Is $5000 enough for Japan?
 

Hi,
We are from Detroit and are planning our 30th wedding anniversary in Japan
the 2nd&3rd wks in July (14days-hot weather no problem).

Could $5,000 cover expenses for two? Airfare(non-stop $1600?), hotels($100/day?), ground transportation, two meals per day($75?), fees for sightseeing and tours.

We prefer traveling alone, but a small group tour 10 people or less might be ok.
Cities will include Tokyo 3-4dys, Osaka 3dys (did a 4 day business trip 2 years ago),
Nagasaki or Hiroshima 2dys, Kyoto 3dys and maybe Sapporo, if possible.

We both like riding trains and buses, museums, parks, places of worship,
historical sites and scenic areas. We don’t mine a lot of walking.
The wife also likes shopping and restaurants.
We would like to come in contact with Americans while there. Are there places Americans tend to hang out?

I heard that some Japanese homes take in tourists for a night or two. Any information on that?

Thanks for any advice.

I think your budget for two weeks in Japan is possible as long as you are not including shopping. Airfare from the west coast to Japan seems to be running around $550 to $700 so I would imagine that $1600 for two from Detroit is quite possible. (NW?) You will need a 2 week JR train pass which is probably around $325 to $375 for two weeks which adds another $700 or so to your cost. You can easily eat for two for less than $75/day as long as you do not go very upscale in your restaurants and eat mostly in places like noodle shops and inexpensive sushi restaurants and the food markets of the ubiquitous department stores. Inexpensive Ryokans and business hotels should keep your lodgings cost down. So if you add 1600 airfare + 700 train + 1000 food this gives you 3300 and you have 1700 for places to stay for 2 weeks, misc travel expenses, fees etc. It would be a very tight budget but possible I think especially if you watch your meal expenses and lodging expenses.

It'll be very hard to find $800 airfares this July. I'm seeing around $1,000 at least. So, you have $400 less to work with.

Hi Rustee
We are in Japan now and have spent around $US170 per day on food, accommodation (business hotels (US110-US90)and extra transport (buses & subways). We have a JR 14 day pass which we have used extensively and have also splurged US300 per night for a ritzy hotel inc dinner and breakfast. Japan is very expensive and I would imagine $US5000 will not allow you many luxuries.

I just checked the American Airlines website, and they are still offering their special airfare to Nagoya, which would be $699 (not including fees) from Detroit (but you would have to connect in Chicago) from June 1 through July 15, 2005. It is my impression (although I have not been checking consistently) that they have been extending this special since early April, so they very well may extend it to include your travel dates. This is the site: http://www.aa.com/apps/netSAAver/Vie...tentRepository. Perhaps you can call and try to find out how early they issue their special airfares to see if your dates would be included.

I flew into Nagoya in April, and it is very easy to get to Kyoto by train just after arriving in Nagoya. Tokyo too, I would imagine, but would take a bit longer.

I think $5,000 is totally do-able, but you would probably need to select your accomodations with some extra effort. Part of the fun in planning, I think.

I traveled on my own and did not go on any tours, and I didn't miss them.

I also wanted to go to Sapporo, but was discouraged to do so b/c I was only there for a week. I think you should go for it. If you have the train pass and don't mind the travel time, you may as well see as much as you can.

Also, regarding the train pass, you might want to price it out to see if a 2 week pass is absolutely necessary. Maybe you can get away with a one week pass, spending your first or last week in Kyoto and Osaka, and paying the regular fare for that trip, not sure how much it is, but it's a short trip, as I recall.

Have fun planning!

If you chnaged your plans and went to Bangkok or the Philippines you would live like kings with that budget- we spend about $4500 for about 12 days in these areas and that includes 5 star hotels, Evergreen deluxe class on EVA Air from Houston and lots of shopping!

$5000 that should cover the price of half a watermelon...

well it's just a plain fact that your money in japan wont get you anywhere. I've been there twice and for the price I paid for a standared room at the intercontinental in in tokyo.. I could of stayed at some of the worlds top rated hotels anywhere in south east asia..

you said you already went too japan so you probably already have a feeling of what things cost.. $5000 may be duable but you most likely wont get you money's worth..

Possible...sure. But perhaps not as the special anniversary trip you might have in mind. Transportation within Japan is very expensive; just the bit of travel between cities will cost you quite a bit...a rail pass will likely save you money on trains. Local trains or buses are an option to save money, but they take much more time, and with only 14 days, I wouldn't spend a whole day getting from A to B.

You can easily find lunch for 1000 yen per person or less. Dinner can be cheap, too...buy take out food in the supermarket or department store basement floors food centers. Fast food is cheap. But if you want a restaurant dinner, count on spending 1500 yen per person at an absolute minimum...1500 yen per person is what my daughter and I spend at our regular Monday night place...it's a small, local, 4 tables place that no tourist would ever in a million years find. If we go to a place in the downtown area, then we spend more like 5000 yen for the two of us (1500 yen is usually spent on orange juice for her!).

Hotels...it's possible to find rooms for 10,000 yen a night or less. Business hotel chains, like APA, Tokyu, Sunroute, Toyoku Inns..there's tons more...have very, very small double or twin rooms for under 10,000 yen as a fairly usual price. These rates aren't even available if you call, speak Japanese and ask for the internet rate...they tell you to book it online. Problem for tourists is that these cheap rates are only available for online booking in the Japanese language hotel page...in English you get rack rate at 3 or 4 times that 10,000 yen price. Walking in is always possible, but the desk clerk may likely take one look at you and not budge from the rack rate. The other thing about business hotels is that they are clean and provide a bed to sleep in...that's about it. Breakfast isn't usually included in the cheap rates, and even when it's available for purchase, it isn't worth what you pay for it.

On the other hand, the much nicer hotels, that you'll pay more for, generally have an excellent breakfast buffet included in most rates and it's enough food to allow you to skip lunch. That might be something to consider...For example, the Hilton in Shinjuku is pretty luxe and 10 minutes walk to Shinjuku station. I just checked rates for a day in August when we'll be in Tokyo and found a rate with breakfast for 18,000 yen per room per night. About double your budget...but breakfast included (you'd spend about 2000+ yen to buy breakfast for two), it's a huge buffet so you can eat it like brunch and skip lunch (save another 2000+ yen), and personally I'd rather stay in a nice place over a business hotel any day.

About meeting other Americans...there are loads of foreigners living in Japan, but we've found that even in our small city where you get to know the other foreigners at least by face quickly easily, for the most part they aren't interested in meeting tourists or other foreigners really. We joke that it ruins their Japan experience to have contact with other foreigners. That doesn't mean you can't or won't meet people during your trip...just a warning that you might get the cold shoulder when you don't expect it.

Places that foreigners tend to gather at come in two basic styles...the young, teaching English after college, temporary stay crowd tend to gather in cheap bars known locally as gaijin bars. Those who are on corporate expat packages tend to be attracted to the fashionable restaurants and upscale night spots (and these places would no way be in a 2 weeks for $5000 budget). Then, there are the long term residents like us...we just go where we go without thinking about it, and honestly rarely encounter other foreigners.

Some cities do have homestay programs for tourists...the Japanese tourist info would be the place to start inquiries about that.

Tours...average $100.00 per person per day, sightseeing only.

In the end, I think your budget is possible, but I don't think you'd have the kind of trip a 30th anniversary deserves. I'd double the budget if possible, or limit your itinerary to one or two places in Japan to save on transportation, or consider another country entirely.

I would like to add that I too think that although I think it is possible to do Japan with your budget I would recommend increasing it if you can. I do not care for inexpensive Ryokans or business hotels and budget 2 to 3 times your amount for lodgings.
Cutting your locations down to 2 or 3 with day trips will possibly allow you to hold the costs abit with traveling. Would not do tours with your budget. Food is the least of your issues if you stay away from expensive restaurants. Personallly I can live on Ramen and Soba and the ocassional nice sushi bar. Cannot get decent soba or ramen easily in other parts of the world. You might be able to meet interesting expats if you find a hash house run during your visit to Japan.

No way I could do it for that budget, but the funny thing is that my parents could...and have money left over.

It all depends on our travel style. My folks are "hostel people" they love traveling that way and spent seven years (in their 60's mind you) traveling the world and staying in hostels most of the time. They love the types of people they meet in them.

While I stay in a small suite at $200 a night hotel in HKG, my folks stay in a hostel for on the side of Victoria's Peak for a week.

I have a moderate travel style - I don't go the cheapest routes nor do I go the most expensive.

What type of traveler are you? If you're anything like me $5000 is uncomfortably tight for two weeks in Japan.

If you really want to look into the possiblity of meeting and staying with Japanese host families, then check out the Servas organization. www.servas.org

Well... since this is your 30th wedding anniversary I should think you would want to do a trip in style, great hotels, lavish meals, etc. You just won't do that in Japan unless you want to significanly increase your budget- go to BKK, Bali, Philippines,Malaysia- all of these are great vacation spots and you can truely treat yourself to the world's great hotels for what you would pay for an ordinary one in Japan and everything else is going to be cheaper as well as so you can really live it up!

Bonjour Rustee,

~ $5000 is what we spent, mon and I, on our 2 last 3-4 weeks trips, including hotels (~ yen 10 000/night in good simple no-frills hotels like Hearton in Kyoto), transport, food, shopping, etc.

We weren't looking for anything fancy, though, and I'm familiar with Japan and can speak the language, which helps finding good bargains.

Since our threshold of comfort may vary, although you write you don't mind walking and using public transportation, your budget might be a little tight for such a special event (BTW, congratulations and I hope you'll ask fodorites for advice on your 60th anniversary's trip).

OTOH, a colleague of mine and his wife spent their best anniversary (20th) in Japan, years ago, when ATM were non existant and prices were higher than now. It was over a weekend, they were on their last few yens, had just enough money to pay for 1 night accomodation until the bank reopened and they could cash a cheque, spent the day walking through Nara and shared a bowl of noodles on the platform at the station. 20 years later, they still have a bowl of ramen on their anniversary ... \(^_^)/

As others have kindly posted here now & prior-check out www.toyoko-inn.com. Then check English box on left side. Their hotels are great value and include breakfast- for 2, around 8800 yen.

We are in Takamatsu on Shikoku island now and the room (418) we have is HUGE. We always book twin bed rooms-they are a little larger than doubles and no more expensive. Phone calls and internet are free and call back home for 3 mins cost 100 yen. They are exceptional value places to stay.

The Welcome INN chain have a tourist booking counter on level 9 of Isetan department store in the Kyoto Station Building, (open 10.00-18.00) along with a Govt info centre, luggage lockers and internet. Wonderful resource for travellers. The best hotel we stayed at in Kyoto (in our 2 visits-we just had to go back!) was Sanjo Karasuma Hotel, right near a subway-booked via Welcome Inn desk in Kyoto for 11000 yen-they gave us a free upgrade to level 7 and the room would be a 400 USD room in New York! Great big onsen bath with garden view! Just budget a little more and have a great time. Elainee here told me to spend a little extra and we are so glad we took her great advice. All the very best to you!

hombre; you make it sound like you don't like japan, but i know better, someone told me you love it. :-).