BUDGET
From Europe, the journey is much more expensive than the Way of
Compostela, because of the plane, the transports in Japan and
the
accomodations.
And the cost of living in Japan is very high, at the level of
Switzerland or Norway when the exchange rate is about 150 yens/euro, but much more when the exchange rate is under 135 yens/euro.
Attention to the Yen exchange rate!
Possible abrupt changes
during your journey
¥/€ = 50% increase between July and November 2008!
but ¥/€ = 25% less beetween July 2012 and January 2013! |
.
The price
depends of the number of nights, around 50 if you walk, 30
days by cycle, much less by car or bus.
Count 8000 ¥ a day, except if you sleep outside and eat what
you buy in supermarket.
To convert yen:
For more currencies
click on
Warning, these are interbank rates
Visa, Mastercard or your bank will take around 6% on everything you pay by card or draw at the ATM
About 6% also if you change notes at home or in Japan
For the real rate, look at an online currency exchange website |
on a computer, you can write ¥ if you push Alt and type 0165
(Alt+0165).
Plane
The journey being made in spring or in autumn,
we take advantage of off-season prices.
From Europe, 800 - 900 Euro on the
Internet, but payment with order.
From US East coast 900 - 1000 $, from US West coast
750 - 800 $.
Naturally if we do the tour in several times, we will need
several plane tickets!
Transportation in Japan
If we do the complete tour of the 88 temples, we return
at number 1, thus expenses are reduced
Kansai Airport - Naruto bus = 4000 yens one way.
If you walk the path in several times, add the price of
trains to resume your route, for example:
Kansai Airport - Kochi = 11000 yens one way
Kansai Airport - Sukumo = 14000 yens one way
Equipment
Without taking into account the material of
walking (the same that to Compostela)
The white jacket ( 3000 yens) and the stamp book ( 2300 yens)
are the only indispensable purchases.
Temples
Temple's stamps cost 300 yens each, so 300 x 88 temples =
26400 yens
Accomodation
There
are no dormitories or cheap shelters such as we
know on the
Way of Compostela. It is rather small simple 4-5 rooms inns,
more guest house than hotel. Accomodation is made of
small
ryokans, minshukus (which are family-run ryokans), temples
and business hotels. Always individual room, but WC and common
bath are often outside the room.
The normal price for the overnight stay and 2 meals in
ryokan, minshuku, temple is 6500 - 7500 yens a day (to
multiply by the number of days of accomodation, thus variable according
to the distance walked every day).
Business hotels ask from 5000 to 9000 yens without meal.
Room price is per person. 2 persons pay double price for the same room !
Food
Two meals are included in most of the
accomodation,
and breakfast is substantial, thus lunch is often
superfluous.
Restaurants are cheaper than in Europe.
1000 yens a day if we eat at noon
in a soba restaurant, and add some drinks to avoid
carrying too much water (120 yens/can).
Less if you buy your picnic in Konbini.
We can add souvenirs, personal expenses and the journey
to Koyasan at the end of the route.
