Japan is a good first vacation spot for American vacationers seeking to journey to Asia. It gives a singular style of East Asian tradition, in a highly-developed, Western-influenced setting. If Japan is in your bucket listing however you might be questioning “how a lot does it value to go to Japan?”, that reply can generally be so much. The Japan journey value is the primary motive it took us so lengthy to lastly take a household journey to Japan.
The underside line is that the Japan journey value for a two-week journey for a household of 4, staying in four-star degree lodging with a couple of paid actions will value about $13,420 or $280 per particular person, per day.
Nonetheless, whereas Japan is an costly nation, there are alternatives for finances journey in Japan. The journey to Japan value depends upon your journey model, but it surely needn’t be as costly as you thought. This Japan journey finances breakdown will present you the way and the place to save lots of in your go to. I’ll cowl the price of airfare, intra-country transportation, lodging, meals, and actions.
Planning a visit to Japan
Japan has a lot to supply, however for a primary journey, splitting your time between Tokyo, Kyoto, and possibly Osaka over two weeks in Japan is finest. I’ve created a 14-day Japan itinerary and it’s also possible to see my good friend Vaness’a options for two weeks in Japan.
Your first expertise with Japan is a complete assault on the senses, so you actually ought to decelerate and stick to only a few locations. Should you return, you possibly can then observe this longer 3-week Japan with children itinerary or go to locations like Hokkaido, the western coast of Honshu and Kanazawa, Shikoku, and Okinawa. Make sure to additionally learn my Japan journey ideas.
How a lot does a visit to Japan value?
Notice: This submit comprises affiliate hyperlinks. Should you click on a hyperlink and make a purchase order, I’ll obtain a small fee without charge to you.
I primarily based this finances on my private expertise of what it prices to journey to Japan and broke it down by airfare, lodging, transportation, actions, and meals. This breakdown assumes you might be visiting Japan with children for the next:
- A household of 4 with two adults and two children below 12
- Two-week journey, together with two journey days, with 12 nights in Japan
- 5 nights in Tokyo, 5 nights in Kyoto, and a couple of nights in Osaka
- Touring throughout excessive or shoulder seasons (though not the highest peak journey dates throughout Cherry Blossom season, then you possibly can count on to pay premium pricing throughout the board.)
- Impartial vacationers which can be snug exploring on their very own and never seeking to e book a bundle tour or use non-public guides
Airfare to Japan
The primary large expense for a visit to Japan is, in fact, airfare. Economic system class flights to Japan from New York throughout shoulder and excessive seasons will seemingly begin at round $1,300 per particular person and simply go as much as $2000. We paid about $3,200 per particular person to fly Delta from Boston to Tokyo by Detroit (however we used factors for one flight no less than!)
Air Canada and Delta with layovers in Toronto and Detroit, respectively, are frequent choices at a worth level like this. In case you are seeking to fly nonstop to Japan on United or one of many extra upscale Asian carriers like Japan Airways will most likely value round $2,000 from the East Coast.
West Coasters would possibly discover barely cheaper fares, however whichever coast you begin from, it’s a good journey to make use of your frequent flier miles and factors as that may actually assist along with your Japan journey finances. It’s best to e book airfare no less than six months prematurely, or as early as doable.
I additionally extremely advocate signing up for a membership in Going, to get alerts for flight offers to your dream locations.
Complete airfare value: $1,300+ every x 4 vacationers= $5,200
Lodging in Japan
Tokyo
The excellent news is that airfare is unquestionably probably the most prohibitive value for a visit to Japan. The lodging are expensive when staying in large cities, however there are many finances choices (together with these tiny capsule resorts). An evening in a 4-star lodge in Tokyo will vary wherever from $250-$450 per room, with a median of $350 per evening for a room massive sufficient to sleep 4. Simply take into account that when you keep in a Japanese-brand lodge, the rooms are going to be fairly small, you’ll want to examine sq. footage.
We loved our keep on the Hilton Tokyo, as a result of it was an amazing location for utilizing public transportation and the rooms had been spacious and the full-service resorts had good facilities like free breakfast for Membership degree rooms.
Discover a Resort in Tokyo:
Kyoto
Resort costs in Kyoto are wider-ranging, maybe as a result of there are far fewer choices than in Tokyo. The general common comes out to about $350 per room, per evening for a 4-star property that may match a household of 4.
We stayed on the Hyatt Regency Kyoto, which was accessible to public transportation and walkable to lots of the essential sights. For cheaper lodging, take a look at manufacturers just like the Mimaru.
Discover a Resort in Kyoto:
Osaka
Osaka is a large metropolis with loads of lodge choices. It is sensible to remain close to one of many essential prepare stations or metro hubs to make it straightforward to get round. We cherished our keep on the Intercontinental Osaka, the place we splurged on a two-bedroom, two-bath residence with a full kitchen, lounge, and superb view (they’ve common lodge rooms too). Should you can e book by American Categorical Effective Accommodations along with your Platinum card or a Virtuoso journey agent, it’s also possible to get perks like free breakfast and the breakfast is superb!
A typical three to four-star lodge that may accommodate a household in a single room is about $300 per evening, however may go as much as $600+.
Discover a lodge in Osaka:
In case you are touring as a household, you’ll most likely need extra space than what you discover in a typical Japanese lodge room (even past the capsule resorts). If you wish to get monetary savings and get extra space, I’d advocate renting an condo by vrbo or Airbnb.
You may get a pleasant, household trip rental for about $130 per evening (and a very nice one for about $180 an evening). The most effective half is that you just’ll have a kitchen and a eating room the place you possibly can convey ready meals house to eat and even strive cooking your self, which is useful for budgeting since consuming out in Japan will be expensive.
Rental choices in Kyoto are far more restricted and costlier, however it’s doable to seek out one thing inexpensive and actually cool. A variety of the leases in Kyoto are in older homes in-built conventional Japanese types.
Complete lodging value when you keep in resorts: $350 x 12 = $4,200
Complete lodging prices when you keep in flats: $200 x 12 = $2,400 (however it may be cheaper)
Transportation Prices in Japan
Transportation is one other expensive a part of touring in Japan. I don’t advocate touring by taxi fairly often in Japan, since they’re fairly costly, however there shall be occasions when it’s the only option, particularly within the warmth of summer season. Taxis in Japan work equally to taxis within the U.S., charging the next beginning payment for the primary couple kilometers of journey with extra prices added on for any additional distance.
For instance, you may be charged about ¥500 for the flat fare and a further ¥200 for every extra kilometer. (Japan Information provides an in depth rationalization of how taxi fares work in Japan.)
Japan’s public transportation networks in metropolitan areas are feats of recent city planning. Trains arrive and depart on the exactly scheduled second. They’re completely clear, they run easily, and so they take you to wherever you might want to go.
It may be a bit daunting when you have no information of Japanese to make sense of the transit system maps, however you’ll finally get the grasp of it. Shopping for a prepare ticket isn’t too sophisticated both, as there’s normally an English-language possibility on the self-service sales space screens.
In Tokyo, one-day tickets for the metro are ¥600 (about $4.00) for adults and half that for kids. In Kyoto, the metro is a bit more costly, with one-way fares costing about the identical because the one-day tickets in Tokyo do.
For touring longer distances in Japan, suburban trains and the Shinkansen (bullet prepare) are the way in which to go. In case you are planning on taking a number of railway journeys, then it might make sense to get a rail go, however these charges just lately went up so you actually need to do the mathematics to see how a lot you’ll use it. Rail passes are bought by length (i.e., every week prices an additional amount of cash), class of service, and area vs. nationwide, and they don’t seem to be low-cost.
A daily fare for the JR 7-day rail go is about $200, and a 14-day go is $315 (youngsters’s passes are much less.) This doesn’t embody delivery and dealing with and another processing charges. Be sure to e book rail passes far prematurely.
You can’t purchase them in Japan— they should be bought inside the US with a legitimate passport a number of weeks earlier than touring to Japan. There are a number of web sites the place you should purchase passes together with JR Cross. Once you arrive, you might want to cease by the JR Practice workplace and alternate your vouchers for precise passes.
The rail go comes with added perks, which embody not having to order a seat on long-distance trains, the flexibility to make use of the go on suburban JR trains, in addition to free entry to the Narita Categorical between downtown Tokyo and Narita Worldwide Airport.
Rail go prices: $315 per full worth JR go x 2 +$158 per youngsters’s worth JR go x 2 = $946, plus (all the time double examine for present charges)
Metro ticket prices: [2 x $4.00 metro tickets x 2+ 2 $2.00 children’s price metro ticket x 2] x 12 days = $144, plus
Taxi fare: $20 per occasional taxi journey x 4 = $80
Complete transportation prices: $1,170
Sightseeing and Actions Prices in Japan
The most effective components about budgeting for Japan is that it’s straightforward to sightsee by yourself and not using a information and plenty of of Tokyo and Kyoto’s most well-known sights are free.
Temples and museums cost small entrance charges, normally ¥600 (about $4.50) per grownup, half worth for kids. This consists of issues to do in Tokyo like Senso-ji temple, and the Tokyo Nationwide Museum in Ueno Park.
Most of Kyoto’s sights and temples sometimes cost related small entrance charges, like Ginkaku-ji temple, Temple of 10,000 Buddhas, and the Iwatayama Monkey Park close to Arashiyama.
There are a few main sights that may value, most notably the Tokyo Sky Tree, which costs about $15 per grownup ticket (not together with Quick Observe), with a decreased fare for kids.
Tokyo Dome costs about $30 per ticket with decreased fares for kids, however that ticket covers the entire amusement park– the person museums there (just like the Japanese Baseball Museum) are about the identical worth as most temples could be. The Mori Artwork Museum additionally costs greater than normal ticket costs, however the ticket consists of entry to a number of galleries, in addition to Tokyo Metropolis View.
In fact, many households are additionally going to wish to go to Tokyo DisneySea or Common Studios Japan in Osaka.
Japan’s fascinating historical past has produced a wealthy and complicated tradition. Vacationers searching for conventional Japanese experiences have loads of choices with regards to cultural actions. They arrive with a price ticket although.
Choice 1: Attending a Sumo Follow or Match
Watching Sumo wrestlers hone and follow their martial artwork is a stunningly lovely cultural expertise. Tournaments are solely held seasonally, and tickets must be booked prematurely. To not worry when you gained’t be in Japan for a match although, Sumo practices are held in Sumo-beya (Sumo Stables) all through the remainder of the yr.
Common admission tickets for Sumo Matches are solely about $2, however in order for you higher seats, an inexpensive seat will go for about $35, with a lower-end household field going for about $110. Anticipate to pay a number of occasions as a lot for a greater ticket or field.
Choice 2: Kabuki
Kabuki is a sort of conventional Japanese theater. The costumes and masks are lovely, and the performances are fascinating, even when you can’t actually perceive what’s going on. The everyday locations to look at Kabuki are the Kabuki-za Theatre in Tokyo and the Minami-za Theatre in Kyoto.
Tickets can value wherever from $27-$220, primarily based on the seat high quality. There are pill rental companies for ¥500 accessible for vacationers who don’t communicate Japanese that connect to your seat through the efficiency so you will get a greater sense of what’s going on.
Different choices for cultural actions embody tea ceremonies, sushi making workshops, origami courses, calligraphy courses, and kimono sampling courses. A tough estimate of the worth for every of those actions might be someplace between $50-$100 per particular person.
Should you’re in Japan for slightly below two weeks, I’d advocate choosing 1-3 cultural actions, relying in your finances. I’d additionally counsel taking a meals tour in Osaka or Tokyo. One other factor that older teenagers would love could be dressing up in costumes and go karting by the streets of Tokyo.
Complete sightseeing and sights prices: $1,100
Meals Prices in Japan
Should you aren’t going to Japan no less than partially for the meals, then you definately’re doing it improper! Consuming Japanese meals is a very particular expertise, regardless of your worth level. With such a singular delicacies, it’s unimaginable to become bored with consuming on a go to to Japan— that’s, in case you are an adventurous eater.
Consuming out in Japan will be costly. Average-range eating places and Izakaya (eating places with bars) will value about $15-$20 per particular person for lunch, and $25-$35 for dinner. The excellent news is that it’s doable to expertise nice Japanese meals with out consuming in a majority of these venues on a regular basis.
Specialised eating places, like ramen bars, are Japanese staples that serve up particular kinds of meals and are good for these doing Japan on a finances. It’s doable to seek out superb ramen bars (together with some Michelin-starred ones) that cost between $5-$15 for a big bowl. These kinds of venues exist for a lot of different kinds of Japanese meals, like gyudon, tonkatsu, udon, okonomiyaki, curry homes. The one draw back is that these venues are sometimes fairly small and don’t take reservations so you might want to be ready to attend in line.
There are additionally shokudo and teishoku, that are smaller eating places that serve meals which can be much less fancy, however usually equally as tasty as Izakaya. Costs are about the identical as what you’d discover at ramen bars— generally extra, generally much less. A few of these eating places are chains the place you order set meals, both from a paper menu or on these chunky, merchandising machine-looking gadgets that spit out tickets.
An alternative choice for consuming out is choosing up bento containers from the ready meals sections of malls, like Daimaru, Takashimaya, Mitsukoshi, and Isetan. The meals is definitely very top quality and is painstakingly ready, as is commonly the case with something in Japan. You could find virtually something on the malls, together with sushi, karaage, tonkatsu, yakisoba, zaru soba, eel, gyoza (dumplings), yakitori.
Good-sized meals at higher-quality malls will most likely value round $15 per particular person. They’re simply transportable and an amazing choice to eat nice high quality Japanese meals at a cheaper price level. Konbini (Japanese comfort shops) provide related choices, albeit in smaller portions and of decrease high quality.
Avenue meals can also be nice in Japan. Since Japan is a extremely developed nation, consuming avenue meals is fairly secure, in contrast to different international locations in Asia the place People must be extra cautious. Japanese treats like taiyaki, takoyaki, yakitori, and different fan favorites will be bought, normally for cheaper than the meals you will see that even at ramen bars. Japan additionally has a proliferation of high-quality merchandising machines virtually in every single place that spit out nice Japanese snacks and drinks for affordable. And don’t underestimate the wonders of a 7-11 sandwich or rice ball!
Breakfast in Japan is a smaller meal that consists of assorted fish and rice dishes, in addition to soup. An honest high quality breakfast shouldn’t value greater than $10. Additionally it is straightforward to make a DIY breakfast, particularly when you’re staying in a flat when you decide up ready and easy-to-prepare meals from konbini.
Only a warning although, when you do wish to expertise a Michelin-star sushi restaurant or a conventional Keiseki meal, it’ll value about $250-500 per particular person!
Complete meals prices in Japan: $75 per grownup, $50 per little one, per day x 14 days = $1,750
This value is topic to differ tremendously, relying on whether or not or not you’re staying in a lodge or in a rental, how fancy a restaurant you like, whether or not or not you’re prepared to buy your personal meals within the malls, whether or not or not you wish to splurge for particular meals, and so on.
Complete Japan Journey Funds
Should you don’t overdo it on meals or actions, your loved ones of 4 can spend 12 nights in Japan for $13,420 or slightly about $1,118 per day. In fact, this assumes average-priced flight tickets through the excessive season, staying in three or four-star resorts, and consuming at lower-to-mid worth vary eating places.
If you would like an English-speaking information to sights, or when you take quite a lot of excursions, your actions prices will go up considerably. However when you keep in trip leases, your prices will be decrease.
Class | Price |
Airfare | $ 5,200 |
Lodging | $ 4,200 |
Transportation | $ 1,170 |
Actions & Points of interest | $ 1,100 |
Meals | $ 1,750 |
Complete Japan journey finances | $13,420 |
Clearly, this quantity will be greater or decrease primarily based on the way you select to journey.
How A lot Does it Price to Go to Japan?
The underside line is that for a household of 4, with two younger youngsters, staying in a single room or a rental condo, a 12-night journey to Japan with 5 nights in Tokyo, 5 nights in Kyoto, and a couple of nights in Osaka will value roughly $13,420 together with flights. This assumes you might be utilizing public transportation, consuming at informal eating places or choosing up takeaway meals, and limiting the variety of actions. This involves roughly $280 per particular person, per day.
Remember that this value will go up considerably if you wish to take non-public excursions, non-public transportation, or take pleasure in extra cultural actions or wonderful eating.
If Japan sounds too costly, it’s also possible to try our journey budgets for: