People say Japan is one of the most expensive places to travel to. I've talked to several people and asked how much they've spent in Japan and responses I got were between 50,000 to as high as 100,000. So we took on the challenge to experience Japan on a low budget while still enjoying the same quality of experience during our travel.
Here's what we've spent for EACH person (for 7 days, 6 nights, 4 cities):
We spent total of 40,000 which is similar to what others' spent, but this is already all in including airfare, travel taxes, visa, shopping, and accommodation!
If you remove all these, here's what we've really spent on daily expenses:
Our total daily expense in Japan is 21,723 pesos each. This already includes 6 nights of accommodation, visits to 4 cities (Nara, Kyoto, Osaka, Tokyo), expenses for 6 days on food and transportation, entrance fees (including Disneyland Ticket and other tourist spots). This is a bit similar (or even cheaper) than what we've spent in Korea which is a much cheaper location.
How did we do it?
1. Don't book round trip tickets in one city. Book airline ticket going to Osaka and book return flight to Manila from Tokyo. This will save you tons of time and money as trains are extremely expensive.
2. Don't get JR Pass (worth Php 13,000 for 7 days unlimited) unless you plan to go to several cities (apart from those we've mentioned). Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, and Kobe are nearby so it does not cost a lot of money to go to each places. Osaka to Tokyo will cost you more than Php 4,000 one way if you ride the bullet train but if you ride the sleeper bus, it will cost you around Php 1,760 and will save you one night of hotel fee. Bullet trains do not have night time travel so you need to pay for hotel plus bullet train fee. If you will ride the bus, book it online as you can get web discounts. Our total transportation cost is only about Php 7,000 total for 7 days including visits to 4 different cities.
3. Get unlimited 1-day bus pass in Kyoto worth Php 420. This is almost all you need to go around entire Kyoto. We went temple hopping (around 5) with this bus pass (and a lot of walking!). If you don't get an unlimited bus pass, each bus ride will cost you Php 100, and you'll be riding buses more than 10 times if you want to go around the city.
4. Book the cheapest accommodation. We literally booked the cheapest of all: Php 833 for both of us per night in Osaka and Php 2,430 per night in Tokyo. We also saved 1 night hotel due to the sleeper bus when we went from Osaka to Tokyo, and we also saved by NOT booking in Kyoto as hotels there are much more expensive than Osaka.
5. Never ride the Taxi! Not even once!
6. Eat heavy! Food prices in Japan are similar regardless if it's in Food court, convenient store, restaurants, or even street food and they are all generally expensive. There is no way to save on food cost aside from eating less frequently but with more quantity. We still selected specialty food that we want to eat (like Ichiran and Sushi dai) but we only ate 2-3 times a day and did not get tempted to always buy snacks. If you plan to go to Disney, eat a lot of food prior to going there because food is very expensive.
7. Water is Gold!!! So bring water bottle anywhere you go. There are refilling water fountain in some train stations and a lot as well in Disneyland. We saved thousands of pesos by not buying water because water bottles costs at least Php 50 and imagine how much it will cost you if you keep buying water for 7 days.
8. Wifi stick is not needed. A lot of people say you absolutely need wifi in Japan. However, we did not get wifi sticks because it is very expensive. The internet that we get from the hotel and also in some shops were enough for us to research and post our pictures. However, you'll definitely need to get wifi if you did not research prior to your trip.
9. Most important - research!!! Make sure you fill up your itinerary to maximize your day and spend less on transportation. We initially planned to go to Kyoto for 2 days, but we completed everything in 1 day which saved us a lot of cost on transportation and it allowed us also to visit Nara with the same budget. Each train ride even if it's only 1 station costs Php 50-100. So make sure you walk from one place to another even if it's a bit far and plan your itinerary in a way that it follows a logical flow based on proximity to each other. Research also on things you can skip doing or entering (ex. some temples are not worth entering including famous tourist spots like Osaka Castle and Skytree).
Disclaimer: This is an old post from my Blogspot account dated October 31, 2014.
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