Outside Popular Japan Cities: Fujikawaguchiko & Takayama On A Budget – 7 Days For Less Than ₱35,000

Last November 2017, I went on a week-long journey to explore 2 not-so-popular places in Japan – Fujikawaguchiko & Takayama. I arrived & spent the first day in Tokyo, then stayed in Fujikawaguchiko for 48 hours then onwards to Takayama before flying home from Nagoya.

Mount Fuji from Lake Kawaguchiko

If you’ve followed my blog for a while now, you’ll notice that I’ve shared to my readers how much I roughly spent for my past Japan in trips. In October 2015, my friends & I went on a 9-day trip across Tokyo, Kyoto & Osaka for less than ₱40,000 all in. In 2016, I went on a solo journey across 7 cities (Nagoya, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Kobe & Fukuoka) for 13 days & spent less than ₱50,000 including flights. Both trips are pretty affordable than the usual Japan trip.

The beautiful & well-preserved wooden houses of Takayama Old Street

Have you ever wondered how much I spent in my Fujikawaguchiko & Takayama trip last November? Fret not, I am here to answer your question. Yes, I only spent less than ₱35,000 for 7 whole days in Japan. This could be cheaper (to probably around ₱25,000 – ₱30,000) if I booked the right flight to Japan & if I didn’t go on a luxurious dinner with friends in Tokyo. Just like the earlier posts, I will divide the post below to different sections – ticket, accommodation, bus tickets, etc.

November 2017 Exchange Rate: 1 Japanese Yen = 0.47 Philippine Pesos
Ticket

I mentioned above that I had to change my flight to Japan. As mentioned in my Fujikawaguchiko blog, I initially planned to go to Sapporo for this trip. Plans changed when I luckily booked another Cebu Pacific Air piso fare ticket to Tokyo for February. My first ticket cost me ₱2,175.86 with Kansai Airport in Osaka as the arrival airport.

Months before the trip, I decided to take the Tokyo-Fujikawaguchiko-Takayama-Nagoya route. It was cheaper & faster to book a new ticket to Tokyo than to take my original flight & take another flight to Tokyo. I booked my one-way Tokyo ticket & used Traveloka‘s 10% off promotion. The one way ticket to Tokyo cost ₱3,509.10.

My return tickets cost me ₱5,684.96 – still cheap for a return ticket to Japan.

Tourist Visa

The Embassy of Japan here in the Philippines gave me a 5-year multiple entry visa when I applied in 2016 so I didn’t apply for a new one for this trip. If you want to know how I got my 5-year visa, I made a 4-step guide a few months ago. You can check the guide here.

Accommodations

Accommodations for this trip were well-planned except for the one night stay in Tokyo. I took advantage of Traveloka‘s promotions. I only paid ₱970.45 for a 2-night stay in K’s House Mount Fuji, that’s after the ₱1,206 discount from Traveloka. On the other hand, I paid ₱2,713.13 for my 3-night stay in K’s House Takayama Oasis – that was after a 20% discount from Traveloka. I mentioned in one of my previous blogs that a decent hostel in Japan will cost you a little over ₱1,000 a night.

My K’s House Mount Fuji Hostel reservation with ₱1,206 Traveloka discount

I booked by Tokyo accommodation last-minute, thus I paid ₱828.66 from the usual ₱600-₱700 per night rate of Oak Hostel Zen. It’s still cheaper compared to other Tokyo hostels. You basically get the same amenities & service. I paid ₱4,512.24 for all 6 nights in Japan. Big thanks to Traveloka‘s promotions, I saved a lot!

My K’s House Takayama Oasis Hostel reservation with ₱800 Traveloka discount

Bus Tickets

I travel on budget & I don’t have the money to pay for a JR Pass so I always take the highway buses. For me, the highway bus is the most affordable mode of transportation between cities & towns around Japan. The buses leave & arrive in every stop on time / on schedule. These buses have comfortable seats; some even have toilet & free Wi-Fi on board & power outlets per seat.

The empty bus to Takayama

I took 3 highway bus routes in this trip. First, I took the Fujikyuko Bus from Tokyo Station to Kawaguchiko Station in Fujikawaguchiko Station. The 1 hour & 45 minute trip cost me ¥1,800 (₱829.73). From Kawaguchiko, I took the afternoon Nohi Bus to Takayama. The 4-hour trip along the Hida mountains cost me ¥5,000 (₱2,304.81). From Takayama, I took the Highway bus to Nagoya, the city where I flew out of Japan. The 2 hours & 30 minutes bus trip cost me ¥2,980 or ₱1,366.14. I booked these bus tickets before flying to Japan. Some bus routes have cheaper fares when you book  (via Willer Express website) weeks / months before the trip. There are also bus companies (like Nohi Bus) that offer fixed bus fares per route.

Took this bus from Nagoya – this bus schedule was operated by Nohi Bus

The 3 bus rides of over 8 hours in total only cost me ₱4,500.68. This amount won’t even let you buy a ticket for the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto!

Internet Sim Card

Exploring Japan without access to Google & Google Maps is difficult. Since I was alone, I got an internet sim card from Klook. This sim card comes with unlimited 4G internet for 8 days but with no credits. I didn’t have issues with the network anywhere I go – mobile internet was faster than the internet provided by the other establishments like restaurants & buses.

This sim card was quite expensive – ₱1,484.82 but it was cheaper than getting a pocket Wi-Fi. I also got the sim card to avoid carrying the pocket Wi-Fi device in my bag every single day.

Tokyo Dinner With Friends

I took advantage of my Tokyo stopover to meet my HTC friends who were living in & visiting Japan. I met with Laura & Leon in Omotesando Hills. We walked around the area then to Shibuya. We had a glass of craft beer in Craftheads then went to Nogigochi for dinner. We had yakitori for dinner & sake for drinks.

This dinner was quite expensive. I spent around ¥5,000 (or ₱2,350) for dinner & drinks. I don’t mind spending too much when I’m with friends.

Mount Fuji 4th Station

I met a Dutch guy in the hostel & we decided to visit Mount Fuji 4th Station to see what’s up there. We bought the round-trip tickets in Kawaguchiko Station. The return ticket costs ¥2,100 (or ₱987). It took us around 45 minutes by bus to reach the 4th station & another 45 minutes to go down. This destination offered a nice view of Mount Fuji’s crater & the Japanese Alps.

Hida Beef Lunch

One of the highlights of this trip was the hida beef lunch set I had in Ajikura Tengoku in Takayama. The whole beef lunch set (with dessert & tea) cost me ¥4,000 (₱1,880). This was the most expensive lunch I had in Japan for this trip. The experience & the meal was worth the expensive price.

Shirakawa-go Day Tour

Ticket to Shirakawa-go – purchased at the Takayama Bus Terminal ticket office

Another highlight of this Japan trip was the visit to Shirakawa-go. This UNESCO World Heritage-listed site is located 60 kilometers away from Takayama. It takes about an hour by bus to reach this village full of gassho-style houses.

Walking around the wooden houses & seeing the people’s daily lives in Shirakawa-go gave a unique experience. I explored the village for about 3 hours & I think it was just right. I spent ¥4,420 (₱2,077.4) for the round-trip bus tickets to Shirakawa-go.

Daily Allowance

 Breakfast food & drink bought in the supermarket!

One of the ways to travel in budget is to set a daily allowance. This allowance should cover food, transportation, entrance fees & beers. I set a daily budget of ¥3,000 in my 2015 trip & ¥3,500 in my 2016 trip. These trips were both subway-heavy so I had to put in a higher budget. For my Fujikawaguchiko & Takayama trip, I set a daily budget of ¥2,500 per day. This included breakfast & dinner (while I was in Kawaguchiko) food I bought in the supermarket & minimal daily expenses + all transportation costs I had.

Summary of Expenses

Everything’s in. Let’s have a look how much I actually spent for the trip.

There you go! I spent a total of ₱33,322.10 for 7 days in Japan (Tokyo, Fujikawaguchiko & Takayama) including airfare, accommodations, a flight change & extraordinary expenses. As mentioned earlier, the total expenses can still be reduced to around ₱25,000 – ₱30,000 if only I planned everything well. I don’t regret the last-minute changes I made in my itinerary.

That’s it for today. Are you planning to go see Mount Fuji up close or visit Takayama’s preserved old town? Well you should! If you have any questions about the details provided above, feel free to comment below. You can also send an email to contact@thewkndtravel.com. Drop me a message on Facebook, drop a comment on Instagram or send me a tweet on Twitter.

Watch out for the next post! I’ll take you to Sapporo, Japan! Arigatou gozaimasu (ありがとうございます) 🇯🇵 😃

PS. Photos were taken using my HTC U11.