Japan travel just got a lot more expensive. But here’s why Australians will keep going

Increased demand has led to increased prices across tourist hotspot Japan.Credit: Getty Images

It’s just risen from an almost 20-year low against the USD and buys around 63 American cents. It hasn’t been this low against the euro since a brief period in 2020, and before that you would have to go back to 2009 to see a rate of 56 euro cents, which is where we’re at right now. We haven’t been this low against the British pound since 2015. Ouch.

That, obviously, is going to make many of our favourite holiday destinations more expensive.

The US is very expensive right now (particularly once you factor in cost-of-living increases that pretty much everyone is saying will be the result of the trade war with China, the country that makes all their stuff). The euro zone is punchy right now for Australian travellers, to say the least. The UK is the same.

Japan, too, is becoming noticeably more expensive, though there’s more to that than just the exchange rate.

This country is an incredibly popular tourist destination, not just among Australians, and that increased demand is leading to higher prices for things such as hotels and airfares. There’s also a rising cost of living in Japan, as there is everywhere, which means staples such as food and drink cost more for visitors, too.

Will this stop Australians travelling to Japan? Will people be altering their travel plans and looking instead to, say, New Zealand, where the exchange rate is steady and working in our favour?

My feeling is no. If you could afford Japan before, you can afford it now. It’s just that those holidays might include a few more konbini dinners than they used to (which is no hardship when you can put together an oyako-sando, a convenience store egg sandwich with a fillet of fried chicken, for about $5).

Staples such as food and drink cost more for visitors.Credit: iStock

You might step down your accommodation in Japan a few notches, which is easy in a country with so many comfortable options. You might drink beers in tachinomi – friendly, no-frills, standing-room-only bars – rather than fancier izakaya. You might avoid shinkansen fares and keep your explorations to a narrower radius.

Essentially, it will take more than a small price rise to dissuade Australians from their obsession with the Land of the Rising Sun.

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Elsewhere, things could change more dramatically. The US, for reasons that are clear and that I have discussed here many times, has already become a far less attractive prospect (especially while Australians are being summarily detained at the border and having their electronic devices searched).

That could mean a trip to Canada instead. Or, you know, maybe Japan.

European destinations will suffer, too. Europe was already an expensive place to visit – expensive to get to, expensive to stay in, expensive to exist in – so it’s likely some travellers will put off that dream holiday for a few years. More affordable destinations in Asia will seem a better option.

Maybe, you know, Japan. Because the dream is over in some ways. But it’s still one of the world’s great destinations.