How Much I Really Spent In Japan
By Kelli Luu | 13 Jun, 2026

Some believe Japan is an out of budget trip that will break the bank, but after spending more than a week traveling through the country, I discovered that many everyday expenses were cheaper than I expected.

Kelli (00:00)

Welcome back to the Gold Sea Podcast. I'm Kelli Luu and today I'm going to be continuing my series about my recent trip to Japan. One of the most asked questions that I got as soon as I got back was: how much did Japan actually cost?

So I spent about a week in Japan visiting Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo. And I tracked pretty much everything. I saved all the receipts. So if you're thinking about going to Japan and wondering how much money you should really budget, this episode is for you. Because I'm going to break down exactly what I spent on flights, hotels, transportation, food, shopping, attractions,

and honestly after adding everything up I realized that Japan wasn't nearly as expensive as I thought it was going to be compared to trips to Europe and other places Japan was very reasonable so let's start with flights and hotels

I went with my boyfriend, it was us two, and we booked a package through Expedia that included our round trip flight from Los Angeles to Kansai Airport, which was near Osaka, and we stayed seven nights at Hotel Trusty in Osaka.

The location of Hotel Trusty was beautiful. We were right by Dotonbori which was the nightlife of Osaka. The hotel is very walkable distance from many things. And overall we really liked our experience at Hotel Trusty

So the total for our flight and hotel package was $2,765. So now that's obviously a big number, but when you think about it,

That's covering international airfare and accommodations for an entire week. like I said, compared to other international destinations, I thought that that was a pretty nice number.

When booking your flight, I definitely recommend booking it in advance because you will find a little bit of the cheaper packages. Another thing was the fact that we did go during April, which is cherry blossom season. So tourism is very high during that time of year, during April and May, I believe.

We also took a domestic flight from Osaka to Tokyo, and that flight was from Osaka International Airport to Haneda Airport, and that cost $112 per ticket. So $224 total for two.

Now you can take the bullet train from Osaka to Tokyo, but the bullet train was around the same price for a ticket.

The bullet train cost about a hundred dollars for a train ticket and the flight was only $112. The bullet train also takes two hours while the flight was about an hour and a half.

We decided to fly because we felt like it was an easier option

And it was just more convenient for us.

We also stayed in Tokyo. It was a very last-minute decision.

We booked a hotel at the Prince in Shinjuku. We were right in the middle of all of the action. Walking across the street, there's so many stores, there's nightlife, there's bars, there was so much around the Prince Hotel. It was much more expensive though, because we did book it the day of very last minute.

We were walking down a strip of hotels and we were walking into each one asking if they had any spare rooms that night. All of them were telling us no. But the Prince Hotel was able to accommodate us and we did pay $462 for that hotel for two nights. Much pricier, but it was last minute and it was a higher end hotel.

Now for transportation, Japan has some of the best public transportation that I've seen in my life. And the MVP of this trip was definitely the Suica card. So if you have not been to Japan, a Suica card is basically a reloadable transit card that works on trains, buses, convenience stores, even vending machines, and some clothing stores except Suica as well.

So each time you load your Suica card, you can do a max of 20,000 yen. I did that twice, then added another 10,000 yen later on in the trip. So that comes out to around 50,000 yen total, which is 312 US dollars. The Suica card made traveling so easy. Instead of having to buy a train ticket every single time you want to get on a train, you just tap your card and go. I definitely recommend loading it.

it before you even get on your flight to Japan because you don't want to be scrambling around having to download the Suica app and then load your card up while you're in the airport or while you're trying to get around at the train station.

Depending on where you're traveling, the train rides ranged from about 270 yen to 1400 yen, which was roughly about $1.70 to $9 per trip. Every time you complete your trip, it does pop up in your phone notifications how much exactly the trip costs. If you're going from one city, it was only 270 yen. If you're going further out, about 40 minutes out, that's when it got to around 1400.

When you consider how clean, fast, and reliable the train system is, this was the best value for transportation. I would definitely recommend taking the bullet train. We did take the bullet train back from Tokyo to Osaka. Again, the train tickets are about $100 each for that.

And a bullet train ride is definitely a once in a lifetime experience as well so I would definitely recommend getting on one if you can.

Even though the train system is so amazing, we still used Uber quite a bit. So Uber was very helpful in more stressful situations. The train station can get a little bit difficult to navigate if you are running late and you are feeling that pressure.

Even though a lot of the signs are in English, they're written in Japanese and in English, but it still does get very overwhelming and very overstimulating in that train station. if you have to be somewhere at a certain time and you are running late and you can't find your train platform, that's stressful.

So in situations like that, we did order an Uber just to avoid all kinds of stress that we might have about being late.

So transportation definitely added up more than I expected. We spent a total of $606.35 on Ubers. We also did have a layover in Hong Kong. We had a nine hour layover. We spent another $71.20 on Uber rides from the airport to the Ritz Carlton, which was where we were having dinner at. I definitely recommend doing a longer layover because it was just very

worth it being able to spend that time in another country as well. Kind of made the trip feel a little bit more worth it because we got to go to two different countries instead of just one.

Our meal ended up being $132 US dollars. We were at the highest bar in all of China and the view overlooks Kowloon Bay and Victoria's Peak. The restaurant is beautiful. It's called Ozone, and it was just stunning.

So, another expense people forget about is phone service. We both purchased international eSIM plans through our carrier T-Mobile. This plan costed us $35 for five days. And because we were there for over five days, we did have to purchase it twice. Not a huge expense, but it's definitely something that people should budget when they're planning out their trip because you don't want to be stuck over there and not know what to do about your phone service.

Now let's talk about cash. One thing that I learned is that Japan is very much a cash friendly place. When we arrived, we went to a 7 Eleven ATM, which was the easiest way to get cash. We just insert our normal bank card and withdrew it. Very easy.

Throughout the trip, we withdrew $300 four different times, which was a total of twelve hundred dollars that we took out in cash. This cash was used for food vendors, smaller shopping things, convenience stores. We used it at the bars, at the temples when you're buying the souvenirs, just smaller purchases throughout the trip.

The food vendors was another favorite part of my trip. They were cash only. For example, I had tanghulu which is the strawberries covered in sugar. That was about $4.37. I think it was about 500 yen. I also did have an uni noodle bowl, which was $8.11, and I think that's about 1200 yen.

All the street food I had was absolutely delicious If you are foodie like me, you will definitely enjoy going to all the food markets.

Now, the category that did the most damage to my wallet, of course, was shopping.

One of my favorite stores was GU in Akihabara. I was able to score three pairs of shoes, two pairs of socks, two jackets for only $142. And as somebody who's been in the fashion industry, I was shocked by this value. The clothing is very high quality. It's not cheap. It's not polyester. GU is Uniqlos sister store, so they have all the basics, but they also have.

amazing unique pieces as well.

The most expensive clothing item that I purchased during the trip was a jacket from this boutique store called Urban Research in Kyoto. That cost me $265. It was this very different wool cropped blazer. It has a very unique cut, a very different neckline, and

I've worn it with so many outfits since I've had it.

Harjuku is where I found more of the deals. I was able to get two pairs of shoes for $37 each and some socks, which were only a few bucks. And they were also buy three, get one free.

I was able to get a mini skirt, I got some accessories, some cute tank tops, and there was this one store at the Nishiki market in Kyoto. My boyfriend and I loved that place. We were able to find a lot of t-shirts with some of our favorite anime characters on them. And we spent a total of $237 there, but we did buy four t-shirts and a denim jacket.

Then in Shibuya there

are so many shopping places. There are giant malls that have 10 floors with 20 stores on each floor, and it feels like endless clothing and endless accessories. It was a sensory overload, but everything was cute and trendy, and I genuinely wanted everything. I ended up only having time to really look at a couple of stores, and I ended up spending $212 at one store called Tokyo Bank. I got a crop blazer.

hoodie and a long sleeve t-shirt. Pieces that I would never be able to see here, which is the reason why I was comfortable spending that much money on a couple of pieces, but I love all of them and I've definitely been making good use out of them.

Of course, no shopping discussion is complete without the big mega store Don Quixote. And I will say I did go multiple times. My biggest trip was $278. I was able to get so much skincare. I got about two years worth of skincare. Don Quixote has everything that you could ever imagine. There's hundreds of face masks, there's different lotions, sunscreens. I could spend all day.

In Don Quixote. The second time I went, I spent $87, and then the third time I went, I spent $24. Most of that was skincare, hair products, souvenirs, and snacks.

The prices for everything are also significantly lower than what you would see here in the United States. So I definitely recommend stocking up at Don Quixote if you are looking for all of your hair care, all of your beauty products.

Outside of Don Quixote, I did spend another $142 on souvenirs, which would include all the gifts from the temples and all of the local stores that we went to. I got a pair of personalized chopsticks, some magnets, and all of those cute souvenirs and gifts that I was gonna bring back for my family and friends.

Next, we're going to talk about the attractions. So, for the entire trip, we booked $241 worth of attractions. We did book in advance about a month out. I definitely recommend booking in advance if you want to secure the proper time slots that you want. So we booked the Tokyo Sky Tree, Dotonbori Boat Ride, Team Labs, and go-karting in Shibuya.

We didn't make it to the Team Labs but I would still highly recommend booking all of your attractions through Klook It made everything easy because all you have to do is just show them your voucher and you'll be able to walk right in. They get booked up very fast, and you want to make sure that you do the Tokyo Sky Tree and the go-karting at nighttime. I recommend making sure that you get that six o'clock time slot.

both because you'll be able to see the sunset and be able to see the night skyline.

Finally, let's talk about food. This was the category that surprised me the most because Japan has some of the best food in the world, but so many meals were cheaper than anything I would pay back home in Los Angeles.

We had ramen four different times, and every single time we paid about $20 for the both of us. That was two bowls of ramen, an appetizer, and drinks. In Los Angeles, I could easily spend that on just one entree or appetizer.

Everything was so delicious.

The one exception was a private dining experience that we had. And this was probably the most expensive thing that we did on the trip. The dinner cost $467. This was a private dinner that we booked. We are the only ones in the restaurant. The chef comes out, explains all of his dishes. Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will remember forever.

If you're looking to splurge on this trip, this was a good activity to do, especially if you love food. The food was absolutely delicious.

So, was Japan expensive? My answer is both yes and no. The flight and hotel was the largest expense, obviously, but once you actually get to Japan, you'll be surprised at how affordable everything else is. Everything is very cheap, you'll be able to feel like you can just buy whatever you see that you want, the transportation is efficient, the street food's inexpensive, and all the shopping offers just incredible value.

You're gonna eat three meals a day and you're gonna pay less than what you would pay for one big meal in Los Angeles. So if you're considering a trip to Japan, my advice is budget more for shopping, for sure.

Carry cash, Make sure your Suica card is loaded. Use Klook to book all of your attractions, and also don't be afraid to eat at any of the local hole-in-the-wall spots because that was where some of the best food was and also some of the cheapest.

After adding everything up, I can confidently say that Japan was worth every single penny. It was one of the best experiences that I've ever had in my life.

Not just because of the attractions or the food, but genuinely because I felt like every single dollar that I spent on this trip was worth it. So if you're looking to book that trip to Japan, now. Start planning it out, and book that flight so that you can also experience the amazing culture of Japan.

Thanks so much for listening to the Gold Sea Podcast We'll see you in the next episode.