how much money does it actually take to go to Japan?

[witchhunter123]

I'm wondering

how much money does it actually take to go to Japan??

I wanna go there someday is why blaugh  

[Axelrod Forest]

My sister paid 400 bucks for a ticket  

[LadyJayL]

Round trip is about $800-$1200, depends when you buy, when you fly, and what class and where you're coming from etc.  

[kuroikappa]

It depends vastly on what you plan to do, when you plan to go, and for how long you plan to stay. right now the cheapest flight is around $1200. At least that's how much it is for me. Another factor to consider when looking into flights is from where you're taking off and on the amount of connector flights. Its kinda confusing... so lets just leave flight prices at that. Another thing you need to consider is where you will be staying. Unless you have friends and family over there where you can stay the night for free its free but other than that, look into the various types of room and boarding available. some are very cheap for like $ 40 to really expensive five star full service hotels that are a couple grand. Flight. Place to sleep. oh and don't forget food. biggrin Food too Varies by a lot depending on you're tastes and what you're willing to eat. XD aside from the basics of living you must also consider transportation costs as well as any museum entrance fees or the like and souvenirs.

Try creating a budget that goes according to your needs and tastes. Me? I'm more of a low to mid budget type of person. I like to save where and when I can, but I also like comfort. Considering that a flight from where I'm at is about 15 + hours long... I'm deeply considering on going into premium economy class... Cheap but not that cheap feeling if you know what I mean. Food.... I eat almost any thing... however, I do want to take a tour of Japan's Cuisine. smile Place to stay.... that will vary depending on where in japan I'm at. I can suffice with a cheap business hotel but I also want to try a traditional Ryokan at least once during my trip. Transportation... well that one I can mostly cover if I get the rail pass.

If you'd like an example, here is my budget on a three weeks trip to Japan.

Flight - $1585 (variable depending on when it is booked)

Transportation - $671 (Japan Rail Pass... also varies depending on how the yen and the dollar are doing) + $300 of buss, ferries, and other types of transportation not covered by Japan Rail Pass.

Food - About $60 a day. That is if I decide to go gourmet... but I'll probably end up eating less costly food for breakfast and lunch... a nice dinner does sound good though. Perhaps I'm over budgeting on this one but I like to have a cushion on things. xd

Place to stay - about $85 per night.... Again... I'm over budgeting on this one. Rates vary greatly from city to city and on the type of place you decide to stay.

Sight seeing and souvenir cash - uh.... I don't know... like I said this one varies too much... I depends on how many place you want to see and what you want to see. some places are free to get into while other cost some money. souvenirs? again it depends on how much of a shopaholic you are. xd I leave this one to your discretion. smile I for one, love to shop.

Three weeks in Japan =
1585 + 671 + 300 + (60 x 21) + (85 + 21)= $5601 Not including spending money.  

[Shimakuwa]

In other words, it's a lot of money.  

[kuroikappa]

kind of... but with careful budgeting and savings you too can achieve your travel goals.  

[witchhunter123]

so if I wanted to go

I should first get though college and then pay back the fed government loan and then plan about money to go to Japan or whatever else i wanna go???

i never been outside of the usa
sad  

[Ellembri]

If you are in College/University, I would go to your study Abroad office and ask about the programs they have in Japan. There are tones of US/Japan programs for university students and the bulk of the costs can usually be included or directly from your tuition costs. If you are already in a Room and board program in your college/University, in some programs they will simply carry over to your room and board in Japan. I only know of three such programs from my previous University but those were simply just the programs they were involved in, perhaps the most popular of the three was Kansai Gaikokugo Daigaku (Kansai Gaidai), a foreign language college in Hirakatashi Japan (about halfway in between Oosaka and Kyoto). You will need a stable amount of money for this option too but the costs are considerably less if most of your cost of living is from your tuition which you are paying anyway.

Hope that helps.  

[Sky of Cards]

AMCApril

I'm wondering

how much money does it actually take to go to Japan??

I wanna go there someday is why blaugh

少なくとも 500 ドルまたは複数 i dont 私は日本で生活するために使用する原因を覚えています ^ ^ 楽しかった
translated
at least 500$ or more i dont remember cause i used to live in japan ^^ it was fun  

[Shasita]

It very much depends on what you want to do there. The airplane ticket is expensive.... But if you book it like, at least a half year in advance, it's a bit cheaper.
Example: if I had bought my ticket a week earlier than I did, it would have cost me 850 Euro's, instead of 1024 Euro's. sweatdrop
Food doesn't cost much in Japan, just look for the small, not so expensive restaurants. And if you cook for yourself (or eat instant noodles half of the time, like I do), that won't cost a lot either.
Staying at guesthouses is also a good idea if you don't want to spend too much. It's not that bad to have a shared room either... Me and my friend had to pay about 24 Euro's a night in a guesthouse in Kyoto and we had to share our room with 2 other people. In Osaka we had a private room, so that was about 29 Euro's a night.

It does cost a lot, but believe me: it's all worth it!! It might take a while earning the money with a parttime job (like I did...) but it's just soooo great there. Can't wait to go back! I will go back in about 1,5 year to study there for a couple of months blaugh .

 

[Pearls of Diamonds]

AMCApril

so if I wanted to go

I should first get though college and then pay back the fed government loan and then plan about money to go to Japan or whatever else i wanna go???

i never been outside of the usa
sad

Absolutely! This is the way I am doing it. First of all, you can get all sorts of scholarships and financial aid to help you pay for schooling and housing there. Second of all, they tell you the exchange rate and help you learn what you need to go there.  

[Kiseimaru]

I practically lived out of the conbini and the hyaku en stores... good food, cheaper prices.

plane tickets are a mute point at the moment 'cause so many people have commented on it already ^_^.

It really boils down to when, where, and for how long. But I second looking into any study abroad programs. If Japanese isn't your major or minor, you could look into a summer abroad. However, these can still be expensive depending on the program and funding available. I did a half a year at Nanzan university and it was around $30,000 just for that semester. That counted the money for the dorm/stayhome family, Tuition for Penn State, Nanzan Tuition, food, and any planned trips.... it can add up quick. However, if you are already getting funding and you apply to the scholarships available, you can cut down that price a lot.... that and the Nanzan program is always more expensive but that's because we went a lot of different places. Summer programs are much cheaper ^_^  

[Shasita]

@Kiseimaru: Wow, you went to Nanzan!!! surprised
I probably won't get into Nanzan, because they only take a couple of students a year from my school and you need high grades... sweatdrop
How was it?

 

[sambart]

Including Plane, Hotel and Train Ticket, about 1500GPB I thinks.  

[Hayash1]

My class was preparing a trip. But the prices were like 1378 CAN for 7 days (leave on day 7 so pretty much 6 days) and you get the rail pass for the week. Meals weren't included nor were the hotel things.

There's also another one which was 3048 CAN which included hotel, meals, tours. I thought that one was good but all of this is too expensive for a student to afford.

sad Wish my parents would let me go.