Eating in Japan on a budget

Before travelling to Japan, we gave ourselves a food budget of £50 a day between two of us.

Like every holiday location, you can be thrifty or spend lavishly. Our mentality was that if there was a special meal we really wanted, we’d have it, but we also didn’t want to waste our hard-earned pennies just for the sake of it. I appreciate you can easily spend a lot more than this in Japan however, do you really need to?

We work hard and love our holidays, so having a budget meant we could make our money go further and we could spend it on the things that actually mattered to us, such as more holidays!

That said, we weren’t planning to live off convenience store food either. We wanted sushi, ramen, hida beef, wagyu, street food and to actually enjoy eating our way around Japan, so we were prepared to spend more if we needed to.

Was £50 a day actually enough?

Surprisingly, YES!

We honestly didn’t know if this was a crazy idea and a realistic budget before we were there, but it actually worked.

There were a couple of days when we spent more and days when we spent less, but one of the biggest surprises was how affordable eating in Japan actually was.

What does £50 actually get you in Japan?

An example day in Tokyo:

Breakfast: £4.47 at Lawsons

Lunch: £12.60 at Shake Shack

Dinner: £37.71 at Sushi Gary Kabukio

TOTAL: £54.78 for two people

This was slightly over budget, however that’s three meals for two people in Tokyo, including sushi for dinner.

On day one we started off healthy with eggs, rice triangles and tea from the shops, by the end of our trip we were on the cream pancake swirls, McDonalds and egg sandwiches. All of which, were extremely affordable. You could push the budget even further and have hot evening meals from 7-eleven, they have ramen, fried chicken and so much more.

An example day in Kanazawa:

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Breakfast: £6.81 at McDonalds

Lunch: £12.64 on sushi at the market

Dinner: £34.99 at Akamechan restaurant

TOTAL: £54.44 for two people

Again, just over our £50 budget but considering that included two meals out, it’s not bad at all! I’ve tried to show the days where we did eat very well and relied less on quick street food or convenience store options, just to show you what prices would look like. If you were to eat street food or convenience store food, it would be significantly less per meal.

The day we completely blew the budget in Kyoto to try a wagyu steak at a restaurant!

Breakfast: £8.40 from 2/7 Bakery

Lunch: £4.62 at Lawsons

Dinner: £56.65 at Kyoto Katsugyu

TOTAL: £69.67 for two people

This was our biggest splurge because we wanted to try the famous Japanese wagyu steak.

You can see we didn't treat the £50 as a rigid challenge. If there was something we really wanted to try, we weren't going to miss out. BUT since we did have days where we spent less than £50 it all balanced out. And let’s be honest, how many times can you go out for a meal in the UK and spend almost £50 on two people in one sitting.

We did have beers and we did enjoy ourselves, but we tried to be smart with our money.

The burger menu on the left is around £6 for a burger including fries and this was honestly delicious!!!

An example day in Osaka:

Breakfast: £9.29 at McDonalds

Lunch: £10.97 Sq Tasogare Coffee

Dinner: £27.87 at Osaka Izumisano Minato

Snacks: £1.73

TOTAL: £49.86 for two people

This was just under budget yet we ate out three times!

We found this amazing food hall near our hotel, it was on the top floor of a shopping mall and it was packed with so many different restaurants. I think it was mainly locals there but you just sat and waiting for a table (it could be a long wait. The food was incredible and so reasonably priced.

Convenience stores are amazing in Japan

We did eat a lot of the viral snacks from 7-eleven, Lawsons and Family Mart and honestly, their food was so fresh and delicious, even their sushi was better than what we’ve had at restaurants in the UK.

They also sell hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, ramen, fried chicken, cakes and loads of things we had absolutely no idea what they were. It was fun though, we would buy random snacks each day and sample them.

Convenience stores made it incredibly easy to grab cheap breakfast or lunch without feeling like we were eating rubbish just to save money.

And yes… we went to McDonald’s

I know, I know, I can hear you saying “you travel all the way to Japan and go to McDonald’s” But hear us out, the menu has loads of things we don’t get back home and the breakfast as honestly very good. Their pancakes are so delicious!

What can I say, life is a balance - some days you eat super healthy, and others you eat McDonalds.

Some of our cheapest food was the best

This was probably one of the biggest things we learned. You absolutely don’t need to sit down in an expensive restaurant every night to eat incredible food in Japan.

As with everyplace, if you want to try street food and small vendors it will always be significantly cheaper than a sit-down meal at a restaurant. Does that mean it’s not as good, absolutely not!

We genuinely loved all the food we had, some of the best food we had all holiday was the cheapest (for example the steamed buns in Takayama which were Hida Beef which is their version of wagyu, and they cost £2.39 EACH!!!).

They were absolutely delicious.

Did having a budget ruin the experience?

Not even slightly.

Sometimes even if you don’t have an actual budget it’s too easy to spend much more than you need to, and giving yourself a budget (even if you go over it slightly) ensures you don’t go crazy and waste money on things that aren’t going to elevate your experience.

We found that having the budget stopped us from walking into the first place we walked past, and got us to think intentionally.

It’s a balance

We are very health conscious individuals, we do like having healthy days and not so healthy days. While walking 30,000 steps a day or cycling around a city we did have more treats than we would back home, but that’s ok.

So if you’re planning Japan and worrying about how much spending money you need, then please don’t! You will find options to suit all budgets and I promise you’ll have an amazing time.