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Japan used to have a reputation as a costly place to visit. As I write this, the exchange rate has changed that opinion – but how much will you actually spend? Here’s a rough guide…
Admittedly, the answer to this is a little bit ‘how long is a piece of string’ as it depends on what you’re doing on your trip, the type of hotels you like to stay in, how fancy the restaurants you like to frequent are and whether you’re travelling solo, or as a family.

Article by Helen Foster. Disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links. See our Affiliate Disclosure.
Because I go to Japan regularly, I do a lot, but I don’t really splash out on things – so my budget is probably on the cheaper end of the scale than if this is your once-in-a-lifetime trip. I do spend more on my trips if Mr Japlanease comes with me as we need a larger hotel room and do more in the evenings, but to give you an idea of roughly how much things cost, here are some average costs and a breakdown of what I spent on my last trip.
Hotels
You’ll find every price range of hotels in Japan – from capsule styles, hostels and small hotels that might cost only AU$50 (US$60) a night to Japan’s most expensive hotel, reportedly the Amanemu in Shima Prefecture, which starts at AU$1900 (US$1200) a night.

I usually stay in business hotels and aim to average at around AU$100 (US$65) a night when I visit by balancing out cheaper rooms with pricier ones.
If you need to stay in hotels with slightly larger rooms, you’ll probably looking at 2-3 times that. If you want 5-star Western-style hotels, or apartments for a family you’re looking around 4-5 times that. If you want to stay in a beautiful ryokan with a view of Mount Fuji, private onsen and multicourse kaiseki meals, you’re looking at around 5-10 times that for a night.
I also did not stay in Central Tokyo on this trip, but when I do, I stay in Daimon, a slightly less touristy area – if you stay in the main tourist hubs of Shinjuku, Shibuya or Asakusa, you’ll also end up paying more for your room.
My Spending
My average cost of hotels over my 22-day trip was 223,000 yen – around 10000 yen (or AU$100, US$65 a night), right on budget.
As I said, that’s probably too low for the average family who needs more space, and very low for anyone who likes luxury but it wouldn’t be an unrealistic average per night to aim for if you travel solo or as a couple and don’t mind smaller rooms in business hotels and no-frillsJapanese hotels.
My most expensive hotel was the BNA Alter Museum in Kyoto (above) – which cost me AU$330 (US$205) for one night. I booked this early, and I think I could have got cheaper nearer the time. But the whole point of this hotel is that different artists design each room and they all look unique – so I didn’t want to cancel then rebook as I really wanted this particular room.

My cheapest room was on the island of Miyajima, near Hiroshima (above). I stayed at Sakuraya, which was a fantastic 6500 yen a night (AU$65 or US$40). The room (no 503) was Japanese-style with its own toilet, but the shower and onsen bath were communal. I even had a sea view when I peeked out of the window.
It looks very spartan, but I had an excellent night’s sleep. Again, I booked that very early to get in before the rooms sold out.
How Early Should You Book Rooms?
Japanese hotels are quite interesting as many independent hotels don’t even open bookings until six months before the date you want to travel, and some don’t even start until three months before.
As I mentioned, I usually stay in business hotels, as they are clean, cheap, safe and often located by stations.
I particularly like the Sotetsu chain. I start looking at their locations about nine months before and book anything I like the price of. I then go back at six and three months to see if anything new has opened up or if prices have changed at the hotels I have picked because their competitors have opened up their booking now.
I also usually look once more about two weeks before I leave, just in case, but in eight visits the only hotel that has ever got cheaper at that point was the Grand Nikko Hotel in Tokyo Bay by Disney. Usually, I’ve found Japanese hotels are more expensive the closer to your departure date you look.
Traveling Across Japan
Traveling long distances in Japan can be another considerable expense. Bullet train trips are not cheap. People are often surprised to discover that the trip between Tokyo and Osaka/Kyoto costs around 14,000 yen (AU$140, US$94) one way, and your little day trip from Osaka to Hiroshima will add around 20,000 yen (AU$200, US$130) to your spending.

One way you used to be able to easily save money was to buy the Japan Rail Pass, but after a price increase, this is now very unlikely to pay for itself on a simple itinerary. As someone in one of the online Japan groups regularly says, ‘if the Japan Rail Pass pays off, you’re doing too much on your trip’. It is 100 per cent not going to pay off if you’re just going from Tokyo to Osaka/Kyoto and back, don’t waste time or money on it.
Some regional rail passes can save you money, but finding the best one takes some time. I think I spent two long afternoons working out the options for my trip – but I saved a fair bit by doing so.
My Spending
I spent 49,000 yen (AU$490 or US$305) on bullet train trips.
Admittedly, I covered a lot of ground on this trip. I went to Kyoto, Osaka, Takamatsu and Shikoku, Kurashiki, Hiroshima and Miyajima, and Tottori (and I was supposed also to visit Kinosaki Onsen and Ine, but the weather stopped that). I ended my trip at Tokyo Disney. These journeys were mostly done by bullet train.
To do all of that over 22 days, I bought two rail passes. The Kansai Wide Area Pass for 12,000 yen, and the Sanyo Sanin Pass for 23,000 yen.

The Kansai Passes are one of the passes that regularly do pay off, and if you’re exploring a lot around Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Hiroshima, Naoshima and Okayama, they can really save you some cash – that day trip to Hiroshima I mentioned above is cheaper with one of the Kansai Passes.
I admit, though, that working out which one is best can give you a headache. I’ve tried to make it simple in our guide to Kansai Passes so read that to learn which ones might work for you.
I’d also suggest investing a whole $5 in my Bullet Train printable planner to help you keep all the numbers straight when comparing passes.
My initial trip from Tokyo to Osaka was by plane, and as I booked it as a connecting flight to my international flight, it only cost about AU$10, which is far cheaper than the bullet train. If you haven’t already booked your flight and are going to Osaka, Kyoto, or further afield, see if you can add an internal flight to your itinerary, as it can offer a big saving.
I just bought a single ticket to take the bullet train back to Tokyo from Kyoto, which cost me around 14,000 yen.
Day-to-Day Travel
Trains, buses, metros, ferries, trams, taxis – there are a lot of ways to get around cities in Japan aside from walking.
Prices vary, but if you allow around 250 yen per short journey on the metro, local bus or local train, and then add about 20 per cent to cover the odd longer journey, you’ll have a rough idea of how much you’ll likely spend. If you’re taking ferries, you’ll need to allow extra for those too.
Taxis aren’t the cheapest, but if you have luggage and are travelling in rush hour, the convenience can be worth the extra cost. A flat-rate taxi from Haneda Airport to Shinjuku, a journey of 23km, will cost around 8300 yen (AU$83, US$54).
My Spending
I spent around 35,000 yen (AU$350 or US$220) in 22 days on local transport. This did not include any journey I took on the rail passes but did include metro, trains, buses, ferries, getting to and from the airport and a very big taxi fare!
According to the Suica card on my phone, 12,000 yen of this was spent on local trains, buses, metros and trams.
You might spend less as on this trip I was getting buses for journeys I would previously have walked as my leg was in pain, so you could spend a lot less than that if you walked between sights.

To get to and from the airports, I used the Airport Limousine Bus. It cost me just under 2000 yen per trip, and I admit that I did like the convenience of not carrying my luggage on the train. See more about the Airport Limousine Bus here.
We booked one local taxi on our trip – to get from our hotel in Osaka to Osaka station as we needed to do it in rush hour, and we had luggage as our hotel didn’t offer the luggage shipping service. It wasn’t ridiculously expensive – we used Go Taxi (a very handy app for Japan), and it cost 2200 yen for a 3.4km journey.
We also hired a car to drive us around the Iya Valley in Shikoku for the day. It cost 30,000 yen (AU$300 or US$187) between two of us. This was a significant expense, but this is not an easy area to access by public transport on a day trip, so we splashed out.
I also took a couple of ferries to various islands for which I paid cash.
Food and Drink
Again, the exact amount depends on the size of your appetite and the type of restaurant you frequent.
For the non-gourmet traveler though, allow an average of 6000 yen per person (AU$60 or US$37) for everyday eating, and drinking for three meals a day – this gives you a mix of super cheap days where you mix up convenience store sandwiches, ramen and chains or sushi trains and some days when you splash out a bit more in an izakaya.
If you want to be a bit more specific, here are some ideas for average costs on the budget side of things.
Food Costs in Japan
Convenience Store Sandwich: 400 yen
Bowl of ramen/soba: 600-1000 yen in a normal restaurant – Ichiran is more. You might also spend more than 1000 on a set with rice or if you visit one of the famous ramen joints.
Sushi Train: From 150 to 500 yen per plate, depending on the fish and the restaurant
Sashimi Bowl at Tsukiji or Toyosu Markets around 1300 – and up.
Individual items in an izakaya: 200 to 700 yen each, depending on what you order. Allow at least 2-3 dishes per person.
A glass of beer in a restaurant or izakaya: 500-600 yen
From this point on, the sky’s the limit with food. Dinner at the famous Sukiyabashi Jiro, for example, will cost 58,000 yen (AU$580 or US$373) for the 20-piece omakase.
A good place to look to get an idea of pricing in restaurants, is the website ByFood which hightlights a huge list of dining choices. They can also help you book many restaurants in advance. This is very helpful if you’re traveling in a larger group where not every restaurant can fit you in.

My Spending
I don’t have a detailed breakdown of specific meals on this trip as I mostly go to small restaurants that take cash, but on days when I’m on my own 3500 yen a day is a normal amount – sometimes less if I’m tired. If I’m traveling with Mr Japlanease or my friend, we spend more in the evening, so 6000-8000 a day is more likely.
Theme Park Tickets
Japan’s two main theme parks are USJ and Disney, which has two parks. Generally, USJ is more expensive than Disney. And Disney is cheaper than visiting the equivalent parks in the US.
When budgeting, you need to allow for entry tickets, which everyone needs, but also consider the optional passes that help you skip the line in each park if you don’t want to wait. The food and drinks are also rather cute so, you’ll want to budget a bit for some meals and snacks.
For a more detailed breakdown of costs at USJ, see this dedicated post on that.
For a full post breaking down Disney, find this guide to what it costs to visit Tokyo Disney.

My Spending
On this trip, I went to all three parks for 3.5 days – I spent over 75,000 yen (AU$750 or US$470) on tickets, passes and food.
My USJ Costs
The most expensive day of my trip. In fact, it was probably the most expensive day out I’ve ever had! We bought Studio Passes and Express Pass 7s, and because Halloween Horror Nights was on, we also bought a second Express Pass to cover the special attractions for this.
Halloween also meant lots of fun-themed food, and we went to town on that. The day’s tickets and fun food cost me 51,000 yen (AU$510 or around US$318). No regrets, though. It was fun.
If any of this doesn’t make sense, visit the first-timers guide to USJ where it will all be explained.

My Tokyo Disney Costs
My Disney tickets and passes cost 37,700 yen (AU$370 or US$230) – for three park visits. A bargain compared to USJ.
I spent 2.5 days at Tokyo Disney. This cost 5400 yen for an evening pass to Disneyland and 9800 for a day pass to each park – I went for two days, so my total was 23,200 yen. I bought one ride-skipping pass in Disneyland and three at DisneySea, which added 7000 yen.
This was less than I usually spend as I normally buy all of them. If I had bought passes for Beauty and The Beast, Splash Mountain, Frozen, Journey to the Centre of Earth and Soarin’ it would have added 9000 yen to my day.
Again, if you’re not sure how ride skipping or anything else works at Disneyland or DisneySea, have a look at our first-time visitors guide for Tokyo Disney
Shrines and Temples
Shrines and temples are a must-see in Japan, and the larger or more important of these will charge an entrance fee. This is typically around 300-500 yen (and usually, this is one of the times you need to pay in cash).
That might be all you spend at a shrine, but nowadays, shrines tend to eat my money in Japan. Not only are there entrance fees, you can also collect shrine stamps called goshuin which cost from 300-1000 yen a time. And they are very pretty.

You might also want to pay for fortune slips, especially at shrines like Shimogamo-jinja in Kyoto, where your fortune is revealed by putting the paper in the river, which is fun. You can also buy all sorts of special amulets and offerings. Collecting some of these makes visiting the shrines more fun – but it does start to add up!
My Spending
I have blocked out the cost, but I would estimate from the number of shrine photos and goshuin that I came home with that I would have spent about 10,000 yen (AU$100 or US$62) on shrine visits and souvenirs.

I also visited Saihoji, on this trip which is the Moss Temple in Kyoto. This costs a whopping 4000 yen (AU$40 or US$25) to visit, and you must make a reservation online… so, was it worth it? Find out here.
Other Attractions
I’m not going to make a big list of these, but they might include museums, rooftop viewing platforms and towers, fun things like Ferris wheels on top of the Don Quixote shop in Osaka (below) and more.
For an idea of some costs of popular attractions, you might be thinking about on your trip.
In Tokyo
Tokyo Skytree costs around AU$24 (US$15) – buy tickets in advance here
Shibuya Sky costs around AU$27 (US$17) – buy tickets in advance here
teamLabs Borderless costs around AU$40 (US$25) – buy tickets in advance here
Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour costs around AU$53 (US$33) – buy tickets in advance here
Pokemon Cafe costs around AU$25 (US$15) yen for a combo plate – make bookings here.
In Osaka
Osaka Castle costs around AU$6 (US$4) – book tickets in advance here
Ebisu Ferris wheel in Osaka costs 1200 yen (around AU$12, US$8) and is cash-only
Osaka Museum of Housing and Living costs around AU$6 (US$4) – buy tickets in advance here
Don’t forget, if you are booking via Klook, add the code JAPLANEASEKLOOK at check out, and you can save up to 10 per cent on some tickets, tours, hotels and attractions.

My Spending
I visited a lot of attractions on this trip, partly for fun and partly for research. I would guess I spent another 12,000 yen (AU$120 or US$75) on museums, sightseeing towers, Ferris wheels and other fun sightseeing spots.
The Yokai Art Museum in Shodoshima was the most expensive, at 2900 yen (AU$29 or US$18), but it was our reason for going to the island, so that was non-negotiable.
The rooftop at Orizuru Tower in Hiroshima was also a hefty 2200 yen (AU$22 or US$13), and, as it was sunset, I also had a glass of wine while I was there. Conversely, the Peace Museum in Hiroshima costs just 200 yen.
Luggage Shipping
This is an optional expense, but I love the convenience of it. It means you can travel hands-free on trains. You can read more about it in this longer guide, but, as a general rule, sending a cabin-bag-sized suitcase will cost around 1800 yen, a larger case is around 2500, and it’s worth every cent!

My Spending
3600 yen (AU$36 or US$22) – less than I expected. I only sent my case from Takamatsu to Hiroshima and from Hiroshima to Tottori on this trip. This meant I could make stop-offs on my journey with ease.
I had planned to send it a couple of other times, but my plans changed as Henn na Hotel don’t send luggage, and some bad weather meant I didn’t manage to get to Kinosaki Onsen from where I would have sent my case to Tokyo.
And that’s about it. Everything I spend when I’m in Japan. So, adding it all up (gulp), I spent around 490,000 yen over 22 days (AU$4900 or US$3050), which works out at around 22,270 yen a day – not bad for everything except my international flight.
As I said, you could spend a lot more than this on nicer hotels, nicer dinners and more experiences, but you could also spend less if you’re not going theme park crazy or booking private drivers to take you to see a village full of scarecrows! So, take a look at the individual figures in the guide to come up with a better idea of how you might need to budget
And if you have any further questions, head over to the Japan Trip Planning for Beginners group on Facebook where lots of people can help you out.