Comments on: Japan: How Much Does It Really Cost?

By: Walid Ahmed

Walid Ahmed — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:14:53 +0000

Thank you, Jessica….If you need any information about travel to Malaysia, Singapore, India and Bangladesh(my home country); feel free to ask me.

By: Jessica Marsden

Jessica Marsden — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:27:40 +0000

We booked the ferry tickets online here: http://www.shanghai-ferry.co.jp/english/ We were able to pay for the tickets in cash when we boarded.

Although hostels are often called “youth” hostels, they are open to everybody. I’ve stayed at them with my parents several times.

We were a little too early for the cherry blossoms, but we did see some plum blossoms in Tokyo.

By: Walid Ahmed

Walid Ahmed — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:46:47 +0000

Dear Jessica,

I would really appreciate if you give more information about where and how I can book the tickets of the ferry from shanghai to osaka.

I’ve heard that most of the hostels in japan are for the youth. I am planning to travel with my father who is 48. will there be any problem if my father stays in a hostel with me?

From the information above, I’ve noted that you went there in feb. Did you see the cherry blossom?

Thanks.

By: Jessica Marsden

Jessica Marsden — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 15:00:02 +0000

We actually didn’t activate our passes until the 12th for that reason. You only get 14 days, including the day when you first use your pass. If we had activated our passes on the 11th, then the last day we could have used it was the 24th.

By: Kari

Kari — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 13:30:06 +0000

Thank you so much! This is exactly what I’m looking for! I can now make a checklist of the places and budget the time wisely. Seeing how JR’s extensive network can cover these areas, I guess this means we’ll buy the 14-day JR Pass. I’ve also checked Miyajima and it does look more interesting (well, for me, being a nature buff) than Fukuoka. By the way, were you still able to use your JR Pass on Feb 25 – this being the 15th day (I’m assuming that you got the Pass “activated” on Feb 11)?

By: Jessica Marsden

Jessica Marsden — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 09:08:29 +0000

Here’s the itinerary we followed:

February 11 — Osaka
February 12 — Kyoto
February 13 — Kyoto
February 14 — Kyoto
February 15 — Nara (day trip fm Kyoto)
February 16 — To Hiroshima (via Himeji Castle)
February 17 — Hiroshima
February 18 — Fukuoka
February 19 — To Tokyo (5 hrs)
February 20 — Tokyo
February 21 — Tokyo
February 22 — Tokyo
February 23 — Takayama
February 24 — Takayama
February 25 — To Osaka, via Nagoya
February 26 — Boat from Osaka to Shanghai

In retrospect I would have skipped Fukuoka and added that day onto Kyoto or Hiroshima (in order to go to Miyajima, which got rave reviews from a friend who visited in April). Hope that helps!

By: Kari

Kari — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 17:39:53 +0000

This is really great! I’m planning to go on budget trip to Japan in autumn and this pie-chart is very helpful. The JR Rail Pass is really included in my budget (I’m still deciding though whether to get the 7-day pass or the 14-day pass). I checked the hostels you mentioned and Khaosan Tokyo Ninja really looks very, very convenient. If it’s not too much to ask, can you send me your itinerary details? I’m at a loss on how to squeeze everything in 15 days. Thanks!

By: Jess

Jess — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 00:56:49 +0000

Yes, it was a struggle! We found the Sakura House in Kyoto (on Hostelbookers) and Khaosan Tokyo Ninja (on Hostelworld) to be relatively cheap options for those places. But we still had to readjust our idea of how much a hostel should cost. I had to try not to think what we would be getting in SE Asia for that money!

By: Akila

Akila — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 16:25:14 +0000

Jess, This is a fantastic guide to how much you spent. I am having a hard time finding hostels with cheap rooms (especially in Tokyo) but you have given me hope. I am also struggling on whether to spend the money to buy the RailPass or not but I think you make a really good point in your next post that you end up going to more places and have more flexibility. We definitely appreciate flexibility in our travels.