Japan for holiday - how expensive is it now?

[LibbyGreen]

We both visited / lived in Tokyo back in the 1980’s (yes, we’re that ancient!)

Always ruled out going back as it was so expensive then but a friend who goes a lot said that it’s now at least 1/3 cheaper than the UK & that you can get an air bnb for about £30 pn & meal for £10.Anyone been recently to confirm? 

[malumbu]

That's a bit of a how long is a piece of string question.  It's as cheap or as expensive as you want to make it, flying with an obscure airline via a country you've not heard of and sofa surfing Vs part of a luxury cruise.

There will be loads on line eg this may help

https://www.neverendingfootsteps.com/cost-of-travel-japan-budget/

[WomblingFree]

I was just in Japan and yes can confirm it's a lot cheaper than here. The flight was pricy, as was some of the accommodation. However, once there everything else was dirt cheap.

We had some really nice meals at £5-6 for a main, though you can obviously pay a lot more. Beer/wine/coffee were often around £2. Public transport was great value - £3.50 for a day pass on the Tokyo metro which is massive, albeit more if you want to use the overground lines. We didn't do much shopping but Uniqlo (obviously a Japanese chain) was around 40% cheaper than here, plus a bit more if you go tax free.

It is I imagine a lot easier for the non-Japanese speaker than in the 1980s. I survived for two weeks with little more than "thank you" and "cheers". Most people we dealt with in shops/restaurants/hotels spoke some English, and signs/announcements/ticket machines often have English translations.

[malumbu]

Has been cheaper due to the exchange rate, although now well up since 2020

[Jamesh31]

We went as a family of four in October. Flights were OK (Cathy Pacific, in their January sale) and accommodation was relatively expensive in Tokyo (definitely not £30 a night) but food/drink/transport/shopping were way cheaper. Easy to feed four of us in an izakaya for £40 including drinks. Shops like muji & Uniqlo half the price they are here. We ended up needing to buy an extra suitcase. Was an incredible trip