Japan on a budget: How much does a trip to Japan cost? What can you expect to pay for activities, transportation and accommodations in Japan? Knowing how much a trip to Japan cost is always useful, right? To help you answer these questions, we made a complete cost breakdown of the expenses based on our 3 weeks in Japan itinerary.
Read also: Japan in 3 weeks: travel route, guide + tips
How to travel to Japan on a budget: good to know
We made a complete overview of all the costs & expenses during our 3 weeks in Japan itinerary and divided it into 5 categories: accommodations, transport, food & drinks, excursions & others like visas, laundry costs, and personal purchases.
We tell for every category what we spent in total + what the average daily costs are. So whether you go to Japan for 2 weeks, 3 weeks, or 1 month, this article will give you a good indication of how much a trip to japan costs.
Japan on a budget: what is not included?
Our purchases such as flights, travel insurance, and backpacks are not included in the budget, as these costs are different for everyone and we had already bought this in advance.
- International flights – We booked a one-way ticket from Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo with Singapore Airlines for $198 per person and a one-way ticket from Osaka to Manila (Philippines) with Cebu Pacific for $120 per person.
- Travel insurance – World Nomads
- Purchase of our big backpacks (Valerie: Osprey Aura AG 65L and Mik: Deuter Aircontact 75L) and our camera bags (Thule EnRoute Backpack 25L and Thule Covert DSLR Rolltop Backpack)
Read also: Best websites to find the cheapest flights
Accommodations in Japan – 19 days – $800
(total for 2 persons)
During our 3 weeks in Japan itinerary, we spent most of our total travel budget on accommodations in Japan. Nevertheless, we didn’t choose to stay in private rooms but in hostels to save money and travel to Japan on a budget. The hostels in Japan are also way different and more luxurious than somewhere else. They all had very comfortable and clean dorm-rooms, looked super nice with a trendy atmosphere, and were excellent rated.
Bear in mind that prices of hotels with private rooms can be very expensive in Japan, especially when you go during peak months like the cherry blossom season.
Money-saving tip: use this link to save up to $45 on your first booking on Airbnb
- 18 nights in hostels – average $21/night per person
Read also: Best hotels & hostels in Japan
Transportation in Japan – 19 days – $524
(total for 2 persons)
Transportation in Japan is quite expensive but very easy to get to everywhere. As we wanted to travel to Japan on a budget we didn’t buy a JR Pass and travel with highway buses and normal trains. At the end of our 3 weeks in Japan itinerary, we found out that we saved almost $400 on transport.
Read also: Japan in 3 weeks: travel route, guide + tips
- Bus from Tokyo Haneda Airport to Tokyo center – JPY 1800 ($16) per person
- Metro tickets – We used a prepaid Pasmo card (or Suica Card) for all our subway/metro rides and a discounted one-day Metro Pass in Tokyo – JPY 8100 ($75) per person
- Bus from Tokyo To Kawaguchiko/Mount Fuji (we booked the Highland Highway Bus with Willer Express) – JPY 2000 ($18,5) per person
- Train from Kawaguchiko station to visit the Chureito Pagoda – JPY 1040 ($9,8) per person
- Bike rental in Kawaguchiko (we rented 2 bikes at the bike shop in front of the train station) – JPY 1000 ($9,7) per person
- Bus from Kawaguchiko to Takayama (we booked the Nohi Bus and was the literally best one we had on our entire Japan trip) – JPY 5000 ($46) per person
- Bike rental in Takayama (we booked our bikes where we stayed: Cup of Tea Hostel) – JPY 500 ($4,7) per person
- Bus from Takayama to Kyoto (we booked the Kintetsu Highway Express Bus) – JPY 4500 ($42) per person
- Bike rental in Kyoto (we rented our bikes at Kon’s Cycle, highly recommended!) – JPY 1500 ($14) per bike/day
- A ride on the Scenic Romantic train from Sagano (bamboo forest) – JPY 630 ($6) per person
- Train from Kyoto to Nara (we took the Kintetsu Express line) – JPY 520 ($4,7) + needed to pay an extra fee the moment we exit the station JPY 570 ($5,8) per person (we were not aware we took the Express line, so make sure you take the normal train if you don’t want to pay extra)
- From Nara to Osaka with the train- JPY 520 ($4,7) per person
- Train from Osaka City to Osaka International Airport KIX (we took the Namba Line) – JPY 930 ($8,6) per person
Read also: How to get around Tokyo: our best tips for transport
Food & drinks in Japan – 19 days – $515
(total for 2 persons)
Eating out in Japan can break the bank as it is quite expensive. We went out for lunch and diner a few times but most of the time we bought food in the supermarkets and prepared our own meals in the kitchen of our hostels. (advantage of sleeping in a hostel!). So, If you are wondering how much a trip to Japan cost, we listed some of the prices we paid for food in the restaurants and supermarkets to give a better idea of the actual costs.
- Eating out – $61 per person
- Vegan burger at Ain Soph. Ripple in Tokyo – JPY 1100 ($10,2)
- Falafel Sandwich at Falafel Brothers in Tokyo – JPY 500 ($4,8)
- Vegan Ramen 3 courses menu in Takayama – JPY 3400 ($32)
- Pizza at Morpho Cafe in Kyoto- JPY 950 ($8,8)
- Falafel Sandwich at Falafel Garden in Kyoto
- Food and snacks we bought in the supermarkets – an average of $20 per day
- Avocado’s – JPY 98 ($0,9)/piece
- A package of “Ready to Cook” vegetables – JPY 230 ($2,1)
- A mixed salad bowl – JPY 210 ($2)
- Bread – JPY 220 ($2,1)
- Pack of oats – JPY 200 ($2)
- Water – We never pay for drinking water as we travel with our LifeStraw Go Water Bottle which allows us to have safe drinking water everywhere we go + water in Japan is perfectly safe to drink
Read also: Japan in 3 weeks: travel route, guide + tips
Excursions & activities in Japan – 19 days – $ 188
(total for two persons)
What we spent on excursions and activities was the smallest part of our total budget for Japan. Many highlights and things to do in Japan are simply free like visiting Arashiyama Bamboo Forest or seeing Mount Fuji from the beautiful Chureito Pagoda. The only costs we had were entrance fees for famous temples/heritage sites or rooftop view decks in Tokyo. Below some examples of the prices of activities we did or recommend to travel to Japan on a budget.
-
- View the Shibuya Crossing from above from the MAGNET by Shibuya 109 Viewdeck – JPY 600 ($5,5) per person
- Entrance fee to visit the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden – JPY 500 ($4,2) per person
- Visit the Senso-Ji Temple – free
- View Tokyo city center from above at Tokyo Skytree – JPY 1900 ($18) per person
- See Mount Fuji from the Chureito Pagoda in Kawaguchiko – free
- Walk around Oishi Park at Mount Fuji – free
- Walk along the Maple Corridor in Kawaguchiko – free
- Visit the Hida Folk Village in Takayama – JPY 700 ($6,5) per person
- Wander through the iconic Arashiyama Bamboo Forest – free
- Wander around the famous Torii gates at Fushimi-Inari Shrine – free
- Visit the Kyoto Imperial Palace – free
- Stroll around the Kennin-Ji Temple, the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto – JPY 500 ($4,2) per person
- explore the UNESCO world heritage site of Nijo Castle – JPY 1080 ($10) per person or gardens only JPY 600 ($5,5) per person
- See the deer in Nara Park – free
- Admire the Todaiji Temple in Nara Park – JPY 600 ($5,5) per person
- Visit Osaka Castle – JPY 600 ($5,5) per person, the gardens are JPY 200 ($1,7) admission fee
- Watch monks at the Shittenoji Temple – JPY 300 ($2,7) per person
- Watch Osaka city center from the top of the Umeda Sky Building – JPY 1500 ($14) per person
- Go Mario Karting in Osaka – around JPY 4300 ($40) per person
Read also: Tokyo in 5 days: the ultimate travel guide + tips
Other expenses in Japan – 19 days – $282
(total for two persons)
Besides everything we have already mentioned, we, of course, had some other expenses during our 3 weeks in Japan itinerary. For example, we did the laundry a few times in our hostels, bought some new gadgets, clothes and went to the pharmacy.
- Visas – Our visa-on-arrival was free for 90 days
Check here visa costs for your own country
-
- Laundry – JPY 300-500 ($3-5) per load
- New polar pro filter for our DJI Mavic Air drone – JPY 7500 ($70)
- Pharmacy – JPY 750 ($7)
- Some new sweaters and pants to beat the colder days – JPY 11900 ($110)
- We didn’t buy a sim card or data bundle in Japan as we had free WiFi in all our hostels and public places like the subway stations. Even the highway bus we took to go from Tokyo to Mount Fuji (for example) got free WiFi.
Total expenses for 3 weeks in Japan itinerary – 19 days – $2310
(total for two persons)
During our 3 weeks in Japan itinerary, we have spent $2310 in total for both of us, which is an average daily budget of around $60 per person. Most of our travel budget went to accommodations in Japan but saved quite a lot of money to take hostels instead of hotels. We saved also money and traveled to Japan on a budget by using highway buses instead of the high-speed bullet trains and visited many sights that were free.
Now you know how much a trip to Japan cost and hopefully, you can use all this information yourself when planning your own trip to Japan. If any information is missing, please let us know in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you!
Plan your 3 weeks in Japan itinerary with our travel resources
As you know, we love to share all our best tips and favorite places with all of you. That’s why created all these online travel guides, which are completely free. If you found this post (or anything we do) useful, we’d be grateful if you buy something through one of our affiliate links in this article. We’ll get a small commission at no extra cost to you, which helps us keep our travel blog alive.
Thank you so much for your support! x Valerie & Mik
- Skyscanner – to book the best and cheapest flights
- Airbnb – to stay at incredible homes & apartments
- Booking.com – to book your accommodation
- Lonely Planet – to purchase a detailed travel guide
- TourRadar – to join one of the amazing group tours
- TripAdvisor – to read the best reviews and find amazing tours
- HostelWorld – to book the most amazing hostels
- GetYourGuide – to book awesome tours and activities
DO YOU LIKE THIS POST? PIN AND SHARE IT.
