[chompalomp2]

Ok, thanks for that. Was the $500 you had just for food then? I think I will budget $1200 for food for the whole trip as I will be staying with host families for approximately four weeks. Other than that, I imagine maybe $10 per day for small scale transportation for 50 days (42 days will be covered by JR passes), which makes $500. That leaves about $1800 for sightseeing which is about $20 per day for sightseeing and souvenirs. Does this sound reasonable?