our Japan travel Cost calculator

If this budgeting process feels confusing or overwhelming, join the club. We agree. Because of that, we created a quick tool -- The Japan Travel Cost Calculator -- to help you estimate your total budget for your Japan trip. Click below and we'll send it to you. Get our calculator in downloadable form here.

cost estimates by category

These costs vary by season, specific travel dates, city, website, vendor, and many other factors. You should do additional research in order to arrive at your final budget estimates. Most of these cost estimates are per person.

For airlines, children's tickets are sometimes 10-15% cheaper than adults, while trains, buses, and metros offer 50% price reduction versus adult prices.

The links below take you to travel sites where you can find better pricing relevant to your specific plans.
AIRLINES
Where you're traveling from: First class:
  • Add 50-70% to the above prices
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GETTING AROUND
Metro (per adult)
  • Day pass = ~$6
  • This can be even cheaper with multi-day passes.
Train (per adult)
  • Japan Rail Pass is cheaper than one-way tickets
  • One-way: Tokyo & Kyoto = ~$150
  • Assumes Shinkansen, the fast bullet train
Bus (per adult)
  • From/to Narita airport
  • $11 
HOTELS
Type of hotel: Note:
  • These prices vary a lot based on day, location, etc.
FOOD
Luxury (average cost per day)
  • ~$53
  • Assumes breakfast ($40), lunch ($50), dinner ($70), and 30% cheaper for kids
Mid-range (average cost per day)
  • ~$20
  • Assumes breakfast ($15), lunch ($20), dinner ($25), and 30% cheaper for kids
Budget friendly (average cost per day)
  • ~$12
  • Assumes breakfast ($9), lunch ($12), dinner ($15), and 30% cheaper for kids
SIGHTSEEING
Temples, shrines, etc.
  • $5 per adult
Theme parks, water parks, etc.
  • $25 to $90 per adult
OTHER COSTS
Gifts
  • Assume $50-$250 per family
Miscellaneous (per day, per family)
  • Luxury = ~ $100
  • Mid-range = ~$40
  • Budget friendly = ~$15
Photos from Unplash: ​Jordy Meow, Editors Keys, G-R Mottez, Nik Lanús, Fabrizio Verrecchia, Cody Chan, Charles Postiaux, and  Plush Design Studio 
Disclosure to our readers:
While we wish that we were super wealthy and had no concerns about money ever, that's not true. (Big bummer.) As such,  as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. That is, we can earn small sales commissions on some of the links that we reference on our website (e.g., hotels, books, etc.). These are called affiliate links. Our affiliate partners include Amazon for now, with other partners to come soon. These fees help us pay for some of our time and travel in order to bring these tips and inspiration to you from and about Japan. Importantly, any fees we earn do NOT increase the prices of these products, hotels, and services for you. These costs remain the same for you, but we hope to make it more fun and less stressful to find what you need to prepare for your trip to Japan. We only recommend highly rated products, hotels, and services, as determined by our own personal experience or ratings of hundreds and thousands of other travelers. In a way, we aim to be like museum curators, but instead of showing you the finest art by painters whose names you can't pronounce, we instead want to make it easier to travel in Japan and have a super awesome and memorable Japan family travel experience! That said, we do not formally endorse any of the companies we link to. You should exercise careful judgement with any online purchase. Finally, we believe that travel and business should be forces of good in the world. As such, we allocate 25% of profits from Japan Family Travel to organizations that help families in Asia, African, and Latin America rise out of poverty through microfinance by growing their own small businesses. #HighFive #JapanRocks  
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