City brief Tokyo Tokyo can be cheap if you let it. Convenience-store breakfast is not a compromise — hotel breakfast is. Loading the printable brief… VacationMath orientation — not live rates When to go Late January through early March (before peak blossom weekends), and June if you accept rain for rooms. Top money-saving tips Convenience-store onigiri and coffee for breakfast. Hotel buffets are the expensive path.A JR Pass is usually a bad buy on a 5-night city trip. IC card + Metro is the plan.APA / Super Hotel / Toyoko Inn next to a station on Lean. Capsule only if you packed a cube.Conveyor sushi and ramen are Solid lunches. Book one sushi counter if leftover is real — before you land.Skip Golden Week and peak blossom weekends unless that is the trip. Late January is the value window.Yanaka or Shimokitazawa mornings are free. teamLab or a tower is one ticketed indoor.Kyoto is a different trip. Do not fake it as a Tokyo day.The room or the counter, rarely both. Park Hyatt views still end with a Metro ride to dinner. Build a hard-budget plan