Itinerary:

• Tokyo: 5 days
• Noboribetsu (Hokkaido): 2 days
• Hakodate (Hokkaido): 2 days
• Nikko: 4 days
• Kamakura: 4 days
• Kawaguchiko (Mount Fuji): 3 days
• Hiroshima: 1 day
• Yakushima: 4 days
• Osaka: 2 days
• Koyasan: 4 days
• Tanabe and Yunomine (Kumano Kodo trail): 6 days
• Kyoto: 4 days

My trip didn’t exactly follow this sequence from north to south, mostly because I had a 21 days JP Rail Pass, so I use it to make the longest trips (like Hokkaido and Yakushima, stopping in a few places along the way), leaving the Kansai region (Osaka, Koyasan, Kumano Kodo and Kyoto) for the end of the trip where the bus trips are more frequent and sometimes are the only option.

The weekends and especially the holidays also influence the trip plan, pushing me sometimes to temporary skip some places because the budget accommodations were fully booked, choosing a less crowded destination, and go there after the busy days. It happened in Nikko and Kamakura, which are a popular destination on the weekends as they are to Tokyo.

I always try to stay more than one night in each place… there was one exception, Hiroshima, that intended to be a break in a long trip between Mount Fuji and Yakushima.

Average costs based on solo travel, with a focus on keeping things budget-friendly

48 €/day (October/November 2019)

Average daily costs for the most significant categories of expenses:

• food: 13 €/day (choosing options without meat or fish products)
• accommodation: 23 €/day
• transports: 21 €/day

This transport average includes the JP Rail pass that I bought in advance on-line and it cost 518€ for 21 days, as also the local bus and metro tickets, the private railway lines (Kawaguchiko, Koyasan) and the Yakushima ferry and Kumano Kodo buses; it doesn’t include the flights.

It’s included a SIM card and internet for all days.

In terms of accommodation, I stay always in dorms. In Japan the standard is high and all the places where I stay offer very comfortable conditions, some with bunk beds other more like a capsule hotel.

In terms of food, I usually made one meal a day with food from the supermarket; I’m not meaning instants soups and so on, but proper fresh meals that have a good quality in Japan.

In touristic activities, I spent around 4€ a day, and that include lots of temples and a few museums but mostly onsen, the Japanese style hot springs of which I became completely addicted and made up more than half of my expenses in this category.

In hygiene, there’s not much to spend as all the hostels provide shampoo, shower gel, conditioner and toilet paper.

Laundry costs around 100¥ (less than one euro) but in some places is free.

NOTE: This daily average does not include expenses for shopping, souvenirs, medical or health-related costs, or visa fees (as these vary depending on your country of origin). Also it don’ts includes flights in and out of the country.