Japan on a Budget, Tips for Cheap Travel!

Here s a non-exhaustive collection of ideas for travelling Japan without spending a lot of money. These ideas for cheap travel are somewhat random, and unordered, but take a look and you ll be sure to pick up a tip or two to save money on your Japan holiday.

Things To Do In Japan

In this article:

Travel in off-peak times

Now this doesn t mean you will be missing the good weather. Peak times in Japan are during the major national holidays and the school holidays.

The best time is April. This is spring in Japan and students are at school, the cherry blossoms are blooming and the weather is great. September and October are good times also, it is autumn in Japan and everyone is back to school and work.

Around the end of April and beginning of May is Golden Week in Japan. 4 national holidays over a week, prices for accommodation go up and shinkansens are booked solid best to avoid this time!

Mid-July and all of August are summer holidays in Japan. which means peak domestic travel and hence, high prices on just about everything. It is easily the busiest time of year and also the hottest.

Japan Rail Pass

When people tell me they re going to visit Japan, the first thing I ask them is have you bought your Japan Rail Pass yet?

The JR Pass is available to anyone on a tourist (Temporary Visitor) visa and gives you unlimited travel on all Japan Rail buses, trains and shinkansen (bullet trains) the only exception is you can t travel on the fastest express services.

The Japan Rail Pass just flash this pass at the ticket gates and stroll on through

At first glance, the pass may seem expensive. Last time I travelled to Japan on a tourist visa I paid about $600 AUD for a 3 week JR Pass. Consider this example: a return trip on the shinkansen (bullet train) from Nagoya to Okayama is normally about 24,000 yen (about $300 AUD). Osaka to Tokyo is much further and more expensive. I did about 6 of these trips during a 3 week stay, so I saved about $1000 AUD and saw a lot of the country.

7, 14 or 21 day passes are available and conditions are you must be travelling on a tourist visa and you have to purchase the JR Pass before you enter Japan. Check costs and buy a JR Pass online .

Cheap shinkansen travel

If you can t get a JR Pass, but you don t want to take the bus, there are cheaper options for the shinkansen. You can buy an unreserved seat, which means a seat is not guaranteed. People tend to sit in the carriage vestibules and there is nothing wrong with that. Being a super fast train, you re not in for a long journey! But if you travel in off-peak times, and during the day (i.e. not the morning or evening when shinkansen is used for work travel) then you ll get a cheaper ticket AND a seat.

JR West Shinkansen series 700.