‹ Study abroad on a budget › Japan
Student eats · November 2026
Studying abroad in Tokyo
Every meal here costs ¥1,500 or less.
About $10 US. Typical prices, checked November 2, 2026.Tokyo is one of the best cities in the world to eat cheaply. A bowl of ramen, a gyudon set or a stand-up soba costs less than a sandwich at home, and the convenience stores are a cuisine of their own.
A day of eating for ¥2,100
- Breakfast, ¥500: Sukiya, the gyudon breakfast set: beef bowl, miso soup, egg
- Lunch, ¥800: Onigiri Bongo, two onigiri: salmon roe and the tuna mayo
- Dinner, ¥800: Katsuya, katsudon (pork cutlet on rice with egg)
Breakfast, lunch and dinner: ¥2,100, about $14.
Eat for ¥1,500 or less
1A photo like it
¥500Breakfast
Sukiya
Get: The gyudon breakfast set: beef bowl, miso soup, egg
Japan's biggest beef bowl chain. You order on a touch screen and it arrives in about a minute.
2A photo like it
¥800Lunch
Onigiri Bongo
Get: Two onigiri: salmon roe and the tuna mayo
Rice balls made to order since 1960, overstuffed with dozens of fillings. The line is worth it.
3A photo like it
¥1,200Lunch
Fuunji
Get: Tsukemen (dipping noodles), regular size
Thick noodles and a rich chicken-fish broth. Buy a ticket from the machine and join the line.
4A photo like it
¥800Dinner
Katsuya
Get: Katsudon (pork cutlet on rice with egg)
The tonkatsu chain students live on. Crisp, hot and fast.
5A photo like it
¥1,400Late
Ichiran
Get: Tonkotsu ramen in a solo booth, extra noodles
You fill in a form, sit in a booth, and the ramen comes through a little window. Made for 3am.
6A photo like it
¥200Snack
Taiyaki Wakaba
Get: One taiyaki (fish-shaped cake with red bean)
Since 1953, one of Tokyo's 'big three' taiyaki shops. Crisp edges, hot red bean, under ¥300.
The market
Every day, best mid-afternoon
Ameyoko
Between Ueno and Okachimachi stations
Get: Cheap fruit, dried fish, skewers and kebabs from the stalls under the train tracks
Tsukiji's outer market is wonderful but touristy. Ameyoko is where Tokyo buys cheap food and snacks.
The supermarket to find
7-Eleven, Lawson, FamilyMart (konbini) and supermarkets like Life or OK
- Onigiri for about ¥150 and a bento for ¥500
- FamilyMart's Famichiki fried chicken
- Supermarket bento after 7pm with 20 to 50% off stickers
Supermarkets mark down bento and sushi in the evening. Go after 7pm and look for the red and yellow stickers.
How students save in Tokyo
- Look for 'teishoku' (set meals) at lunch: rice, soup, a main and pickles for under ¥1,000.
- No tipping in Japan, ever. Water and tea are always free.
- University cafeterias (gakushoku) are open to visitors at many campuses and serve meals for a few hundred yen.
More for Tokyo
Studying somewhere else?
Run a study-abroad program in Tokyo?
Send this page to your students before they fly. Something wrong, or a place your students swear by? hello@chefamazing.com.
Prices are typical, checked November 2, 2026, and move; places with branches all over (chains) are named so you can use any of them. "A photo like it" is the same kind of food, not from that place. Chef Amazing is not paid by any place on this page.
Chef Amazing remembers every place you ate, keeps the lists friends send you, and helps you cook it at home.
Our founder's story · For chefs and food creators · Privacy · Terms