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How to Save Money in Japan

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People often think that Japan is an expensive country. In reality, any country can be expensive if you aren't smart with your spending. We are here to talk about the different ways that we were able to cut our costs and save money in Japan during our working holiday. Even if you're on a short term trip to Japan, there are many ways to stretch your 💴!

Curious how much living in Japan would cost? Check out our post on the cost of living in Hakuba, Japan.

Cheap Eats

Cheap food doesn't always mean bad or unhealthy food! In Japan, eating out can be expensive, but if you're not picky, cheap and affordable options are everywhere and are easy to find!

Dine at Fast-Food Chains

Many international and Japanese fast-food chains can be found everywhere. They offer cheap and affordable meals. The biggest chains you will often see are as follows:

Beef on rice bowl: Gyu-don, 牛丼

Burger: Baga, バーガー

Japanese Curry: Kare, カレー

Udon, うどん

Other Restaurant Chains

Get Cheap Sushi at Conveyor Belt Sushi Restaurants

If you're looking to visit Japan, I hope you are already familiar with what sushi is. Restaurants that offer sushi on conveyor belts are known as ka-i-ten sushi, 回転寿司.  

Kaiten sushi should be on every traveler's bucket-list. Who doesn't want sushi served to you on a conveyor belt? The dining experience is not only fun, it is also very affordable. Usually each dish comes with two pieces of nigiri at the cost of 100 yen. Below are the common chains for kaiten sushi.

Dine at Family Restaurant Chains

Restaurants that cater to family dining in Japan are known as fa-mi-re-su, ファミレス.  These family restaurants offer a variety of food options. The restaurants commonly serve as a meet up and hang-out location for high school students. Below are a few of the common family restaurants.

Buy Bentos - Japanese Lunch Boxes

Bentos are Japanese lunch boxes. Japanese lunch boxes are known to be nutritious, visually appealing, delicious, and convenient! Bentos are affordable and can be found in many places. Try looking in supermarkets, convenience stores, train stations or the following chain bento providers:

Save Money on Ready-Made Food

A lot of people consider the prepared food in Japan to be a good deal. You can find a variety of ready-made food in convenience stores all around Japan. This means you don't have to resort to eating at restaurants all the time. Convenience stores like 7-11, Lawson and Family-Mart offer pastries, onigiri, fried chicken, sandwiches, bentos, etc... for reasonable prices!

For even better prices on ready-food, get them from supermarkets and grocery stores! Convenience stores are everywhere and convenient, but they can't always compete with the supermarket prices. That being said, the prices don't differ enough to justify buying strictly from supermarkets if you're desperate... UNLESS you're shopping after 6pm. From what we have seen, food starts being marked down by 20% and then can go down as much as 66%. Sounds like some solid cost savings to me.

The Ultimate Money Saver - Cook!  

In many Asian countries, it is often cheaper to eat out than cook at home. However, this is not quite the case for Japan. Although you can get cheap eats at places mentioned above, cooking for yourself will ultimately save you money. Many of the hostels and capsule hotels in Japan offer kitchen spaces for cooking. Utilize this so you don't always have to eat out!

When shopping at the grocery store, as odd as it may seem, buying imported (輸入食品 ) food is often cheaper than domestically (国産 ) produced food. For example, meat from America or Australia will be cheaper than those from Japan. Frozen food from China and fruits from other countries will be cheaper than those grown in Japan. So if you're on a budget, keep this in mind!

Save Money on Drinks

Save money and drink water! 😛 Water is free and drinkable from the tap in Japan. Although, I am not 100% serious here (about just drinking water to save money) it is important to be aware of what drinks you buy. Drinking can put a big dent in your monthly budget where-ever you are if you're not careful. Luckily, Japan has lots to offer on the drinks front.

Caffeinate for Less

If you are a coffee addict/connoisseur, I have both good and bad news for you. Good news is that coffee can be found everywhere in Japan. The bad news is that coffee is expensive. Getting good quality coffee for your daily caffeine fix can really hurt your wallet.

Some popular cafe brands are Starbucks, Doutor, Pronto, Excelsior, Tully's, Renoir, Komeda's Coffee, Caffe Veloce, and St. Marc. These cafes will be able to serve you coffee for 250-500 yen.

If you're looking for a cheaper option, try out canned coffee from vending machines and convenience stores. These usually go for 100-150 yen.

Last resort would be to make your own coffee! Japanese supermarkets sell a variety of coffee products, from instant to single-use pour-over coffee packets.

Save Money on Alcohol

Beer, ビール, is expensive in Japan - by almost any standard. This is because beer is heavily taxed. Europeans and North Americans will be shocked at the price of beer. Expect to pay 600-800 yen for a bottle from restaurants. We're not saying this is going to break the bank, but there are definitely cheaper alternatives worth considering! Check out the variety of alcohol Japan offers:

  • Plum wine, umeshu (梅酒)
  • Japanese rice wine, sake (お酒)
  • Shochu (焼酎)
  • Whisky (ウィスキー)
  • Highball (ハイボール)
  • Chuhai (チューハイ): a shochu highball drink that come in many flavors, popular flavors include lemon, grapefruit, grape, and lychee.
  • Wine (ワイン)
  • Happoushu (発泡酒), Daisan-no Beer (第三のビール), or Shin-janru (新ジャンル): these are "cheap beers", originally created to replicate beer but are strategically produced differently to avoid being taxed as beer.

Alcoholic drinks tend to be cheapest at liquor stores, department stores,  and supermarkets. Read about getting tax exemption on alcohol purchases in the "deals for short-term visitor" section.

Save on Transit with Deals

Japan has a vast network of infrastructure for transportation. This mean you are able to get from point A to point B quickly and efficiently. However, quickly often means more expensively. Luckily, you have many options, see below for different ways you can save money on transit in Japan.

Save Money in Japan with IC Cards

Pre-paid cards are also known as IC cards. There are various IC cards in Japan used for transit and shopping, the ones used for greater Tokyo region are called Suica, and Pasmo cards.

When you break it down, having an IC card doesn't save you very much money. The difference is that regular tickets are rounded to the nearest ten yen. So, if a ticket costs 216 yen, you will pay 220 yen if you buy with cash, whereas if you use an IC card, only 216 yen will be deducted.

Although the savings are marginal, the plain convenience of payment on the go is worth it. It'll save you time, and some money in the long term. You'll even be able to use it for purchasing items from most convenience stores, shops at the train station, and some vending machines!

Seishun 18 Ticket Deal

The perfect deal for unlimited hop on and hop off travel on all JR lines (ordinary and rapid trains only) around Japan using non-reserved seats. Seishun 18 comes with 5 non-consecutive full day tickets for unlimited travel. It can also be shared with multiple people. The only catch is that the tickets can only be purchased and used at certain times of the year. See the JR website for details.

Rent or Purchase a Bike

Biking to commute is very common in Japan. It is affordable and a great way to get around the city. Most big cities, like Tokyo, offer bike sharing programs (Docomo-cycle) as well as individual rental shops that offer short and long term rentals. Opting to get around on a bike is a great way to explore the city. Just be mindful of the following:

  • Obey all rules of the road like you would when driving.
  • Ride with the traffic, on the left side of the road.
  • Riding on the sidewalk is forbidden unless you're below the age of 13.
  • Keep your hands on the handle bar!
  • The use of electronics while riding is forbidden.
  • The use of umbrellas while riding is also forbidden.
  • No drinking and riding.
  • Drunk riders will be fined with possible jail time if caught.
  • Ride safe. You can be fined for any form of dangerous riding.
  • Check that your head and rear lights are on and working at night.
  • Check that your brakes are working.
  • Talking on the phone or listening to music while riding is forbidden.
  • Riding with a passenger, aka riding double, is forbidden.
  • Riding side by side is also forbidden.
  • Helmets are required for those below the age of 13.
  • Other things to note:
  • No bikes are allowed on the trains except foldable-bikes.
  • Bikes are registered upon purchase to prevent theft, so make sure to go to your local police station for registration.

Opt for Overnight Buses

Like most other countries in Asia, overnight buses are a great way to get around for cheap. Overnight buses may not be as popular as bullet trains in Japan, but they are safe, affordable, and a comfortable alternative. You can find and book overnight highway express buses on Willer and Kosokubus.

If you're wondering how the prices compare, I've collected information on the two routes below for your reference. The ticket for an overnight bus is about a third of the price of a bullet train ticket.

Tokyo to OsakaTokyo to KyotoOvernight busfrom ~5,000 Yen from ~5,000 Yen Bullet Train~15,000 Yen~14,500 Yen

Apply for ETC Card to Save on Tolls

If you are driving around Japan, you have probably noticed that there are a ton of toll roads. These tolls aren't particularly expensive, but they are also not cheap. It can really add up if you are doing a lot of driving. To save money at the tolls, you have a few options:

  • Apply for an ETC card, this qualifies you for discounts at the tolls
  • If you're renting a car, rent one with and ETC card rental
  • Drive a smaller car, like a kei-car, if you can help it
  • Avoid toll roads in general

Find out more about toll roads and ETC card from Nexco.

Budget Housing

In Japan, housing can be expensive in big cities like Tokyo and Osaka. But, you may have heard, there are a number of vacant/unused/abandoned homes (known as akiya) that get sold for cheap in rural towns. This is because of Japan's aging and shrinking population.

So, is there a way to benefit from akiyas? There is, if you are interested in purchasing a property, not so much if you're only looking for short-term rental housing. Below are some unique ways to stay in Japan on a budget.

Renting Ghost Houses

This money saving method might not appeal to everyone, but it can result in quite a substantial amount of money being saved. From our understanding of the matter, if someone passes away due to unnatural cause (suicide, murder, etc..) in a residence, it goes onto the title of said residence. These properties are then titled as "accident property". In Japanese, they are called jiko bukken (事故物件) , or wakeari bukken (訳あり物件).

Being a very superstitious society, most Japanese people will not want to rent these places. So often times, these properties will be rented out cheaply. Once someone has lived in the "ghost house" for a year following the accident, the title can be cleared and the owner will no longer be obligated to disclose the information.

If you're able to handle it, this is probably one of the best ways to save money in Japan. For those of you that are curious, Oshimaland documents a good number of unnatural deaths and their locations. Check it out at your discretion, some stories may be disturbing.

Stay at a Capsule Hotel

Capsule hotels are very popular in Japan and can be found in big cities. They used to be the cheap overnight solution for those needing a bed temporarily, but with the growing popularity of the capsule hotel experience among tourists, some of the prices have surged.

If you're looking for a unique experience, keep capsule hotels in mind but be aware it may not be the cheapest option available. Other options include hostels or snoozing at internet cafes.

Travel and Connect Locally with Workaway

Workaway is a platform where home owners and organizations can find individuals for culture exchange, volunteer programs, or help with any type of work.  In exchange, hosts will often provide food and accommodation for these individuals, also known as workawayers.  

Workaway opportunities are worldwide and many offer unique experiences - you will find many in Japan but many will require you to have a working holiday visa. This will offer you a cheap and interesting travel/holiday experience!

Camping in Japan

Japan has amazing nature to be enjoyed. Camping began to get popular in the 60's and has resulted in the 1000+ campsites we see all over Japan today. Camping is an affordable way to travel through Japan. It is especially convenient with the number of campsites, break stations, public houses, and convenience stores all around the country. Below is a public database of all of the campsites.

Save on Utilities

Depending on the region of Japan you live in, utility cost will differ. The utilities that you have to pay for in Japan are natural gas, electricity and water. You may find keeping good habits, like turning off appliances when it is not in use, is simply not enough. Or at least that was our conclusion when we got our first utility bill!

When we first moved to Japan, we did not expect gas and electricity to cost an arm and a leg! In fact, we later found out that the utilities in Hakuba are substantially more expensive than other regions. We have been told it was residual Olympics cost, but we have no idea if this is true or not. Below are a few strategies we've implemented or looked into to reduce our cost.

Better Insulation

You will find that the majority of houses in Japan are not new. Japan's economy peaked in 1989, and has been struggling to recover ever since. Something about a lost decade in there.

For part of our time in Japan, we were living in the town of Hakuba, a pretty famous ski resort. Most of the buildings here were built before the 1998 Winter Olympics. As such, many of them have poor building envelopes. That is to say that they are not well insulated. In particular, a lot of the windows are single pane.

To reduce our heating needs and to prevent infiltration from the exterior, we installed a plastic layer on our windows as temporary means to stop excessive heat loss. It was not the prettiest solution, but it worked well for us as we were only renting the apartment for a couple of months. On top of that, we wore more layers of clothing while indoors to keep warm.

Explore Alternative Heating Methods

Exploring alternate ways to heat up our apartment was something else we did. Seeing as utility costs vary by region, it can be practical to switch heating methods to use a cheaper utility type. For example, if gas is more expensive, switch to an electric heater.

In our case, although gas was costing us an arm and a leg, we didn't end up switching heating methods. We were hesitant to invest in a heater that we would only use for a few months. We would recommend this option as a longer term solution.

Take Advantage of Onsens & Sento

Not everyone will have this option available to them, but for us, we were lucky to have a public bathing facility in the building, free of charge. Initially, we thought this was going to be something we used a few times in a week. But, after finding out how much natural gas cost us, we started using the public bath everyday! Can't complain, this beats cold and short showers. :)

MORE Ways to Stretch Your Money

I know we've already talked about many ways to save money, but there's more!

Withdraw Money During the Day

If you are going to live in Japan for a few months or years, having a Japanese bank account will come in handy. Having something as simple as a cash card will reduce your need to carry large amount of cash everywhere. ATMs can be found in many places, including convenience stores! But be aware, banks will often charge additional fees for any withdraws done during non-business hours.

Transfer Money to Japan with Low Fees

Transferring money to Japan can be a bit of a pain depending where you are from. As Canadians, it sucks. A lot.

If you are only in Japan for a short period of time, the best way to avoid fees is just to bring cash. If you absolutely have to withdraw from an ATM, banks like TD offer debit cards that don't charge a fee for using the ATM (the Japanese bank will charge a fee, and you will get bad Forex). There are also some credit cards that offer Forex rates with no fees.

Personally, we use Rogers World Elite Mastercard (no annual fee). Though the card charges the usual 2.5% on foreign exchange, it gives you 4% cash back on ALL foreign currency expenses. It has been great, but unfortunately Rogers is changing up their terms and the card will no longer offer the same cash back starting June 2, 2020.  We will be researching new alternatives!

Meanwhile, if you are in Japan for a longer period of time, opening a bank account and transferring money over is your best bet.  So far, the cheapest and easiest way to do this is using TransferWise. If you are a little bit more into trading Forex and such, you can use a brokerage account like IBKR.

Detail instructions to come for setting up TransferWise - keep posted!

Get Cash-Back with PayPay

Japan is a very cash based society. To the point where some of the stories we hear are ridiculous. We have friends who have bought cars and houses (cheap houses) in cash. The concept of bringing 2,500,000 yen to the car dealership is not strange. They do have credit cards, but they don't like to use them.

As a movement to encourage society to be less cash-dependent, the Japanese government has stepped in to offer serious incentives for using cashless payment systems. PayPay is one of many cashless payment systems that has emerged from this government push.

PayPay is both an online resale platform (like eBay), and an application based payment platform (like WePay). It regularly offers 2-5% cashback on all payments - we love it! It also allows you to send and receive money from other PayPay users.

Overall, it is quite straightforward to use, BUT it is only available in Japanese and for Japanese devices only. It isn't impossible to set up as a foreigner, but it could take some time and some help from Google Translate.  

Get Your Basics From 100 Yen Store

100 yen store is the Japanese equivalent of a dollar store. You can find all the basic items you would expect to find at dollar stores. From kitchen utensils, cleaning supplies, bathroom essentials, DIY crafts and cosmetics, 100 yen store is the perfect stop for it all.

Take Advantage of LINE Coupons

LINE, is a free messaging application that is very popular in Japan. Many stores, restaurants, cafes and retail shops will have LINE profiles to engage with their customers. Often times, they will send out coupons for loyal customers. For example, the largest grocery store in Hakuba Japan, The Big, offered a 5% off coupon for customers that added them on LINE.

Simple Made Better by UNIQLO

If your wardrobe is in need of new clothes, Uniqlo is a great place to shop for both your latest fashion needs and your basic base layers. Uniqlo is like the Asian H&M, they offer clothes of decent quality for reasonable prices. Some even say they have the most comfortable underwear (Chris), and offer the best deals on down jackets.

Shop at Department Stores

Japan has quite a few big department stores. You'll often find the department stores offer goods for pretty good deals - or the lowest prices you will find anywhere. This includes Japanese snacks, cosmetics, electronics and even alcohol! They will often offer foreigners on short term visa special deals and tax exemptions. Popular department stores are: Bic Camera, Aeon Store, Don Quijote (also known as "Donki"), Yodobashi, LOAX, and Labi.

Deals for SHORT-TERM Travelers ONLY

As the tourist industry is predominately aimed at short-term travelers, Japan offers you lots of deals that many locals and long-term visitors can't get. Often these deals are advertised for short-term visitors and holders of international passports.

Travel Extensively and Freely with the JR Pass (Japan-Wide Rail Pass)

JR pass is very popular among tourists visiting Japan. It offers unlimited use of almost all Japan Railway trains, buses and some ferries in periods of 7, 14 or 21 days. The pass is not really cheap because travelling within Japan isn't cheap, but it is considered a crazy deal for those looking to travel near and far throughout Japan via trains in periods of 7, 14 or 21 days!

To give you a better idea of how the cost of JR pass compares to buying regular train tickets, here are some numbers for you.

JR Pass prices as of April 2020:

7-day JR Pass: 29,650 yen
14-day JR Pass: 47,250 yen
21-day JR Pass: 60,450 yen

Single Shinkansen tickets:

Tokyo > Osaka: 14,720 yen
Osaka > Kyoto: 3,270 yen
Kyoto > Tokyo: 14,370 yen
Total: 32,360 yen

As illustrated above, if you're visiting the big Japanese cities on the beaten path (Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto) your single train tickets can cost you 32,360 yen in total. Depending on how long you are travelling Japan for, it may or may not be worth purchasing the JR pass.

Often times, it is 100% worth it if you're looking to travel around Japan. Be mindful that you can only purchase the pass while abroad, so be sure to look into this before you get to Japan!

Check out Japan Rail Pass Official Website for more details. If you want to find out train schedules and fare information, check out HyperDia and Google Maps.

Explore Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Nara, and Wakayama with the Kansai Thru Pass

The Kansai thru pass is exactly as it sounds, it is offered as a 2 or 3 day unlimited transit pass for trains, subways, and buses throughout the Kansai region. If you're unfamiliar with Japanese geography, the Kansai region includes popular cities like Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Nara, Wakayama, and Koyasan.

The best part of the pass? It can be used non-consecutively within the validity period! As of April 2020, the prices of the 2 and 3 day passes are 4,400 yen and 5,500 yen respectively. Find out more details here.

Get a Deal on the Narita Express (N'EX) from Narita Airport to Central Tokyo

If you're flying into Narita International Airport (NRT) and will be visiting Japan for less than 14 days, look into the N'EX Tokyo ticket! The ticket is sold as a round-trip pass, offering discounted rates for the Narita Express from Narita Airport to all the areas in and around Tokyo.

This pass can easily save you 2,000+ Yen. See official JR website for details.

Buy Goods Tax-Free with Foreign Passports

What makes shopping better? Buying goods tax-free! Japan increased their standard consumption tax to 10% in October 2019. But, lucky for you, as a temporary foreign visitor, you are eligible for tax exemption!

That's right, you can pay the tax-exempt price by showing your passport. Both general items and consumables items can be tax-free but under certain conditions. Check out Japan's Tax-Free Shops for tax exemption details.

Buy Cheap Domestic Japan Flights

As a temporary visitor and holder of a non-Japanese passport, you are eligible for some great domestic flight deals in Japan. For example, you are able to fly (one-way) from Tokyo to Sapporo for just 11,565.75 yen (110 USD), or from Tokyo to Osaka for 8,242.76 yen (77 USD) on the JAL Japan Explorer Pass! Both JAL and ANA offer some cool deals on domestic flights. Check out their different programs:

Also keep in mind budget airlines offer competitive and often better prices. The following are common budget airlines in Japan:

  • Skymark
  • Peach Aviation
  • Vanilla Air
  • Jetstar Japan
  • Spring Airlines
  • Air Do
  • Starflyer
  • Solaseed Air
  • Air Asia

Other Great Transit Deals

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