Cost of Traveling to Japan: Budgeting for Japan

Let’s be upfront from the start, the cost of traveling to Japan can be painfully high…certainly greater than many places I have traveled. Whereas, I can find a trip to Europe for $1200- $3000 (for 2, with roundtrip airfare and a hotel), the cost of traveling to Japan can run you double that amount. It is not just the airfare that gets you, when budgeting for Japan you have to consider other costs as well. Food is a bit more expensive, especially in Tokyo. Transportation costs are also something to be considered.

I will try to break down the exact cost of traveling to Japan. As always, I will preface this by saying that these prices are what we paid for our trip, your budget for Japan can be more or less. We flew from the East Coast (Charlotte), Going from California or Texas will most likely be cheaper, due to the flight costs.

Since we visited Tokyo and Kyoto that is how I will structure this post. Once again, your cost of traveling to Japan may differ. Skipping out on one city will save you some rail fees. Now that I have completed the trip, I wouldn’t skip either. Lastly, we went in June, which is the rainy (off) season, but also the most popular US flying season. Moral of the story is this is all just a loose estimate. Time of year, airline, hell even dumb luck can all change the cost of traveling to Japan.

Budgeting for Japan: The Big Costs Hotel and Flight

We traveled to Japan from June 6th to June 16th, about 9 days, after considering flight time. The airline we used was United Airlines on the way to Tokyo (unfortunately, United is just terrible). Really, I would rather fly on the back of Falkor from Never Ending Story after he pooed himself than United…

As for the cost, for the flight and five nights of our Tokyo hotel The Citadines Shinjuku Tokyo, it was $4,320. This does not include our hotel in Kyoto, I will get to that in a second. The Citadines Shinjuku Tokyo was another apartment style hotel, although not as nice as others; it suited our location needs, and the room was a good size, but that was about all…The cost of the room was about $100/night…so we can say for two airfares was it $3800, room costs was about $500.

Wait there is more!!! We still had to pay for the other four nights in Kyoto. For this hotel we chose the Villa Sanjo Muromachi Kyoto, this hotel was much more than a utility hotel. It is a beautiful boutique establishment with great rooms and amazing service. Here we paid around $880 for four nights, more than double our Tokyo hotel, but well worth it. So putting this all together the total costs, for ONLY the hotels and flights: around $5200 for two (give or take). We haven’t even gone between Tokyo or Kyoto yet or eaten! I will say, we use Vacations Inspirations ( I will write more about them) and we are expecting a check of $900 back. Most likely you don’t have them, so it is a moot point.

Cost of Traveling to Japan Flight & Hotels: $5200

Ways to do it Cheaper

If you are not using Vacation Inspirations there are still plenty of ways to cut down these costs. Research is key, I think I did a good job, but there may be better deals out there…especially in the off-season. As mentioned, we went in June, I am looking at it right now and see the trip for closer to $3500, that is a savings of $1700. The season you travel in impacts the price greatly. If you are open to it, schedule your trip according to the best time of year – off season.

Lastly, you can find plenty of good hotels for around $100 a night, that would have saved us about half from our Kyoto hotel.

Cost of travelling to Japan by going off season: $3500 $1700 in savings.

Now might be a good time use some of those reward points also. Get a few free nights and you are all set.

Cost of Traveling to Japan: Transportation

I found nothing to be simple in Japan, so why would it be easy to get around? Yes Japan is efficient, but not simple. Traveling anywhere seems to be more expensive than necessary, but there are ways to cut down on these costs.

Trains

Yes, Japan has some of the nicest trains in the world, there is no denying that. But when budgeting for Japan, you will find that the cost of a train ticket can be daunting. For this demonstration, I will imagine you are splitting your time between Tokyo and Kyoto. So you will need to take a couple of these high speed efficient trains.

To begin, the basic train from the Narita Airport to Tokyo (Shinjuku) is about 3020 Yen, or close to $30. We realized that after flying United for 17 hours we wanted as much comfort as possible, so we bought first-class (green car) tickets, which are about 4200 Yen or a little over $40 a person.

Here is where it gets tricky, you can get the JR rail pass, which cost 29000 yen ($275)/ per person. The pass allows you to gallivant all over Japan using the rail pass (as long as you choose the correct train). Add on loosely $100/per person if you want to travel in the green cars (first-class).

The rub is, the pass is only good for 7 days, so if you are spending 9 days in Japan, like us, you have to choose to pay for either the trip to or from the Narita airport. The total for the rail pass is about $305/per person. If you splurge on the first-class ticket (which we did, since I have all this sweet, sweet maninflight.com cash) it is about $420/person. As I mentioned, when budgeting for Japan, rail costs are a big part of the equation.

*One Pro Tip: Buy your rail pass prior to getting to Japan from a reputable on-line shop. You will receive a piece of paper in the mail that you need to bring to the JR office. The document can be mailed directly to your hotel (confirm this with the front desk).

Total Rail cost: $610 (more if you go first-class).

Taxi Costs

What city would be complete without a taxi driver screwing you? Taking a taxi is a necessary cost of traveling to Japan. This is especially true in Tokyo, which is far more spread out than Kyoto. We spent money on taxis in Kyoto also, but we were able to walk to more places.

Even after walking around 30K steps a day, we still spent on average around $40/day on taxi’s. Some days more, some days less, to be safe, budget about $40/day. Now if you want to be a rock star learn the train and subway schedule in Tokyo. Most of the time we used a cab out of convenience.

Cost of travelling to Japan Taxi Cost: Give or take $360 (9 days x $40).

There you have it, that to me was our total budget for Japan on travel….I could factor in the cost of bandaids I needed due to the gapping blisters on my feet but let’s keep them out….

Cost of travelling to Japan, total transportation: $970…let’s just say $1000!

Ways to Save on Transportation

I already mentioned it, but it bears repeating that you can save a lot on taxi costs by taking the rail and subways. You could cut this expense in half or more. It seems daunting, but if you are budgeting for Japan a little work can save you a lot.

An additional idea is, if you must, take out one of the cities (Kyoto or Tokyo). I really loved both of them, but if it comes between that and not going to Japan at all, save the $600 that you would have spent on the rail pass.

Cost of transportation (done cheaply): Rough estimate around $200 for taxis and $60 to and from the airport. Savings: $800

Budgeting for Japan: Food

Don’t be me, I always overspend on food. The cost of food in Japan is more expensive than most of the world, although I still found it cheaper than in the United States. This is because there is no tipping and the drinks are generally less expensive.

Let’s break down the meals, I don’t eat breakfast normally, I also didn’t see a huge breakfast scene in Japan. Let’s say you grab a late lunch. For us that could have been $100 worth of sushi, $60 worth of ramen (with drinks) or a couple of skewers in a market for $20, it changed depending on our mood.

Let me assume you are a three meal a day kind of person, with some snacking. I would budget for two people around $75/day for lunch and dinner (each), maybe $25 for breakfast. This isn’t my advice for the backpacker, rather the person who gets away while living a normal life. You probably will spend less on breakfast, especially if you just hit a bakery. Of course it is more if you’re like me and drink Sake with eggs.

So, off the bat we are at around $175/day, but there is also drinking to be done! Drinks costs can vary a lot also; you can grab a $2 beer or spend $20 on a cocktail at the bar in Peninsula Hotel. I am a big fan of living it up when traveling, not saying every drink should be $20, but splurge, you’re not in Tokyo every day. Let’s add $100/day in random drinking throughout your time in Tokyo.

You will also want to hit one or two really nice dinners, Tokyo does have a ridiculous amount of Michelin star establishments. It is not unheard of to spend $250 for Sushi or $400 for Kobe beef. It is not a daily expense, but needs to be factored into your budget.

Lastly, snacking, whether it is in alleys of Memory Lane or a run to 7-Eleven. Tokyo at night has a lot to offer, all those different species up for grabs can be tempting. I would add another $50/day for various snacks.

The total is ($175 (meals) + $100 (drinks) + $50 (snacks)) * 9 + $400 (one or two expensive meals). That comes out to a whopping $3325 to add to your budget. I know this is a very aggressive spend. I always like to be a bit more conservative. There are certainly 1000 different ways to save on food. Do keep in mind when budgeting for Japan, food costs can be sneaky, make multiple stops and you will hit this mark.

Cost of travelling to Japan: Food/Alcohol $3325 for 9 days

Ways to Save on Food

First make better food choices than me. I do a lot of talk on how much I spend on food, but I save and budget for a while. In addition, although we ate well, it probably was a little less than the above. Still, eating good is important to me, it is a major reason why I travel. So I splurge when I must.

You can save considerably if you eat primarily at cheaper places. It may sound terrible but 7-Eleven is actually awesome in Japan (and cheap) . Markets are another place to find a cheap meal, stick to the carts and you will be OK. You can drop that food budget by at least $1500-$2000.

Cost of traveling to Japan: Total Savings on food: $1500, savings $1700

Cost of Traveling to Japan: Things to Do

Finally, a part of the budget that won’t break the bank. So many things to do in Tokyo and Kyoto are free that this cost should not be a burden. Unless you are going to Tokyo Disney, you can be entertained quite cheaply. The Samurai Museum was a bit pricey, but that was about it. Places like the Bamboo forest, Imperial Palace (outside) Niijo Castle (in Kyoto) are either free or less than $20/person.

To be safe I would budget $50 per day for things to do. Even that might be high, but better safe than sorry. You can go to a ton of places for free or relatively cheap.

I won’t add a savings portion to this, just avoid Universal Studios and Disney you should be fine.

Cost of Traveling to Japan: Things to Do -$450

Putting it All Together

So what is the final cost of budgeting for Japan? Time to whip out my Excel tables. I am putting two together, one pricey version, one with all the cheaper options. I am doing this because I don’t want the cost of traveling to Japan to prevent you from seeing this amazing country.

More Expensive Path	Cost
Hotel/Flight	$5200
Food	$3325
Transportation	$1000
Activities	$450
TOTAL	$9975

Inexpensive Path	Cost
Hotel/Flight	$3500
Food	$1500
Transportation	$250
Activities	$450
TOTAL	$5700

There you have it, two different paths for your trip. Believe me you can easily spend more than both of the above combined. Stay in Ginza and you can watch your money flee your pockets…

You can try one way or the other or a combination of both. Maybe you love to eat, so $300 steak dinner is worth it to you. Everything is piecemeal, just look at each individual cost and try to save where you are comfortable.

Conclusion: Budgeting for Japan

I know some people are going to say I am nuts recommending $10K for the high when budgeting for Japan. I accept every ones spending habits are a bit different, I am giving this to you from my perspective. If you add up all your costs, you will see it isn’t impossible. Yes, you really could get lucky/be smart and only spend about $5700 (with the tips above), but that is as low as I can see it. There is no reason to not fully enjoy your trip to Japan. My advice look for deals and start saving if Japan is on your radar…cherry blossoms could be right around the corner…