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

[Captain Slow]

When I went to Japan, a ten-day trip with airfares, travel passes and accommodation included was $3600.

Granted, that was back when 1AUD = 100JPY. crying  

[Joujin]

I went last year for about $3000. That was a 12 day trip, while staying with friends (free housing!) including the airfare. I stayed in Tokyo. Hope this helped a little!  

[oTrissa]

LadyJayL

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

This doesn;t actually seem that bad at all.  

[oTrissa]

Kai Shi

It can be pretty expensive just getting there, but once you have that pricey plane ticket taken care of its not too bad. I spent a year there on a study abroad (which is besides the point, since most of you are more concerned with how much it costs to travel). During the spring I went on an extended trip in the kansai-ish area (Tokyo, kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya, Hiroshima, etc).

Hotels can get pretty pricey in Japan because they are usually priced per person rather than the room. My cousin and I cut down on costs by staying at hostels. You can find a good variety to choose from in Japan from around 2000 yen a night. If anyone wants some reccomendations I can tell you where we stayed.

Food can be pricey, expect meals to cost at least 600-700 yen and up. But to cut down on cost, buy lunch from a grocery store or conbini rather than doing more than one meal out per day. Onigiri are delicious, plentiful and cheap, usually around 100 yen each.

Travelling within Japan can be expensive. It's simplest to get the rail pass though it is quite expensive. Think carefully how much travelling you will be doing and price it out. Make sure that rail pass is worth your money! My cousin and I travelled for three weeks but she only bought a one week pass and we planned the travel days around that. It was way more cost effective.

Shinkansen rides are expensive. If you don't have a rail pass, consider your travel carefully, especially if you're going a long ways. The train ride from Sapporo to Osaka was around 30000 yen (300 dollars) one way for poor old me without a railpass.

If you plan to go long distances (ex. Sapporo to anywhere, really) flying is actually a lot cheaper and much faster. If you plan ahead and do your research you can get cheap flights. Its about 10000 yen (100 dollars) to fly one way Sapporo-Tokyo or Osaka. You just need to know what airlines to watch! Airdo is one of the discount companies. You need to be on the ball though, they sell 2 or 3 months in advance only and go quickly.

Well that turned out a lot longer than I was expecting... redface If anyone has any questions for me, go for it biggrin

Really per person? Yeah ma'am/sir there's just me /5 other people walk by.  

[Sailor Blue Rose]

Have you ever considered doing a home-stay? It's where you stay with a native family, instead of a hostel or student housing. I also had two meals a day. I was there for two months, and just boarding was under $2000. For airfare I used points from a credit card. I also did take a language course, which was an additional cost. So the whole 2-month trip, with spending money was just about $5500. It's at least worth a look in to.  

[oTrissa]

Wondering how much would it be if I bought ny plane ticket a year in advance and wanted to stay for two weeks? The cost would be Slut between me and one other person. I cannot eat seafood however,my friend can though. What are prices of hostel vs a normal hotel not a low quality one? I'm not asking about misc spending costs, just basics. How much is the Jr usually? And what area would be best to visit?  

[Nana Shinu Ai]

I have to say awesome and great job.  

[pay me in tea]

oTrissa

Wondering how much would it be if I bought ny plane ticket a year in advance and wanted to stay for two weeks? The cost would be Slut between me and one other person. I cannot eat seafood however,my friend can though. What are prices of hostel vs a normal hotel not a low quality one? I'm not asking about misc spending costs, just basics. How much is the Jr usually? And what area would be best to visit?

A good site to look at and compare hotel/hostel prices is www.booking.com or www.agoda.com.

The JR prices vary as to where you're going, though honestly they're pretty cheap (well, they're cheap compared to Australian trains and much more convenient) if you're not going far (and sometimes even if you're going a little far).

No one can say for sure how much your trip would be because we have no idea what you'd be doing or where you'd be staying. Really, it'd be plane costs + accommodation + food + sightseeing + shopping + transportation + entrance costs to places + plane costs for trip back.

Osaka's a really nice place to stay, there's a cheap hostel that I've been to there called Guest House Caminoro where you can stay in a room for 2500yen per night (per person). But the best area to visit depends on your interests and where you want to go. Look around www.japan-guide.com, they should have a map of various cities and the tourist attractions in and/or around them☆  

[oTrissa]

Jade-Maree

oTrissa

Wondering how much would it be if I bought ny plane ticket a year in advance and wanted to stay for two weeks? The cost would be Slut between me and one other person. I cannot eat seafood however,my friend can though. What are prices of hostel vs a normal hotel not a low quality one? I'm not asking about misc spending costs, just basics. How much is the Jr usually? And what area would be best to visit?

A good site to look at and compare hotel/hostel prices is www.booking.com or www.agoda.com.

The JR prices vary as to where you're going, though honestly they're pretty cheap (well, they're cheap compared to Australian trains and much more convenient) if you're not going far (and sometimes even if you're going a little far).

No one can say for sure how much your trip would be because we have no idea what you'd be doing or where you'd be staying. Really, it'd be plane costs + accommodation + food + sightseeing + shopping + transportation + entrance costs to places + plane costs for trip back.

Osaka's a really nice place to stay, there's a cheap hostel that I've been to there called Guest House Caminoro where you can stay in a room for 2500yen per night (per person). But the best area to visit depends on your interests and where you want to go. Look around www.japan-guide.com, they should have a map of various cities and the tourist attractions in and/or around them☆

Yeah but like I said i'm not coutning in sightseeing, shopping and it would be a round trip flight.  

[oTrissa]

Jade-Maree

oTrissa

Wondering how much would it be if I bought ny plane ticket a year in advance and wanted to stay for two weeks? The cost would be Slut between me and one other person. I cannot eat seafood however,my friend can though. What are prices of hostel vs a normal hotel not a low quality one? I'm not asking about misc spending costs, just basics. How much is the Jr usually? And what area would be best to visit?

A good site to look at and compare hotel/hostel prices is www.booking.com or www.agoda.com.

The JR prices vary as to where you're going, though honestly they're pretty cheap (well, they're cheap compared to Australian trains and much more convenient) if you're not going far (and sometimes even if you're going a little far).

No one can say for sure how much your trip would be because we have no idea what you'd be doing or where you'd be staying. Really, it'd be plane costs + accommodation + food + sightseeing + shopping + transportation + entrance costs to places + plane costs for trip back.

Osaka's a really nice place to stay, there's a cheap hostel that I've been to there called Guest House Caminoro where you can stay in a room for 2500yen per night (per person). But the best area to visit depends on your interests and where you want to go. Look around www.japan-guide.com, they should have a map of various cities and the tourist attractions in and/or around them☆

Thank you though.  

[Nana Shinu Ai]

thanks for post up the link.  

[Nana Shinu Ai]

thanks for posting up the link. It was really helpful.