the daily special and is found in most coffee shops or cafes between 11:00a.m. and 2:00p.m..
Now that we have talked about some foods that are affordable, here are some types of eating establishments that are affordable as well. A tachigui is a place where you stand and eat. These are located in any major city and at train stations. Most of these establishments only sell noodles. Another place that sells noodles is the udon-ya or soba-ya that specialize in noodles and buck wheat noodles.
There are also the shokudos which are Japanese style cafeterias. Then, there are the meal ticket cafeterias where you purchase a meal ticket from a vending machine and give it to the clerk.
Then of course Japan has most of the fast food restaurants that we have here in the United States for those that do not want to try the Japanese style. The one thing to remember when in Japan and wanting to eat cheap is to follow the locals. They live there on a daily basis and know what is costly and what is not. If you can speak Japanese or have a friend that can ask around; most of the locals will guide you to just the right spot for what you are looking for at just the right place. Also eating out of the wax paper that Japanese restaurants are famous for rather than a fancy sit down restaurant with glass plates also saves money.