How much will 2 people need to have for a vacation in japan for 2-3 weeks. so far we have 7,000 dollars saved.

Question

its our first time in japan and so far we have 5,000 dollars saved(not including air fare) we plan on staying in youth hostels for most of the time to save money. but we want to go all over japan and do ALOT of sightseeing.

were pretty clueless so we will love as much info as possible.

for example does one have to pay to visit the different shrines and temples or are they open to the public i.e free? parks?

also how much will it cost to visit/climb mount fuji in u.s dollars? we've searched but all we could find are fuji tours but we want to do it on our own.

we speak some japanese and im sure that put together its enough to get by so we'll be doing most of the sightseeing on our own to save money. please help. leaving in a little over a month.

other questions that are not as urgent: how long is it from

tokyo-nagano

tokyo-kanagawa

tokyo to kyoto

kyoto to kanazawa

osaka to hiroshima

via bullet train

please contact me if you are interested in helping me out some more. nneeed help!

Answer 1

That should be sufficient money for staying in youth hostels. A lot of museums, gardens, etc. have an entrance fee. Your YHA may entitle you to a discount. If you touring all the sights in Kyoto, etc. it can really add up. Definitely plan to get from Kyoto by rail-it's a great trip. Plan exactly how and for how long you will use a rail-pass you don't need it for the whole time as you will want to spend a few days in say..Tokyo, where it's no good for the subway in any case. With a rail pass though you could make a "base" in Tokyo and just go to Kyoto or wherever for the day. The two of you could share a room in a gaijin house and use it's communal kitchen. A day trip to Nikko or Fuji from Tokyo is no problem at all.  That would save you shlepping your backpack around.

One potential way to save money is to use ferries, night-trains and night-buses. That way you are getting your transportation and accommodations at the same time. You can get from Osaka to Sendai overnight on a bus for about 12000 yen.

Answer 2

Two people, 3 weeks need at least 6000.

Ask "JTB" for details.

Answer 3

Well if you're staying in youth hostels than there goes the biggest expense.

You should get a Japan Rail Pass. It let's you ride almost all the trains for a set amount of time. Like $250 to ride as much as you want for a week. (just made those #'s up)

I don’t know if you want to have a cell phone with you cause you won’t be able to use American phones. Those rental cell phones can cost a lot, look into that, or find out how to use Japanese pay phones.

If you got airfare covered than $2,500 per person is honestly enough, but once you are there, you will be amazed at how quickly money disappears because of all the things you want to try. I would say bring $1,000-$1,500 per week per person.

As far as the travel times… Well Japan is a very small country and they have almost the fastest trains in the world. In other words, you will never need to worry about this. From Tokyo to Kyoto it will prob be less than 3 hours. And you will enjoy the sights you see in those 3 hours anyway. It’s not like the US where taking the train across the country takes like a million years.

As far as mount Fuji, I’m not sure. If you don't hire a guide than I doubt it will cost much if anything. BUT, you might camp on the mountain over night at some points, plus buy food and maybe some oxygen tanks, it gets hard to breath near the top. Also, check the schedule for mount Fuji, you can only climb it when it's really nice and warm out. The majority of the year mount Fuji is covered in snow, ice, and super windy.

Oh the shrines, temples, parks. Well I remember the majority of these things being in big open places which were free to the public, but, I did have to pay at a few of them. Usually it was something really cheap.

Keep in mind that if you want to buy cloths and such. Tokyo, for example, is super expensive. The majority of shirts and jeans I saw were probably double the price they are here.

Oh and the Metro (city trains, or subway) are not the same thing as the trains that go between cities. That will cost a few dollars per ride.

Word of advice, bring lots of cash, the Japanese aren’t big on credit cards. But bring credit cards as back up also.

Hope this helps, good luck.