Plan Your Trip
How Much Does a Trip to Japan Cost? A Real Daily Budget
Three budgets built from actual prices — backpacker, mid-range and comfortable — plus the four costs that blow a Japan budget apart…
Travel style: Budget
Getting Around
Domestic Flights: When Flying Beats the Shinkansen
The train wins as far as Hiroshima. Past that, flying is faster and often cheaper — especially with the foreign-visitor fares that…
Getting Around
Highway Buses: The Cheapest Way Between Japanese Cities
Tokyo to Osaka overnight for the price of a decent lunch. How Japanese highway buses work, which seat class is worth paying…
Getting Around
Kansai Transport: Which Pass for Which Trip
Kyoto is a bus city, Osaka is a subway city, and the fastest train between them is not the one you would…
Getting Around
Regional Rail Passes: The 12 That Actually Save Money
Since the national pass got expensive, the regional ones are where the value moved. Twelve passes, what each covers, and the trip…
Getting Around
Is the Japan Rail Pass Worth It? Run the Numbers First
The Japan Rail Pass rose about 70 per cent in late 2023, and the old advice stopped being true. Three real itineraries,…
Getting Around
IC Cards Explained: Suica, ICOCA, PASMO and the Rest
Ten different cards, one system. Which to buy, where it works, where it does not, and why the card that opens every…