Going on vacation to Japan on March 20th

[MajorMullet]

I'm going to be on vacation in Japan March 20th through April 2nd, and I'm wondering how much money to take, as I've heard that things are pretty expensive there.

Breakfast is taken care of every day, so I will need money for lunch and dinner. I don't plan on buying a whole lot of souvenirs - probably small things for about 5 family members.

The trip is a total of 10 days. We will spend 4 days in Tokyo, a day at Mt. Fuji, and 5 days in Kyoto.

If anyone has been and has an idea of how much is a reasonable amount to take I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[Vegitto]

Eleventy billion 😕.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

one million us dollars

 

[misle]

All of it.

 

[Baked]

You're gonna need a lot of coins for used panties vending machines.

 

[mjh]

You're going to want to take a decent amount of money with you. It is possible to find decently priced restaurants that have good food, but it is easy to wander into expensive restaurants in Japan. There are lots of "hyaku yen" stores in Japan - i.e. 100 yen stores. You should be able to pick up some neat stuff in there.

Hyaku yen will also be important when you stop by a vending machine. 🙂

 

[FoBoT]

take as is cash you are carrying or take as in how much to have in your ATM account/credit card available


you shouldn't carry a lot of cash, use your CC and get cash from ATM's either from your ATM card or with your CC as cash advances

 

[kami333]

As much as you can.

Or do you want to know how much to budget for it? You can eat for cheaply so it can be not much more expensive than being in the states. A bowl of noodles will cost you about $5-6, similar for a plate of sandwiches, a set menu for dinner will run you about $15-20. Entrance fees to museums and temples are usually about $4 and at most $8. Transportation is $$$ though, a ride on the subway will start at $2 and goes up.

 

[Queasy]

Just take your CC or ATM card like Fobot said. You get pretty good exchange rates when doing so.

 

[mitaiwan82]

I was in the Osaka area for a week in summer of '04...I remember that the meals you can get at the shopping centers are about $10USD per meal. If you want something fancier (like a sushi buffet), I think it's more like $16USD. So say if you spend $15 per meal for lunch and dinner, it would come out to $300 per person for 10 days. That seems kind of high to me, but Japan does have a pretty high standard of living. I'd say bring at least $500 if not more.