Is Japan expensive? Well, the short answer to this question is, Yes, Japan is expensive. Expensive is a relative term. Japan is much more costly compared to other Asian countries. In countries like Indonesia, I could stay in pretty decent hotels for as low as 15S$ a night (yep, in Bali); on the contrary, I paid over 40S$ (on average) a night for a dormitory/capsule/hostel stay.
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Tokyo is one of the most expensive cities in the world. Be it local travel, travel between cities, entry ticket to attractions, food, and accommodation, almost everything is in line with the expense you might incur in a trip to Singapore, London, NYC, etc. But careful and informed planning can go a long way in saving easy money and enjoying the vacation without being too lean on your pocket.
How much I spent on my trip?
For my 15 days trip covering over 2000 miles by road and visiting a lot of places, I spent nearly 3000 SGD (~2200 USD).
I love buying multiple souvenirs, so my shopping involved a lot of expenses that could have been avoided.
Money Saving Tips
Local Travel
Local travel in Japan is a costly undertaking. One bus ride in Kyoto costs nearly 300Y one way. Similarly, one train ride costs nearly 500Y, depending on the distance traveled. Try to use tourist passes where ever possible. Many private train and bus operators offer concession passes. Few of these passes are only available to foreigners. Check this comprehensive list of public bus and train passes.
Kyoto has an excellent bus network. A one-day city bus pass costs only 500Y per person for unlimited daily rides. Almost all tourist attractions in Kyoto are accessible by city bus (except Fushimini Inari Taisha). The bus may not be the fastest mode of transport in Kyoto due to traffic, but they are the most convenient.
A 2-day Retro bus pass well covers Lake Kawaguchiko in the Mt Fuji area. It costs only 2000Y per persona and covers unlimited rides on all places around Lake Kawaguchiko and Lake Saiko. This is a hop-on hop-off service, so you can get down where ever you want and board the next bus. Bus frequency is every 15mins.
Nikko is some 125 km from Tokyo. It is well connected by Tobu trains. The Tobu Nikko pass is a beautiful option for traveling to Nikko and local attractions in Nikko. A 2-day pass costs only 2670Y and is cheaper than individual ticket buying. See a list of all passes here.
Tokyo has an extensive network of trains run by private companies and JR. Unfortunately, only one pass covers all areas of tourist interest. So I ended up buying individual tickets for all rides. Try buying a single ticket for connecting trains; this is cheaper.
Should I buy Japan Rail Pass?
This was one of the biggest questions that haunted me for days while planning my trip. JRP allows unlimited bullet train rides for validity and is only available to foreigners, but we have to buy it before landing in Japan. At 370S$ for 7 days and 800S$ for 14 days, JRP buying was a big budget deciding factor. JRP would make sense if I made at least two Shinkansen (Bullet Train) rides in one week. Since I was flying into Osaka and flying out of Tokyo, I had only one journey in which I could have used JRP. Although JRP also covers the journey to the Alpine route, that was out of my one week when I had to travel from Osaka to Tokyo. So buying JRP was not beneficial for me. The point to note here is that JRP only covers some local travel to city attractions in Kyoto or elsewhere in Japan. I made a list of places I had to visit and compared their prices (using Hyperdia) against JRP cost, and it was relatively cheaper for me to go without JRP. If your itinerary is decided, I also suggest you a similar approach.
If you are at least doing Tokyo to Kyoto return route, JRP makes sense.
Inexpensive alternative to JRP?
A very cost-effective alternative to Bullet trains is overnight long-distance buses or Highway buses (as known in Japan). Bus operators like Willer and Fujikyu run comfortable overnight buses to cover long or medium distances. The only way to book these buses is online or over the phone. Most service providers have fundamental English-speaking telephone operators if you wish to take a later route. Still, they can loop in an English translator if you get stuck somewhere during the booking process. Another significant advantage of using overnight buses is saving on hotel stay costs. I traveled using highway buses from Kyoto to Lake Kawaguchiko (Mt Fuji) and from Tokyo to Kanazawa. Thus reducing my local travel cost considerably and saving me two nights stay cost.
Overnight Highway bus from Kyoto to Kawaguchiko set me back by 6200Y, and from Tokyo to Kanazawa cost me 5100Y. This is almost the same amount I have been paying for my stay.
Vegetarian Food
The most expensive food I had in Japan was Indian Vegetarian food. You can save quite a bit if you are open to trying Japanese vegetarian food. A meal in an Indian vegetarian restaurant used to set me back by 1200Y-1800Y, whereas in Japanese eating joints, it cost me 500Y -800Y. But there is a problem. Not all Japanese eating places understand English. On one occasion, a Local Japanese eating place in Kyoto served me Pork when all I asked him was Rice with fried vegetables.
Vegetarian food at local Japanese joints costs as less as 500Y
I was carrying a lot of energy bars (Like Mars, Snickers, etc.), Instant noodles, and Granola with me on this trip. Most hostels have a kitchen or provision for a microwave or hot water for preparing Granola/Instant Noodles (Like Maggi). This was an excellent option for me when I returned late from temples or had no vegetarian options nearby. Mostly on all days I stayed in Japan, and I had a breakfast of Granola. It’s fulfilling as a breakfast option.
Coffee Addicts
If you are a coffee addict like me, you will end up shelling close to 500-600Y on each coffee from Starbucks and established coffee joints. Fortunately, there is an excellent alternative. Most convenience stores in Japan, like 7-Eleven, Lawson, and FamilyMart, are almost everywhere and sell coffee at 100-150Y. Moreover, these places sell decent doses of caffeine at a reasonable price.
Another thing to note, Japanese people drink very light coffee. So if you have asked for a latte, all you will get is boiled milk/water with a pinch of coffee.
Save on accommodation
This is no brainier. I prefer staying in dorms/hostels/capsule hotels if traveling solo. Well-rated hostels start around 35S$ and so on. On average, on my 15 days trip, I spent 40S$ a night without breakfast. Only a few hostels in Japan include BB, unfortunately. My most expensive stay in Japan was in the Lake Kawaguchiko area, where I paid 60S$ for accommodation just next to the lake. I wanted to shoot Milkyway that night, so I had to shell out extra money to stay near to lake with the Mt Fuji view.
Timing of Visit
Japan has two main tourist visiting seasons. Cherry blossom starts from 25 March to 15 April, and Autumn begins from mid-September to the end of November every year. Since cherry blossom happens for a shorter duration, it is also a peak time for the tourist rush. I would not recommend visiting Japan in any other season. The beauty of Japan magnifies in both of these seasons. Expenses will reduce sharply if Japan is visited outside these well-known timings.
Apart from these timings, Golden Week and Obon (mid-August) in Japan is not good time to visit. In a golden week, Japan gets four national holidays in one week. This makes all buses and trains very crowded.
Save on entry fees to Temples
If you are not too religious or a history buff, try avoiding entry fees to temple compounds. Some temples/shrines charge entry fees to entire areas, while some charge entry to only for main halls. For example, Kofukuji temple(Nara), Osaka Castle, etc., have only entry fees to the main entrance, while no fees are charged for visiting pagodas and secondary halls.
Many temples in Japan are under construction, such as Rinnoji Temple (Nara). So I would rather avoid those temples or not pay entry fees to view under-construction or curtained sites.
Under construction, Toshogu Shrine(Nikko) still charges a whopping 1300Y for entry.
Shopping
Try shopping at local convenience stores like Lawson, Daiso, or 100 yen shops. They have all items in lower quantity packing and have the lowest prices.
Most items are priced at 100Y, if not all. So is Japan expensive? Yes, but you can always find ways to save.