How Expensive is Japan? Food, Trains, Admission Fees, Flights & Hotel Prices in 2024

How much I spent during my Japan trip in 2024, including food, trains and admission fees, plus flights and hotels.

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Tokyo’s often perceived as an expensive place, but prices are actually pretty reasonable, especially for restaurants and transport. On my recent Japan trip in spring 2024, I recorded everything I spent during the 2 week trip. I used an app called TravelSpend to categorise all my travel expenses – and here are the totals! The video covers how much I spent on food and eating out, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks and snacks, plus transport on trains, the Tokyo Metro and the shinkansen, as well as my regional Japan Rail Pass. Then there’s a round-up of admission fees for tourist attractions, with daily averages, and how much I spent on tickets for Universal Studios Japan. After that, there are daily averages to give you an idea of how much spending money you might need on your trip, and then what I spent on hotels in Kyushu and Tokyo, and the cost of direct flights from the UK in Economy and Premium Economy with Japan Airlines, including an internal flight from Tokyo to Fukuoka.

00:00 Intro
02:13 Food
03:30 Trains
12:43 Long distance travel
14:10 Admission fees
17:22 Daily averages
20:13 Hotels
21:46 Flights

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Hi it’s Amy from K’s faces I’ve just got back from Japan from a trip to kushu and Tokyo where I recorded every single thing I spent to give you an idea of how expensive things are in Japan and how much money you might need for your trip I’ve made spreadsheets I’ve got graphs

I’ve got all the information based on my real life experiences as a tourist in Japan this year in 2024 I’m going to cover food transport and admission fees and total for what I spent on cheaper days and more expensive days we’re focusing on what you spend while you’re

There but at the end of the video I’ll mention how much I spent on hotels and flights because people always ask I used an app called travel spend to keep note of everything it converts the amounts to your home currency so you can understand straight away how much everything was it

Records the locations and you can categorize them you can get it on Android and iPhone there’s a free version or if you upgrade to the paid version you can upload a photo of your receipt but I think for most people the free version would do the job I’ve not

Included spending money for shopping or games arcades because those amounts can vary a lot depending how much you choose to spend I’ll say the amounts in Yen and I’ll put the amounts in British pounds and US Dollars on the screen at the moment the exchange rate is really good

Which makes everything that little bit cheaper so just be aware that in the future that may change this isn’t about how to have a budget trip or save money if you watch my videos You’ll Know My Style I’m not particularly trying to save money I want to enjoy my time in

Japan and do what I want to do but I also don’t really have very expensive taste we’re not that extravagant and particularly on this trip we didn’t really eat at very expensive places for example we’re more than happy with conveyor belt Sushi coca Curry and just normal places that aren’t that expensive

And my Japan guide book has pages to help you budget your trip based on the number of days and what you plan to do it also has helped with booking everything right from the start you can get it from cakes with faces. co.uk with Worldwide shipping please buy as much as

You can from my shop especially when you hear how much the flights were first let’s talk about food we ate out every day there was no self-catering so the total for the 13-day trip including drinks and snacks was 59,500 Yen per person which comes out as

An average of 4,5 577 Yen per person per day I think prices for food in Japan are very reasonable and the quality is excellent even at cheap places this time I don’t think we really had very expensive meals so here’s some examples to give you an idea of what we had for

Breakfast we’d most often go to a bakery Japanese bakeries are amazing there are so many delicious options or we’d go to a convenience store where you can get oniri rice balls or Bakery items which are good but not as good as the proper Bakery and I really like these yogurt

Smoothie drinks that would cost around 600 to 1,000 yen for two people some days we didn’t have breakfast and went straight into an early lunch cocoa Curry opens at 11:00 a.m. or maybe we’ have some Ramen on to lunch we used to have convenience store items for lunch and

That is a really good budget option but we both really like Japanese food so now we try and make the most of the limited number of meals you have during your trip so mostly this time we went for a lightish meal for lunch here’s some examples a guoa restaurant was 3350 Yen

For two people for several plates of guoa with side orders of edame and tofu a fast food lunch at mossberger was 1,830 Yen for two people for burgers fries and drinks Ramen at Udo a Ramen chain was 3730 Yen for a bowl of ramen each a in

And we shared a plate of 10 GZA there are many cheaper aren places but we are a bit limited because of me being vegetarian lunch at a local restaurant in Nagasaki prefecture was only 2,000 Yen for a toast set with salad this toast was delicious a tkim udon noodle

Bowl and I also had a melon soda float on another day we grabbed lunch at the station to take on the shinan sent I had a veggie Bento for 580 Yen and Phil had a very fancy katsu sand sandwich a lot fancier than the ones from the

Convenience store for 1,080 Yen we had lunch at Yayo Ken a chain restaurant that does t shaku set meals with all different little dishes rice and miso soup for 1,880 Yen for two people and our favorite cocoa Curry is amazingly cheap you get a satisfying meal to set you up

For the day 2500 yen is about the average for two people maybe up to 3,000 yen if we had extra sides like a n bread and lots of toppings it’s always fantastic value and so good on to dinner and again we don’t really go anywhere that fancy here’s some examples and most

Of these include alcoholic drinks Cai first conveyor belt CI at kuras Sushi which is a chain with branches everywhere we always go several times because it’s so good and this time we spent between 2780 Yen and 4,170 Yen for two people depending how hungry we were bear in mind that I don’t

Really eat that much and for me I always have the veggie rolls which are the cheapest plates although even the upgraded plates aren’t that expensive most conveyor belt sushi places are pretty cheap we did go to one that was a bit pricier that was 6,510 Yen for two people and that was

Actually the most expensive meal of the trip at a small economy Yaky restaurant we had an economy aaki each with a beer and a lemon sour for 3,500 Yen a temper meal was 2750 Yen for two people with temper rice and miso soup plus drinks one pricey

Meal we had was at a Tepanyaki restaurant that was 5570 Yen for two people we had our own private booth with tatami mats it was a great experience we ordered a lot an economy Yaki each with extra toppings and they were really big plus drinks edamame and guoa because we went M need

To cheaper place this is this time completely unintentionally here’s an example of a more expensive Splash out meal from my last trip in 2023 it was in Kyoto at a small Tepanyaki restaurant which was 10,590 Yen for two people we had a fantastic meal including wagu beef and

Lots of different dishes plus a sake flight for me and beers it was totally worth it there’s a video about it on my channel and finally on to drinks and snacks machines are everywhere in Japan so you’ll mostly be buying drinks from them they cost mostly between 140 to 180

Yen each sometimes you can even see them for 100 yen on to snacks at this charming little cafe for 250 Yen we had cake and the local speciality mchi I loved this traditional match up and the place was gorgeous a local umig Moi filled with sweet red bean paste was 150

Yen popcorn at Universal Studios Japan was was 550 Yen and a jaw’s hot dog was 850 Yen two cakes from Cozy Corner for 1,035 Yen coolish ice creams from a vending machine were 180 Yen each thick milkshakes from Shake Shack worth 626 Yen each I had black sesame and it was

Delicious most of our drinks are from vending machines but if you go into a cafe to rest your feet you’ll obviously be paying a bit more for example we went to the Yamaha Cafe in Ginza which which is an upmarket area of Tokyo where all the designer shops are for 1,400 Yen we

Had a fruit juice and I had the Sakura soda float in the evening we’re usually exhausted so instead of going out we usually grab some drinks and snacks from the convenience store to take back to the hotel room our typical order would be beer and a cheu high that’s shotu and

Soda so two alcoholic drinks plus two snacks and maybe a soft drink and that usually comes to about 800 to 950 Yen depending what you get now on to transport which is another major category for your expenses when you’re in Japan I use a su card an IC card to

Pay for my trains it’s valid for the Tokyo Metro local trains trams and buses in most places in Japan I won’t go into all the details about it here but trains in Japan are run by lots of different companies and sua is valid for everything so it’s definitely the

Easiest option if you want to know more I do have a video about how to get around Tokyo it’s a few years old but most of the information is still valid over the 13-day trip I topped up my syca card 8,000 Yen that’s just for one

Person I did spend 500 yen of that on a locker which brings it down to 7,500 Yen which comes out to about 576 Yen per day on average there were some days where I didn’t really use it that much where I walked around and other days where I

Seemed to burn through credit and I definitely used my CA card more when I was in Tokyo I should also mention that having been to Tokyo many times my plans might be a bit different to yours on the first trip to Tokyo I wasn’t trying to

Cover all the main areas in a few days so if it’s your first trip you might be traveling more on the train and your cost might be a bit higher so from my time when I was in Tokyo here’s what I spent each day the average was 96 Yen

Per day for one person the lowest was 450 Yen on that day I stayed local to where I was staying and walked around then took a couple of very short trips later in the day when my feet were hurting the highest was 1,621 Yen on that day I went all the way

Across the city to ginsa for lunch and then onto a diber the euram line to a diber always seem slightly more pricey than the other lines and on that day I went the whole length of the line twice and back and forth quite a bit and it

Did add up sometimes people ask me about day passes for train in Tokyo because they’re worried that when you use an IC card there’s no daily cap on fairs so there’s no limit to what you could spend per day but in my opinion the trains in Tokyo aren’t that expensive especially

Compared to places like London so I’ve never really found they’ve added up too much to worry about if you’ll be crisscrossing the city and going to lots of different places taking lots of trains a day pass probably will save you money but you need to be aware that most

Of the passes aren’t valid for all the trains so there will be times when you’ll have to take a roundabout route which will take more time the cheapest day pass is the Tokyo subway ticket which is500 Yen for 72 hours that’s 3 days on the face of it that would save

You money compared to what I spent but it’s only valid for Tokyo Metro lines it doesn’t include the Jr lines in Tokyo while the Tokyo Metro lines as you can see are very comprehensive the Jr lines are so useful especially if you’re staying near a Jr Line station there’s

The Jr yamot line which goes around the city and the Chio subu line goes directly across the middle of the city it’s the most overlooked line which is so useful there is a path that includes those Jr lines and the Tokyo Metro that one is, 1600 Yen per day which is more

Than I spent every day apart from that most expensive day and what bumped the price up on that day was the EUR line to diber which isn’t included in that pass you can get a day pass just for the euram line which is 820 Yen for the day

And that would have saved me money on that ad diber day but in real life are you really going to spend time working all this out you need to plan out what you’re doing each day and which pass is the best for which day if you are on a

Strict budget a day pass will save you money especially that Tokyo subway ticket if you’re okay with not taking the Jr line but otherwise I’d recommend IC cards because they’re easier and they’re valid for everything you don’t have to worry about it in my experience local trains in Japan aren’t that

Expensive so your costs aren’t likely to spiral out of control next on to longdistance trains I take a shinh Canen trip from Osaka to Tokyo which was 12,370 Yen per person and a single shansen trip between fukoka and kokura was 3,78 n for a short 16-minute Journey

The shinkansen isn’t cheap but it does get you there quickly and it is an amazing experience part of my trip was in kushu so I got a regional Jr pass just for Northern kushu that covered bullet trains and trains run by Japan Railways in that area it didn’t cover

Local trains run by other companies or things like the Fukuoka Subway or the trams in Kumamoto and Nagasaki or buses so I did still use my Su card during that time as well that was 14,000 Yen per person for a 5-day pass for Northern cuu the longest trip I took between

Fukuoka and Nagasaki would have been 12,100 Yen per person for the return trip so that alone was almost as expensive as the pass without that long trip individual tickets would have been cheaper I also took a night Ferry for 32480 Yen for two people it is quite an

Unusual option I’ve never taken one in Japan before if IID taken the shinkansen for the same Journey it would have been 14,810 Yen each so the ferry cost less than paying for the train and a hotel for the night next onto admission fees we’re talking about tickets for tourist

Attractions and things you have to pay to get into the total spent on admission fees over the 13-day trip was 2,880 Yen for two people compared to my previous trip in 2023 we actually spent a really similar amount on that time it was 24,840 Yen for two people on a 2E trip

To Toyo Kyoto and Osaka I should say that total doesn’t include 10,775 Yen spent on karaoke for two people that was over three visits with drinks karaoke isn’t cheap but it’s so much fun so here are some example prices for you an aquarium was 290 Yen per

Person the ropeway in in Nagasaki was 1,250 Yen per person to see one of Japan’s top night views the Nagasaki Peace Museum was 200 yen per person they keep the admission fees low so everyone can go it was 700 Yen for kushu national museum team lab forest in fukuro was

2,200 Yen and team lab borderless in Tokyo was more than that at 4,000 Yen but it is bigger to get into Shinjuku Park was 500 yen most parks are free but for the this one and for Japanese gardens you pay we also went to Universal Studios which I’ll mention

Separately because theme parks are expensive the tickets were 9,400 Yen each which I think isn’t too bad compared with other major theme parks around the world but we also got Express passes because we only had one day there and the cues are so long and they were expensive at

17,800 Yen each much more than the actual tickets themselves you’ll probably find a lot of the things you do especially in Tokyo don’t really have admission fees like when you’re just walking around exploring an area and seeing what it’s like for example in Harajuku and akih Habra the only cost is

Your spending money for shopping and games arcades which is as much as you want it to be many temples and shrines are free and for the ones that do have admission fees they’re usually only a few hundred Yen I’m always amazed how major shrines and temples even in places

Like Kyoto cost so little to visit it I know they’re religious places not tourist attractions but that’s not always the case with religious buildings in other countries for example kiom midera in Kyoto is 400 Yen per person King Kakui the golden temple is 500 yen

Fimi Inari Shrine is free and so is Seno G the oldest Temple in Tokyo and also Magi jingu Shrine and to give you an idea of other admission frees here are some things we didn’t do on this trip but that you might do on your first trip

To Jaan Shu your Sky the observation deck is 2,200 Yen the sky tree is 1,800 or 2700 Yen depending on if you go all the way to the top deck the Moray art museum is 1,800 Yen for their current exhibition Tokyo national museum is 1,000 yen and the aquarium in E buaro is

2,800 Yen next to give you an idea of how much money you might need I’ve worked out the total I spent per day now this doesn’t include flights accommodation or the night Ferry the average spent per day for food transport and admission fees was 6,580 Yen per person I’ve taken the cost

Of the Universal Studios tickets off that total because it throws the average off but it does include the money I spent on karaoke you will also need spending money for shopping and things like games arcades and gipon I compared that to my previous trip in 2023 the average on that trip was was

6538 Yen per day which is such a similar amount although yours could be different if you have a different style of traveling the most expensive day was Universal Studios day because of those expensive Express passes and the tickets and food was a bit pricier there too theme parks are always expensive the

Next most expensive was a day trip from Kumamoto to shimabara which is the city of swimming carp and mount unen on that day we spent $9,000 135 Yen per person it was a bit of an adventure going on a ferry and various modes of transport and we also had our most expensive dinner

That day the cheapest day was our arrival day when we spent 2,876 Yen per person I think it was because we didn’t really do much we were exhausted so we just strolled around had a light lunch and dinner and then went to sleep early so that’s how to save

Money in Japan the next cheapest day was 3,870 Yen per person that was a day in Tokyo we went to Shinjuku Park to see some early cherry blossoms had Ramen then in the afternoon we didn’t do any particular tourist attractions we just walked around ginsa spent several hours

In a stationary shop and then went to a diver and had conveyor Bel Sushi dinner I feel like these totals might be a little bit misleading because if it’s your first trip to Tokyo you probably be doing different things and you might be going to more tourist attractions that

Cost a bit more so as an example I’m also going to include a day from my previous trip in 2023 when we did some more tourist attraction type things and it was more like a first trip to Tokyo sort of day on that day we spent 13545 Yen per person that included

Snacks around siki market for breakfast/lunch which did add up quite a bit we had quite a few things each then we did two ticketed tourist attractions small worlds Tokyo and team lab planets for dinner we had shabby shaboo Hot Pot which turned out to be pricier than most

Dinners we’ve had in Japan at 7,370 Yen for two people it’s not expensive compared to the UK but it is for Japan compared to what we usually pay next onto hotels now don’t take too much notice of these prices because hotel prices change throughout the year

Location affects the price a lot you pay different amounts on weekdays compared to weekends sometimes there are deals I know other people stayed in the same hotels I’ve stayed in and paid different amounts and prices fluctuate so much especially these days but people always ask so here’s what I paid for my hotels

In fukoka I paid 8815 per night for a standard double room it’s not the cheapest hotel and nothing particularly fancy close to the main Hakata station in fukoka in kumoto it was £ 10865 per night for a kumamon themed room I can’t wait to show you the room

Tour of this one it’s actually a really big room with two beds right by kumoto station which isn’t the city center but it’s a convenient location and kumamon in Tokyo it was £1 16162 per night for a double room at the hotel gracery which is the Godzilla

Hotel in Shinjuku in kabukicho I like this hotel I’ve stayed there before you can get cheaper hotels you can get more expensive hotels but it’s in a perfect location we had a fantastic view of Tokyo from the 18th floor and most importantly Godzilla on the roof so the overall average is

947 for hotels at the end of February start of March which is the very end of the offseason at the start of spring and finally flights just like hotels flight prices change so much throughout the year and obviously it depends where you’re flying from whether you’re flying

Direct or indirect and which airline you choose this time I flew with Japan Airlines direct from London to Japan I flew economy on the way out and premium on the way back I wanted to do premium both ways because it’s such a long 14-hour flight these days but premium

Economy is so expensive I did film them both and I’ll be making a video comparing economy with premium so you can decide if it’s worth it so subscribe if you want to catch that the price also includes One internal flight from Tokyo to f foka which we booked all together

So we landed in fukoka then worked our way up through Japan and flew back from Tokyo if you want to visit kushu or Hokkaido that is a really good way to save yourself some traveling time and if you book it all together with your international flights it often doesn’t

Cost that much more so the total for all of that for two people was 2,657 22 which is so much more than it used to be but everything’s more expensive these days especially flights and they are having to go the long way around at the moment so that is just how

It is and well done to you if you manage to get cheaper flights than that there are cheaper Airlines and it does cost less if you fly indirect or sometimes you can catch deals or sales so I hope that gives you an idea of how expensive things are in Japan Tokyo in particular

Has a reputation for being expensive but really I think it’s the flights and hotels that are the expensive part of your trip and then once you’re there it’s not too bad obviously it also depends what prices you’re used to in your country but compared to the UK

Japan is a lot less expensive especially for things like food and also compared to California where I went last year so there’s lots more help for planning your Japan trip on my channel so have a look at my other videos and I’ll see you soon next week on Thursday [Applause] bye-bye [Applause] [Applause]