Is Japan Cheaper for FamiliesNow Than Before the Pandemic?

Because the yen fell further than prices rose. Against the dollar it lost about 31% of its value between the two periods, from about 109 yen to about 159, while the yen price of an American family’s trip rose about 26%. The currency gave that family a large discount, and Japanese prices took back more than half of it.

The days themselves. Eating out, public transport and admissions come out 16 to 28% cheaper in a family’s home currency. Their yen prices rose far less than hotels: 22% for eating out, 10% for public transport and 15% for admissions, against 13% for all prices in Japan.

In yen, yes: hotel charges are up 39%. In home currency they are close to level, about 4% cheaper for American and Australian families and about 9% cheaper for British ones. The hotel is the line of a Japan budget that has nearly caught up with 2019.

Theme park admission rose faster than admissions in general, up 28% on 2019. The Shinkansen express charge barely moved, up 2%, but JR’s ordinary fares, the other part of a Shinkansen ticket, rose 8%.

At about 138 yen to the US dollar, 175 to the pound and 96 to the Australian dollar, the trip costs what it did in 2019. In September 2026 the rates were 156, 210 and about 111, comfortably on the cheaper side.

Plan the hotel at no less than it cost in 2019, and treat the saving on everything else as the margin: an extra day, a better seat, a meal that would have been a stretch before. And check the yen rate when booking, because the whole saving rests on it.

No, and it is important to say so. This compares one model trip in two periods; it is not a budget. It follows the official prices people living in Japan pay, not the hotels and restaurants visitors choose, which may have risen faster, and it leaves out flights, the Japan Rail Pass and shopping. Changing the model’s assumptions moves the answer between about 11% and 20% cheaper; it does not change the direction.