A basic budget for Japan? (20 days)
 

i did a little search on this and didn't quite find the info i am looking for.

during February i am going to Japan with my husband for around 20 days. we've been researching as much as we can (as well as lurking these forums :D ) and our itinerary is to stick in/around the Tokyo area, because i think we'll get an range of different "sides" of Japan without going bankrupt.

for the three week trip we are taking £4,200 which works out at around 527,463JPY. our first 7 nights accommodation is costing us 12,000JPY out of that money, and the following weeks will work out around the same.

so our weekly budget (which includes travel costs, although mostly we'll walk/bike places unless it really can't be done) is £1000 per week. is this reasonable? any info on good budgeting or advice on things that may cost a bit extra is greatly appreciated.

mainly we're visiting shrines, parks and Ueno Zoo. we'd like to spend a few days of the trip seeing all the obvious sites around Tokyo and, if it's possible, i'd like a side trip to the Mt Fuji area.

realistically, what is possible in Japan on a budget of £1000 a week? (which i think is 120,000JPY at the moment).


whoops, wasn't supposed to write an essay =/!

I think....
 

Nice to meet you.
It is worried about the budget for trip.
I think that prices and the hotel bill of the Tokyo area are high. Please use the youth hostel if you do not have any problem. I think that you can hold down the lodging charges cheaply.
Please do a good trip.

TOKYO INTERNATIONAL HOSTEL

HI - Hostel Tokyo - Yoyogi YH Youth Hostel

http://sumidagawayh.com/page019.html

Hi,

I was able to fit both Kansai and Kanto in 14 days with a budget of around 400000 yen (years ago), including air fare and all accomodations... so if you stick only to Tokyo, then you should be fine. Though its a real waste to only stay in Tokyo

there are a few places that will give you a glimpse of Fuji, my personal preference is Hakone, only because it give me the option to travel up to Lake Ashi using the cable cars, a completely different view

Do drop by yokohama :)

Have fun and take lots of pics :)

we'd very much like to travel outside of Tokyo but we're just not sure how much it will cost us. like i say, our budget is £1000 a week (roughly) and i don't want to run out of money before the end of the trip.

however, i would just love to go to Kyoto if it's possible.

For example
 

Tokyo - Kyoto. 　
In the case of quantity of Shinkansen： 13,520 yen about 3 hours.
A bargain night bus： About 4,000 yen - 6,000 yen about 7 hours .

It is the rate of the one way adult alone.

City transportation expenses to depend on sightseeing： As for the bus or the subway about 200 yen *5 times =1,000 yen (1day about).

light meal (morning / noon) 1,000 yen - 1,500 yen(1 meal about).
One meal of supper 1,500 yen - 3,000 yen.

hotel bills (in the case of a youth hostel)
About 4,000 yen - 5,000 yen (a dormitory with meal)

It is about 8,000 yen - 20,000 yen one days in the case of the budget hotels.

In addition, it is about 1,500 yen entering a building charges of a temple or the museum .

Should I serve as a reference?:D :ywave:

well as i've said, we already have accommodation covered. it is costing us 12000JPY a week, that is for 7 nights and both of us. we are there for three weeks so it works out at 36,000JPY for the whole trip.

so, apart from 12,000JPY a week for sleeps, the rest of our money can be spent on travel (thanks for the info on that by the way arky) and visiting places. i'm thinking that as long as we don't go crazy ("must... resist... crazy...") it should be enough.

we're not interested in buying gifts or souvenirs, just sight seeing really. given the info provided i think 120,000JPY a week is plenty. maybe, if we took the night bus option, we could afford a trip to Kyoto with an overnight stay.

I would really try and make it to Kyoto, whether by Shinkansen or bus, it'll be worth it. 20 days is much too long to spend just around the Tokyo area. If you're around Kyoto, you can also have possible trips to Nara and Osaka, both of which are relatively inexpensive to reach from Kyoto. It'd be a shame to miss out on this part of Japan!

A one week rail pass isn't too expensive, maybe if you get a one week rail pass, that will give you the option for Japan.

I would suggest to "go cheap" on hotels, go down to something like a business hotel, that cost you around 35-60 USD a night, so that will shave some cost. With 2 people, you are looking at around 840 USD for the week. If my math is correct, you save around 30000 yen a week

That said, you probably can very well make 1 week (or even 10 days) trip to Kensai area....I am in the midst of planning out my own honeymoon for October/November, here is what I have for the Kensai part (Still planning out my Tokyo side, I am planning for 18 days total):

Day 1 - Hakata
Day 2 - Miyajima
Day 3 - Kobe, Himeji
Day 4 - Osaka
Day 5 - Osaka
Day 6 - Kyoto
Day 7 - Kyoto
Day 8 - Kyoto
Day 9 - Nagoya, Hakone
Day 10 - Hakone
Day 11 - Yokohama

Something like that... I have budgeted around 6000 USD for the 2 of us for this trip....

: O Where are you staying that costs only $133 a week?? (you had said 12000JPY)

I'm going in October, so I'm curious. thanks

a place in Asakusa, called Asakusa Smile. they have a website if you want to check it out, they've been really helpful and friendly so far.

theres also a place called 'Tokyo Hostel' that charges 2,000JPY a night, period. but they don't have mixed dorms, and since it's my honeymoon i'd rather not spend a week on a separate floor to my hubby. but if you go with a mate of the same gender it'd be cheap and ideal! as long as you don't mind basic.

I completely missed calculated... 133 a week means about 20 a night?

do you mean GBP or USD? i'm in the UK so it's about half of USD (example, if something is 100 USD that makes it around 50 GBP, sort of).

in UK money it's costing us about 130 for 7 nights.

Hmm.. ok, my original plans won't work then.. the hotel i was suggesting is about 40-60 USD a night.. definitely not 130 for 7 nights.....

I am also having my honeymoon in Japan.. so far my itinerary is cross country from Kyushu to Tokyo (Including Saitama and Nikko), and it looks like it will cost us a total of about 8000 US, including flight, accommodations, food and other transportation... and some attractions and entrance fee

Isn't 120$ too much for a day?

A week, not a day.... and its easy to spend 120 a day in Japan if the trip is not planned out properly, transportation will chew off a chunk

ooooo, I did not convert the pounds to dollars. But still, for a week, that's pretty nice. Thanks!

our budget works out about the same then. 8000USD is roughly 4000GBP :)
(but we've already sorted our flights, so that is a completely separate expense. the 4000GBP is solely for our time inside Japan.) so that's pretty cool, i think it's just about right.

thanks for all the info guys!

Ok, see if you can take a bus tour to Kyoto.. its definitely worth your time.... There are a couple of agencies around Shinuya (beside the JR ticket office near the south exit) that maybe able to offer you some help

Although it looks possible, your trip looks very ambitious. How will you start your trip in Hakata? Are you flying there from Kansai Kokusai? Make sure to eat some ramen... I have good memories of Hakata. Some of the nicest people and cutest girls I met in Japan. :D

i've spent nearly 8grand a month for a time.

then when my money started to dwindle down i lived on around 2 grand a month including rent.

it all depends on what you do and how you do it.



first timers always end up spending waay more then they plan due to the fact they wana bring lots of stuff back and buy every thing up.


my advice is stay within your price range you mentioned and give your self a lil space for spur the moment spending.

avoid using taxis cuz a 15 dollar taxi ride can be a easy 1.60 subway trip.

get accustomed to the railway system and such first few days and less dependent on the cabs

in short, your budget is absolutely doable.

there were times were i was staying in 20 dollar a night hostels and eating 300 yen meals at yoshinoya for a while haha. but thats what i get for spending most of my money on booze and partying



food- plenty of places to eat for cheaper if you wana save money. but spend at least a few nights enjoying the best japan has to offer its worth it.

visiting shrines and such is super inexpensive. be sure not snap pictures in places where its inappropriate.

Ambitious? How? We are taking the Shinkanzen to Hakata to start.....

great stuff! thanks very much :)

we're not bothered about buying tons of stuff. i think we'll totally resist spending loads of money on buying things, and then during the final week... if we have plenty of money left, we'll go nuts and buy things then. that way we won't run out of money at the start, and we'll only buy things if we have the money left at the end.

yeah, taxi's are a no-go for us. we'll be using subways or buses where possible.


where are there some good places to enjoy luxury japanese food? i'd hate to spend a lot in one place and then discover somewhere better :rolleyes:

we're setting off tomorrow, YAY!

Great thread guys, very informative. :)

A few friends and me are planning to got to Japan in mid-August this year for 2 weeks. I'm planning the trip so that our first week's end coincides with Comiket (Aug 13-15).

The plan is to spend most of the time in Tokyo (about 3 to 4 days including Comiket) in various areas like Shinjuku, Akihabara, etc. We also plan to go to different cities for sightseeing like Nagasaki and...I dont know any other cities for sight-seeing lol.

I have two questions:

1- Each person is planning a budget of USD 5k for whole 2 weeks (with very little shopping). Is that amount enough? We're planning to have our hotel rooms in sharing (ie. 2 ppl per room) to save on accommodation expenses.

2- Are there any other festivals/ sight seeing areas during mid-August that we should check out?

EDIT: reading up on Houseteks guide, so ignore the first question. But second question still stands.