128: Japan Costs
I found this unposted blog which I wrote a while ago.. not much has changed since so just for the record a few thoughts on Japan Travel Costs…
I think there must be some serious holes in my pockets cos my money is disappearing at such an incredible rate that I do almost wonder if this country is worth it 😉 I said almost
I have not　really compard my expenses here with those in SE Asia but the amount of money I have taken out of th ATM since I arrived here is scary! And that is me REALLY watching my money! I do not go　for the first restaurant I see (mostly impossible anyway since I can’t read Japanese). I eat pretty much as cheap as I can. Accomodation is on the lower end but not the very cheapest since I rate cleanliness higher than cost;-)
With some luck I can get by with a daily expense of (200 yen = 1 pound)
Room 5000 – 7000 Yen (sofar mostly 5000)
Breakfast 600 yen
Lunch 800 yen (mostly skip this)
Cheapish Dinner 1300-2000 yen
Regular Dinner 4000 yen and up
Sight seeing:
Entry fees 300-500 yen per Temple/special transport (Lift, Cablecar etc)
Travel:
I have a Japan Rail Pass which cost abour 260 pounds and it helps a lot cutting costs but some extra expenses still exists..
Bus Day Pass in places where there is no subway: 1000..1500 yen
Train Supplement: 1500-2000 yen (typical addon price to my Rail Pass if using non-Japan Rail train)
Subway : 400-900 yen per day for 2-4 trips
Internet 1000 yen per hour or more
On average I probably spend about 10000 Yen per day if I’m careful. On a sightseeing day with several sights plus extra transport I might spend another 2000-4000 yen on top of that.
That’s a staggering 50-70 pounds per day. The F-Word would be appropriate here!
OK it can be done cheaper but probably not that much cheaper. Youth Hostels are maybe 3000-5000 yen depending on location plus less convenient location wise and most have ridiculous curfews. Self-Catering was not an option sofar except in Nikko and Kawaguchi-Ko where I had a kettle in the room.. hooray I could have some soup noodles for 150 yen instead of 1200 in the local ramen restaurant 😉
Update:
By now my Japan Rail Pass has finished so from now on I also pay for train rides.
This is expensive even without using Shinkansen but luckily I remain in Kyoto area now and only do a few side trips in the area.. For this I can get a 4-day JR West Kansai Pass which costs 6000 yen. As a comparison I just spent 5130 Yen to get from Takamatsu to Kyoto which is a 3 hour trip by local trains so not exactly very long distance (Shinkansen takes about half of that time I think but is also about twice as expensive)
Tags: RTW 2005/2006
saschas
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