This blog is about travelling through Japan on a bicycle. Initially on a foldable bicycle (Brompton) and more recently mostly by road bike (Spezialized)... but also by train, ferry, plane, bus or any other transport, if sea, weather, mountains or the like come between me and my desire to ride.
I have tried to summarise information that could be potentially helpful also for other bicycle travellers through Japan, such as list of bicycle roads, helpful web pages etc.

Thursday 7 September 2017

Money, money, money, makes Japan go round

Bicycle touring Japan - What does it cost?

In this blog post I list the approximate expenses I had for each part of my bicycle tour through Japan. 

Total costs for 57 days of travelling through Japan: 906,500 Yen, or around 16,000 Yen per day, including internal flights, shinkansen, hotels etc. I am sure it is possible to travel through Japan much more economically, specially if you use less train/plane and stay in cheaper accommodation or directly camp. But I had no intention to suffer and really dislike camping or cheap accommodation. I never used shared bed rooms and had mostly good dinners.


Costs for the first week (Day 1 - Day 6) of bicycle touring in Hokkaido:
  • Total: 77,000 Yen for these 6 days, including transportation, accommodation and eating:
    • Transportation: 17,990 Yen
      • Flights: 0 Yen (ANA mileage)
      • Taxi: 7,360 Yen home to Haneda and 7,730 Yen from Haneda back home
      • Bus from Rumoi to Sapporo: around 2,300 Yen
      • Train from Kitahiroshima to Chitose airport: around 600 Yen
    • Accommodation: around 40,000 Yen
      • well, I didn't note it down in detail, but it was something between 9,000 and maybe around 6,000 Yen per night, but including dinner and breakfast (except in Sapporo, where only breakfast was included). 
    • Onsen: Somewhere between 500 Yen and 1,500 Yen per onsen visit.

Cost for part 2 (Days 7 - 11) of bicycle touring in Iwate:
  • Total 78,500 Yen for these 5 days, including transportation, accommodation and eating.
    • Transportation: 16,540 Yen
      • Shinkansen Tokyo - Morioka: 14,540 Yen
      • Other trains: probably around 2,000 Yen in total
    • Accommodation: 
      • Hotel Morioka: 5000 Yen
      • Ryokan Tono: 15,120 Yen (2 nights, including dinner & breakfast)
      • Ryokan Hiraizumi: 27,780 Yen (2 nights, including dinner & breakfast)
    • Entry fees: probably around 3,000 Yen in total

Cost for part 3 (Days 12 - 15), bicycle tour in Aomori:
  • Total 55,500 Yen for these 4 days, including transportation, accommodation and eating.
    • Transportation: 
      • Shinkansen Ichinoseki - Shin-Hakodate: 14,940 Yen
      • Ferry Hakodate - Oma: 2,630 Yen
      • Taxi Osorezan: 3,900 Yen
      • Bus Osorezan: 750 Yen
    • Accommodation:
      • Hotel Hakodate: 4,000 Yen
      • Hotel Osorezan: 12,000 Yen (including dinner & breakfast)
      • Hotel Noheji: 5,400 Yen
    • Entry fees: 500 Yen

Costs for part 4 (Days 15 - 21), travelling Akita and Yamagata:
  • Total 103,500 Yen for this week, including transportation, accommodation and eating. 
    • Transportation:
      • Shinkansen Shichinohe - Tazawako: 7,020 Yen
      • Local buses in Tazawako: 1,120 Yen
      • Train Omagari - Yamagata: 2,600 Yen 
      • Train Yamagata - Yamadera: 480 Yen
    • Accommodation:
      • Hotel Nyuto Onsen: 43,574 Yen (3 nights, including breakfast and 2 dinners)
      • Hotel Kakunodate: 9,300 Yen (1 night, including breakfast and onsen)
      • Hotel Yamagata: 9,644 Yen (2 nights, including breakfast)
    • Dinner (if not included in accommodation):
      • BBQ dinner in Nyuto Onsen: 1,900 Yen
      • Kakunodate: 3,800 Yen
      • Yamagata: 4,190 Yen
      • Meat lunch in Yonezawa: 6,500 Yen
    • Onsen: 2,200 Yen
    • Entry fees: 1,100 Yen

Costs for part 5 (Days 21 - 25), bicycle riding on Sado island:
  • Total 51,000 Yen for these days, including transportation, accommodation and eating. 
    • Transportation:
      • Train Kaminoyama to Niigata: 4,100 Yen
      • Ferry Niigata to Ryotsu: 6,770 Yen
      • Ferry Ogi to Naoetsu: 4,190 Yen
    • Accommodation:
      • Hotel Niigata: 4,101 Yen
      • B&B Mano: 22,700 Yen (3 nights, including breakfast and 2 dinners)
    • Lunch & Dinner (if not included in accommodation): 5,640 Yen
    • Onsen: 1,370 Yen
    • Entry fees: 700 Yen

Costs for part 6 (Day 25 - 32), travelling through Toyama and Gifu:
  • Total 104,500 Yen for these days, including transportation, accommodation and eating. 
    • Transportation:
      • Train Omi to Ikuji: 700 Yen
      • Train Shin-Kurobe into Kurobe gorge and back: 6,240 Yen
      • Train Shin-Kurobe to Toyama: 1,450 Yen
      • Train Toyama - Takayama: 3,360 Yen
      • Bus Takayama to Hirayu onsen and back: 3,120 Yen
      • Bus Takayama to Nagoya: 2,980 Yen
    • Accommodation:
      • Hotel Naoetsu: 8,100 Yen (including breakfast & onsen)
      • Hotel Kurobe: 5,940 Yen
      • Kuronagi ryokan: 12,030 Yen (including dinner, breakfast & onsen)
      • Hotel Toyama: 8,000 Yen
      • Hotel Takayama: 6,000 Yen (including breakfast)
      • Hotel Hirayu Onsen: 20,660 Yen (including breakfast, dinner & onsen, 2 nights)
    • Lunch & Dinner (if not included in accommodation): 10,200 Yen
    • Entry fees: 2,130 Yen

Cost for part 7 (Day 32 - 37), riding from Shizuoka to Ise:
  • Total 89,500 Yen for these days, including transportation, accommodation and eating. 
    • Transportation:
      • Shinkansen Nagoya - Shizuoka: 6,350 Yen
      • Taxi Aeon to Iwata: 4,300 Yen
      • Train Iwata - Bentenjima: 410 Yen
      • Ferry Irago - Toba: 1,550 Yen
      • Train Ise - Tokyo: 14,424 Yen
    • Accommodation:
      • Hotel Shizuoka: 5,200 Yen
      • Hotel Omaezaki: 2,500 Yen plus Jalan points
      • Hotel Bentenjima: 14,150 Yen (including dinner & breakfast)
      • Hotel Cape Irago: 11,770 Yen (including dinner & breakfast)
      • Hotel Ise: 8,700 Yen (including breakfast)
    • Lunch & Dinner (if not included in accommodation): 9,056 Yen
    • Entry fees: 1,500 Yen

Cost for part 8 (Day 38 - 43), riding from Maibara through Nara to Osaka:
  • Total 97,000 Yen for these days, including transportation, accommodation and eating. 
    • Transportation:
      • Shinkansen Tokyo - Maibara: 12,540 Yen
    • Accommodation:
      • Hotel Omi Hachiman: 6,100 Yen
      • Ryokan Uji: 7,600 Yen
      • Hostel Nara: 8,640 Yen
      • Hostel Yamatoyagi: 8,000 Yen (2 nights, including breakfast)
      • Hotel Osaka: 9,610 Yen
    • Lunch & Dinner (if not included in accommodation): 16,645 Yen
    • Onsen: 3,400 Yen
    • Entry fees: 7,600 Yen

Cost for part 9 (Day 44 - 47), Okayama and around:
  • Total 52,500 Yen for these days, including transportation, accommodation and eating. 
    • Transportation:
      • Shinkansen Osaka - Okayama: 6,030 Yen
      • Train Kurashiki - Okayama: 320 Yen
      • Train Okayama - Takahashi and back: 3,180 Yen
      • Taxi Takahashi to castle: 3,160 Yen
      • Bus Okayama - Hoden: 1,500 Yen
      • Ferry Hoden - Inujima: 600 Yen
    • Accommodation:
      • Hotel Okayama hill: 16,000 Yen (2 nights)
      • Hotel Okayama city: 5,643 Yen (1 night)
    • Lunch & Dinner (if not included in accommodation): 3,500  Yen
    • Entry fees: 3,260 Yen

Cost for part 10 (Day 47 - 49), Shimanami Kaido:
  • Total 41,500 Yen for these days, including transportation, accommodation and eating. 
    • Transportation:
      • Train Okayama - Onomichi: 1,320 Yen
      • Train Imabari - Matsuyama: 950 Yen
      • Taxi Matsuyama airport: 3,050 Yen
    • Accommodation:
      • Hotel Onomichi: 10,920 Yen (including breakfast)
      • Hotel Omishima: 7,000 Yen (including breakfast)
      • Hotel Matsuyama: 6,450 Yen plus 1,500 Yen Jalan points
    • Lunch & Dinner (if not included in accommodation):  3,700 Yen
    • Entry fees:  1,000 Yen
    • Onsen: 1,000 Yen
  • Additionally about 45,000 Yen for flight back to Tokyo.

Costs for part 11 (Day 50 - 57), Kyushu:
  • Total  156,000 Yen for these days, including transportation, accommodation and eating. 
    • Transportation:
      • Taxi to Haneda: 7,730 Yen
      • Flight Tokyo - Kagoshima: 16,390 Yen
      • Ferry Kagoshima - Sakurajima and back: 540 Yen
      • Train Kagoshima - Chikugo-Funagoya: 10,480 Yen
      • Bus Fukuoka: 500 Yen
      • Taxi Fukuoka: 1,970 Yen
      • Flight Fukuoka - Tokyo: 0 Yen (ANA points)
      • Taxi Haneda to home: 6,900 Yen
    • Accommodation:
      • Hotel Kagoshima: 20,800 Yen (2 nights)
      • Hotel Yanagawa: 5000 Yen (including onsen)
      • Hotel Saga: 10,800 Yen
      • Hotel Dazaifu: 13,176 Yen (including dinner & breakfast)
      • Hotel Fukuoka: 12,012 Yen (2 nights)
    • Lunch & Dinner (if not included in accommodation): 16,000 Yen
    • Entry fees:   
      • Garden Kagoshima: 1,600 Yen
      • Aquarium Kagoshima: 1,500 Yen
      • Yoshinogari: 430 Yen
      • Museum Dazaifu: 2,120 Yen
      • Sumo Ticket: 5,224 Yen
      • Museum Fukuoka: 800 Yen
    • Onsen: 6,130 Yen

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