Check out this post — Expense Report: Pre-Trip Costs — for a better understanding of other costs associated with a RTW trip, as well as a definition of my travel style and how it impacts my budget.

Japan doesn’t fall on the list of super cheap Asian destinations (especially compared to neighbors like Thailand and Cambodia), but it’s well worth the expense to visit.

Here’s what I spent in U.S. dollars over 14 nights in Japan:

• Accommodation = $363.60 … $25.97 per night
• Food =  $312.66 … $22.33 per day
• Groceries =  $54.65 … $3.90 per day
• Coffee =  $79.79 … $5.69 per day
• Activities =  $88.88 … $6.34 per day
• Cell & Wifi =  $35.35 … $2.52 per day
• Transportation =  $246.94 … $17.63 per day
• Miscellaneous =  $71.91 … $5.13 per day

And the grand total for 14 nights in Japan is…:

$1,253.78 USD, which works out to $89.55 per day.

Here’s how those numbers compare with other countries I’ve traveled to:

• My daily average in Cook Islands: $157.05
• My daily average in New Zealand: $88.56
• My daily average in Australia: $83.37
• My daily average in Singapore: $78.86
• My daily average in Indonesia: $51.34
• My daily average in Malaysia: $117.09
• My daily average in Palau: $160.91
• My daily average in Philippines: $49.21
• My daily average in Japan: $89.55

While Japan ranks as probably my favorite country in all of Asia, it comes with a price tag. But it’s worthwhile in so many regards — the people, food, transportation, and cultural attractions are all top-notch.

A few notes:

• I used xe.com in October to calculate the exchange rate and at that point in time, 1 JPY (Japanese Yen) = .0101 USD.
• I did not receive any blog discounts while traveling through this country, so these numbers are quite accurate to what a typical backpacker might spend visiting this part of the world.
• I did not include my flights into or out of Japan, since I will note international flights on a separate RTW airfare budget at the end of my trip. I did not fly domestically within Japan, but I did take an expensive bullet train ride on the Shinkasen ($130, which is included in the transportation slice of the pie).
• Silly me — I purchased a 14-day, prepaid SIM card from b-mobile at an electronics store in Osaka (FYI – you could order ahead and have it waiting for you at the airport), but I ruined it while trimming the card from a micro to a nano SIM for my iPhone 5. There goes $35 down the drain! (This mistake also adds $2.50 to my daily budget.) For the record, I have successfully cut SIM cards down to size in Australia and Indonesia, but those were only around $2 each so the stakes were low if something went wrong. If I were to return to Japan in the future (and I hope I do), I would order a cheap SIM card cutter on Amazon to bring with me and ensure this doesn’t happen again. Luckily Japan is very connected so I could access wifi in my hostels and at coffee shops / restaurants. But it was a pain to not have Google Maps while out and about. In fact, I downloaded the Lonely Planet apps for Kyoto and Tokyo ($4 each) at the suggestion of someone in my hostel, and I did use them a number of times. I continue to use the Viber app to communicate for free with my friends and family back home.
• I’ll mention it again here — I continue to use my Charles Schwab debit card to avoid international ATM fees.
• I purchased my very first souvenir of this RTW trip — a bunch of hand-painted postcards from an artist in Kyoto.
• Other notes: accommodation is rather high (average night in a hostel dorm is $25.97/night), transportation is high ($17.63/day) because of the aforementioned expensive bullet train ride, and coffee is high ($5.59/day) because there are so many Starbucks and I can’t resist. Finally, the activities slice of the pie is low because most of the places I visit are temples and shrines — which cost only a few dollars to enter.
• Some of the miscellaneous items I purchased include: laundry ($10 USD), Lonely Planet apps for Kyoto & Tokyo ($4 each), a new Uniqulo red fleece in preparation for my upcoming Mt. Everest Base Camp trek ($20), postcards and stamps ($12), new sunglasses to replace my broken ones ($10)

I hope that this has been informative for anyone planning their own trip to this part of the world.