This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Calipup on 2025-05-07 22:17:40+00:00.
To give some context my trip was, I was traveling alone
5 days Tokyo > 2 days Hakone visiting Kamakura/Enoshima on the way > 2 days Hiroshima > 4 days Osaka > 4 days Kyoto > 1 day Takayama > 2 days Kanazawa > 2 days Shibu Onsen > 1 day Karuizawa > 6 days Tokyo
I made a post in the tips subreddit if you would like to check that out here: https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravelTips/comments/1kha9qt/my_25_tips_and_thoughts_after_a_solo_month_in/
First the stats
I averaged about 19-20k steps a day, with peak days at 31k.
Spending
Travel related expenses (this should be ~97% accurate, but conversions from paying in cash or having to eyeball a couple numbers makes it not 100%)
| Total | $4956 | |
|
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| Prep | $96 | |
|
| | Backpack/Bags | $64 | | Lock | $9 | | E-Sim | $23 |
| Travel | $1335 | |
|
| | Flights | $820 | | Bus to Kawaguchiko | $32 | | Shinkansen to Hiroshima from Hakone | $121 | | Shinkansen to Himeji from Hiroshima | $57 | | Limited Express from Kyoto to Takyama | $52 | | Shinkansen from Kanzawa to Nagano | $66 | | Bus from Nagano to Tokyo | $20 | | Local trains | ~$165 |
So I never taxi'd once, I walked a lot, and took trains. Not a ton to say here other than I really wish public transport was this good in the US.
| Lodging | $1203 | |
|
| | 5 nights Tokyo | $236 | | 2 nights Hakone | $65 | | 2 nights Hiroshima | $55 | | 4 nights Osaka | $129 | | 4 nights Kyoto | $150 | | 1 night Takayama | $42 | | 2 nights Kanazawa | $65 | | 2 nights Shibu Onsen | $73 | | 1 night Karuizawa | $58 | | 6 nights Tokyo | $330 |
Comes out to about $41/night. I stayed at capsule hotels/hostels for ~21 of the nights, with 2 of those having a full room in a hostel. I see a lot of dislike for these kinds of places, but I thought they were pretty decent honestly and would do it again if it made sense. Obviously they aren't always possible depending on your traveling arrangements (sleeping with a partner, kids, etc.)
| Activites | $361 | |
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| | Gear Kyoto | $47 | | Teamlabs Borderless + Planets | $70 | | Nintendo Museum | $22 | | Hanshin Tigers Game | $30 | | Orix Buffaloes Game | $46 | | Tokyo Swallows Game | $27 | | Shibuya Sky | $23 | | Hakone Loop + Museum | $49 | | E-Bike Rental in Kawaguchiko | $17 | | Everything else | $30 |
I didn't write everything down, just the big things as the full list is 3x as long with small purchases like going to a garden for $3, Snow Monkey Park for $5, etc. To me the things that were very worth it were the Nintendo Museum (I'm not sure I'd recommend this to people who don't love Nintendo like I do), Teamlabs Borderless, and at least 1 baseball game. The things I wasn't as high on were Teamlabs Planets, going to 3 baseball games, Hakone Loop. Planets seems more kids focused/fun. Japanese baseball strategy really makes the pace of play slow, and a lot of the chants are similar so seeing one was probably enough. The Hakone Loop middle sections were pretty meh to me, I really liked the Lake and the train though. If I could redo it I'd probably just go to the Lake and then take a different route to the Open-Air museum.
| Food | $666 | |
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|
I'm not going to write out all 60 entries I have written down lol. From a quick glance, the average price of a meal was about $10, and that's with me getting drinks more often than I do back home. The food was definitely way cheaper compared to California. I didn't really splurge here outside of one Kobe beef meal that was $51. One of my best meals was a $4.64 Udon lunch in Miyajima, you don't have to spend $ to get good food in Japan.
| Goods | $1296 | |
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| | Clothes + Glasses | ~$550 | | Goshuin | ~$75 | | Gifts | ~$181 | | Knick Knacks | $107 | | Figures | $200 | | Pokemon Cards | ~$25 | | Video Games | ~$50 | | Luggage | $49 |
This is where I splurged. It's harder to pin down the the categories here because they're mixed in some purchases so it doesn't add up properly, but this should give a general idea. I used the strong USD - Yen to make a lot of purchases here (shirts at GU are like $6??), and of course I had to buy some souvenirs both as gifts for now, and prebuying gifts for Christmas/Mother's Day/etc. I'm big into Video Games and Anime, so finally being able to buy them at a decent price, especially used figures, was amazing. And of course, gotta buy some goodies from places like the Nintendo Museum, Square Enix Cafe, and others. Then I bought a big suitcase from Ginza Karen to put everything in before going home.
Now onto the actual trip. I'm not going to go super high in detail here, but wanted to give some highlights and lowlights for each city. This is just my personal opinion, not everyone will agree, we all have our own tastes. This isn't everything I did, just things that surprised me both good and bad compared to what I expected.
5 days in Tokyo
Highlights: Shibuya at night, Cherry Blossoms at Ueno Park and Meguro Promenade, Teamlabs Borderless, Meiji Jingu, Mt Fuji at Kawaguchiko, Beef Cutlet Restaurant Koushuya, Sushi Koharu, Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, Capcom Store, Hie Shrine, Shibuya Sky at night
Lowlights: Don Quijote, Oishi Park, Bahama Kitchen, Shibuya Sky sunset
2 days in Hakone (visiting Kamukura and Enoshima on the way
Highlights: Enoshima, Onsen, Box burger, the surroundings of Hakone, Lake Ashi, train back down from museum to town
Lowlights: Kamakura, Hakone cable car/ropeway (it was raining so couldn't see much)
2 days in Hiroshima
Highlights: Peace Memorial Park and Museum, Itsukushima Shrine both tides, Yamamura Chaya
Lowlights: Museum (SUPER crowded and took forever to get through, so it's both a highlight and lowlight), Hiroshima Castle
4 days in Osaka (Himeji, Kobe, Nara also during)
Highlights: Dotonbori, Denden Town, Taisei, Orix Buffaloes game, Nara, Osaka Castle, Hanshin Koshien Stadium, Kobe Harborland
Lowlights: Tsūtenkaku Tower/Shin Sekai New World, McDonald's
4 days in Kyoto (Uji day trip)
Highlights: Arashiyama bamboo forest, Gear Kyoto, Yasaka Shrine at night, Nintendo Museum, Byodo-In, Fushimi Inari at night, Kinkaku-Ji, Kenninji Temple
Lowlights: Kyoto Tonkatsu Katsuda Shijo Kawaramachi, Roast Beef place in Uji, LOCO Chicken (the food really disappointed me in Kyoto I guess)
1 day in Takyama
Highlights: Sanmachi Suji
Lowlights: Hidagyu no komori (Hida beef skewers), らーめん川路
2 days in Kanazawa
Highlights: Omichi Market, Ishiura Shrine, Kenroku-en, Nagamachi
Lowlights: Higashi Chaya District
2 days in Shibu Onsen (stopping at Nagano)
Highlights: Nagano, Zenkoji Temple, Oyaki, Jigokudani Monkey Park
Lowlights: 9 local baths
1 day in Karuizawa
Highlights: Old Karuizawa Ginza Street, Paomu pudding
Lowlights: None
6 days in Tokyo (day trip to Yokohama)
Highlights: Bookoffs, Nakano Broadway (especially Nakano Factory store), Hashitou, Ichiran, Ginza Karen, Viet Nhat, Omoide Yokocho, all of Yokohama but especially Yamashita Park, Odaiba
Lowlights: Akihabara, Tokyo character st, Tokyo Banana, Brozers, Teamlabs Planets, Kozakura, Gyukatsu Kyoto Katsugyu