How Much Does It Cost?

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From We3travel: Japan is a great first destination for American tourists looking to travel to Asia. It offers a unique taste of East Asian culture, in a highly-developed, Western-influenced setting. If Japan is on your bucket list but you are wondering “how much does it cost to go to Japan?”, that answer can sometimes be a lot. The Japan trip cost is the main reason it took us so long to finally take a family trip to Japan.
The bottom line is that the Japan trip cost for a two-week trip for a family of four, staying in four-star level accommodations with a few paid activities will cost about $13,420 or $280 per person, per day.

With Mike and myself, our daily cost will be about double that, since we always get separate rooms. I figure closer to $100 to $150 a day for food and drinks. And it is high season!

Starting with airfare, the normal fare is between $1200 to $2000. Ours is higher since we are flying Singapore Airlines business class.

April is high season in Japan due to sakura or cherry blossom season. Most good "local" hotels are taken by the locals. We were able to find rooms under $300, and also used Marriott points in Nagoya (my grandparents hometown).

Metro tickets only run about $4.00 per day. Longer distances, from Tokyo to Nagoya, then on to Kyoto and return will require a ticket for the Shinkansen (bullet train). The ticket will run about $400, which is much less than a 14 day pass.

As I expect, food will be our most expensive line item. We expect to dine at many Michelin star restaurants.

A few excursions will also add to our price tag. These would be a baseball game, sumo match, cycling tour, fish market tour, and a few museums and temples.

In reality, Mike and I have never traveled on a budget. Why start now?

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