Last summer, three of The International’s writers interned with Tokyo Cheapo, an online newspaper aimed for tourists looking to find minimal cost experiences in the pricey city of Tokyo. Recently, the site has expanded from providing city to nationwide bargains and valuable travel insight.

Japan Cheapo was launched at the beginning of February this year as an extension to Tokyo Cheapo which was created in 2012 by Tokyo Cheapo founders, Greg Lane and Chris Kirkland. The site is mainly aimed towards English speaking tourists but also to foreigner residents of Japan, offering low cost ways to travel, enjoy cuisine, find entertainment and attend events. Although, Mr. Kirkland suggests that Japan Cheapo may prove to be more beneficial to tourists, as the population of foreign residents in Japan is limited.

The majority of Japan Cheapo’s articles are published by bilingual journalists researching and writing from Tokyo, but the site looks to increase its contribution of articles from sources all over Japan.  By having journalists living in various locations, Japan Cheapo can offer less mainstream local deals that are not mentioned by other travel journals. After more content is published, Japan Cheapo aims to improve its map feature to make their proposed destinations more accessible.

Japan Cheapo has so far published general information on travelling around Japan and included recommendations on what to expect and what to avoid during the travel process. The most developed section of the website, the ‘Events’ section of Japan Cheapo, allows tourists to participate in the action and celebrations going on in Japan.

In the future, the newly launched website expects to expand and improve its region guides to attract more viewers.