Japan Travel Costs: Daily Budget, Prices and How Much to Bring

The main /japan/ page’s US$100 to 250 a day covers the mid-range to comfortable band; these figures agree with it and break it down. Couples and families spend less per head because hotel rooms are priced per room (ryokan are the exception, priced per person).

• Hostel dorm: 3,500 to 5,000 yen; private hostel double 8,000 to 12,000 yen.
• Capsule hotel: 3,500 to 7,000 yen (Nine Hours, First Cabin).
• Business hotel (Toyoko Inn, APA, Dormy Inn): 9,000 to 15,000 yen a room in most cities, 12,000 to 22,000 yen in Tokyo and Kyoto, higher in cherry blossom and November weeks. Twins cost 30 to 50 percent more than singles, not double.
• Mid-range hotel or machiya rental: 20,000 to 40,000 yen.
• Ryokan with dinner and breakfast: 15,000 to 25,000 yen per person at a simple inn, 25,000 to 50,000 yen at a good onsen ryokan, 60,000 yen and up for the famous ones.
• Luxury hotel: 60,000 to 150,000 yen.

Kyoto is the most expensive city to sleep in and Osaka, 30 minutes away, is 20 to 40 percent cheaper for the same chain. Our where to stay in Japan guide compares every type.

Eating well is the cheapest part of Japan. Typical prices:

Izakaya add an otoshi seating charge of 300 to 500 yen per person, served as a small starter; it is normal. Top sushi and kaiseki counters charge the same at lunch and dinner and need reservations, often with a hefty cancellation fee.

A 7-day JR Pass at 50,000 yen only beats single tickets if you ride at least Tokyo-Kyoto-Hiroshima and back, or a loop through Kanazawa, inside seven days; for the Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka trip you save about 32,000 yen by not buying it. Every route is costed on our Japan itineraries page, and seat types, regional passes and luggage rules are on Japan trains and the JR Pass.

Many of the best things are free: Fushimi Inari, Senso-ji, Meiji Shrine, Nara Park, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government observatory, Shibuya Crossing, Tsukiji outer market, the Imperial Palace East Gardens and every city’s main shopping streets. Paid sights are cheap compared with Europe:

• Temples and shrines: 300 to 1,000 yen. Kinkaku-ji 500 yen, Kiyomizu-dera 500 yen, Todai-ji 800 yen, Nijo Castle 1,300 yen including the palace.
• Castles: Osaka Castle tower 1,200 yen; Himeji Castle 1,000 yen for residents with a higher 2,500 yen visitor price introduced in 2026 (check before you go); Matsumoto Castle 700 yen.
• Towers and views: Tokyo Skytree from 2,100 yen, Shibuya Sky about 2,500 yen, Umeda Sky Building 2,000 yen.
• Museums: national museums 700 to 1,000 yen; Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum 200 yen; Ghibli Museum 1,000 yen, by advance ticket only, sold on the 10th of the previous month.
• teamLab Planets and Borderless in Tokyo: 3,800 to 4,400 yen depending on date.
• Theme parks: Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea 7,900 to 10,900 yen a day by date; Universal Studios Japan from 8,600 yen, with Express Passes 10,000 yen and up on top.
• Onsen and sento: a public bath in Tokyo is 550 yen; day-use onsen 800 to 1,500 yen; towel rental 200 to 300 yen.
• Sumo: arena seats at the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka tournaments from about 3,800 yen, box seats 10,000 yen and up per person.
• Climbing Mount Fuji: 4,000 yen trail fee plus 10,000 to 15,000 yen for a mountain hut with meals.

Budget 1,500 to 3,000 yen a day for entries on a temple-heavy Kyoto itinerary and 10,000 yen for a theme-park day.

Beyond tickets, the small recurring costs:

• eSIM: 10 to 20 GB valid 15 to 30 days for 2,000 to 4,000 yen from Ubigi, Airalo, Mobal or Sakura Mobile; buy before you fly and activate on landing.
• Pocket Wi-Fi: 500 to 1,000 yen a day, collected at the airport; only worth it for a group.
• Airport SIM counters: 3,000 to 5,000 yen for 8 to 10 GB, pricier than an eSIM.
• Coin lockers: 400 to 700 yen for a small locker, 900 to 1,000 yen for a suitcase.
• Luggage forwarding: 2,000 to 3,000 yen per bag, next-day delivery between hotels.
• Laundry: 300 to 500 yen a wash in hotel coin laundries, 200 to 300 yen to dry.
• Tourist Tax: 3,000 yen International Tourist Tax on departure, already built into your air ticket, nothing to pay at the airport.

Cards work at hotels, chain restaurants, department stores, convenience stores, taxis in the big cities and most shops in tourist areas, and contactless Visa and Mastercard are now accepted on Tokyo, Osaka and many other subway gates. You still need cash for small restaurants and izakaya, ramen-shop ticket machines, temple entries, market stalls, rural ryokan, festivals and many bus fares. Carry 10,000 to 20,000 yen a day in cash as a backpacker, less if you lean on cards.

Get yen from the ATMs in 7-Eleven (Seven Bank), Lawson and Japan Post: they take foreign Visa, Mastercard, Plus, Cirrus and JCB cards, have English menus, and 7-Eleven’s run 24 hours. Seven Bank charges 110 to 220 yen per withdrawal on top of your own bank’s fee, so withdraw 30,000 to 50,000 yen at a time. Decline dynamic currency conversion (“convert to home currency”) when a terminal offers it; it costs 3 to 6 percent. Airport exchange desks give poor rates; use the ATM inside the terminal instead.

An IC card (Suica, Pasmo, ICOCA) is the other wallet: load it with cash at any station machine and tap for trains, buses, convenience stores, vending machines and coin lockers. The Welcome Suica for tourists has no 500 yen deposit, and iPhone users can add a Suica to Apple Wallet and top up with a foreign card. Cards from one region work everywhere except on some rural lines.

Consumption tax is 10 percent (8 percent on take-away food and drink), included in displayed prices by law. Visitors on a temporary stay can shop tax-free on purchases of 5,000 yen or more (before tax) in one shop on one day at stores marked Tax-Free; show your passport. From 1 November 2026 the system changes: you pay the full price in store and claim the refund at the airport or port when you leave, so keep goods unused and accessible and allow extra time. Don Quijote, Bic Camera, Uniqlo and the department stores all take part.

Accommodation tax is charged per person per night on top of your room rate: 100 to 200 yen in Tokyo (changing to 3 percent on rooms above 13,000 yen from April 2027), 200 to 500 yen in Osaka, and since March 2026 in Kyoto 200 yen on rooms under 6,000 yen rising to 1,000 yen at 20,000 yen and 10,000 yen on rooms of 100,000 yen or more. Onsen inns add a 150 yen bath tax. Luxury hotels and ryokan include a 10 to 15 percent service charge, which is why there is nothing to tip.

• Eat lunch out, dinner in: the teishoku set lunch at 1,000 to 1,500 yen is often the same kitchen that charges 5,000 yen at night. Make dinner a konbini or supermarket run.
• Supermarket discounts after 7pm: bento, sushi and side dishes get 20 to 50 percent off stickers (hangaku means half price) in the hour or two before closing.
• Skip the JR Pass unless the arithmetic above works; buy single Hikari tickets, or use highway buses (Willer, JR Bus) overnight between Tokyo and Kansai from 4,000 yen, which also saves a hotel night.
• Seishun 18 Kippu: 10,000 yen for 3 consecutive days or 12,050 yen for 5 on all JR local and rapid trains, sold only for the spring, summer and winter holiday seasons. Tokyo to Kyoto takes about 9 hours with changes, so it suits slow travellers heading along the coast or into Tohoku.
• Regional passes: the Hakone Free Pass (6,100 yen for 2 days from Shinjuku), Kansai Thru Pass, JR Kyushu passes and the Tokyo Subway Ticket beat the national pass for most trips.
• Free sights first: shrines, parks, river walks, department-store food halls, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government observatory and most castle grounds cost nothing.
• Sleep in Osaka, day-trip to Kyoto: 30 minutes and 580 yen each way on the JR special rapid, and hotels 20 to 40 percent cheaper.
• Konbini breakfast: an onigiri, egg sandwich and coffee for 500 yen; or pick a Toyoko Inn and get breakfast free.
• Tap water and vending machines: water is drinkable everywhere; a 100-yen shop (Daiso) covers umbrellas, chargers and souvenirs.
• Avoid Golden Week, Obon and cherry blossom week if the budget is tight; hotel rates jump 50 to 100 percent.

Per person, excluding international flights, based on the routes on our itineraries page:

For two people sharing hotel rooms, knock 15 to 20 percent off the per-person mid-range figure. Add 15,000 to 30,000 yen per person if you want a sushi omakase or a top kaiseki dinner, and 10,000 yen per theme-park day.

Since 2022 the yen has traded between roughly 140 and 160 to the US dollar, against about 110 in 2021, and similarly weak against the euro and the pound. Japanese prices in yen have risen only modestly over the same period, so for dollar and euro visitors a 1,000 yen bowl of ramen that cost US$9 in 2021 now costs under US$7, and the 50,000 yen JR Pass is about US$330 rather than US$450. The exception is hotels: Tokyo and Kyoto room rates have climbed well above pre-2020 levels because of record visitor numbers, which is why the daily budgets above put accommodation first. Check the live rate before you set a budget, carry a no-foreign-fee debit card for ATMs, and spend yen rather than pre-buying things at home in dollars; the local price is almost always better.

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