How much money would I spend in Japan?

Hello,

I am heading to Japan very soon in 10 days actually and I'll be there for a total of 3 weeks.

My question is how much money am I likely to be spending on things such as food, experiences and just in general as a whole, I am from Australia also and I was hoping on spending a maximum of around $2500 AUD.

Keep in mind I have already paid fully for the following:
- Accomodation
- Airfares
- JR Travel Pass

I'm travelling with 3 friends and the first week will be spent in Tokyo, second week in Osaka and third week will be in Hiroshima mainly.

We don't plan on eating at fancy restaurants every single day or anything like that either

Thanks in advance

A little to a lot. It all depends on how much you want to live it up. Coming from Australia, you'll probably find a lot things seem cheap. Some people frequently quote some outrageous price for some item in Japan when questions like this come out, but what you need to know is that for every crazy price someone says, there is often a cheaper substitute.
You can see the Sky Tree view in Tokyo, and maybe none better, but if you don't like the price, there are lots of free places as well.
http://supermerlion.com/10-free-tokyo-city-views/

You can eat quite decently at a restaurant for \1000 per meal. Or even for less at a convenience store, fast food, department store bento, or supermarket.
Some restaurant listings are on www.bento.com
Souvenirs can be a few dollars each to the sky is the limit. The other major factor which you didn't mention is transport, not to mention where you will go. Tokyo has a great 3 day subway pass for just 1500 yen. That's 500 yen a day to go all over the city - a really nice deal.
http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/ticket/value/travel/index.html#anc03
Tokyo Cheapo has some inexpensive activities as well.
http://www.tokyocheapo.com

I'm curious why you say you're going to Osaka for a week after the same time in Tokyo. It's pretty much a clone. If you haven't seen Kyoto & Nara, they are the traditional jewels of the country and worth a lot of time.

For Osaka, the Osaka Amazing Pass might work for you. For Hiroshima, if you have the JR Pass you can use it on the Loop Bus.

There is quite a large variance in what you will spend in a day. I wont quote you AUD figures cos Japan doesn't use dollars.

Food can be anywhere from 500 yen to 1500 yen per meal of cheapo food outlets, food stalls and combini stores.

Even with a JR travel pass, you'll most likely spend another 500 yen per day on average as the JR pass is quite useless in Kyoto. Some days you wont use additional funds for transport, other days you might reach 1000 yen.

Entry for basic shrines/temples and/or donations, you will probably average 500 yen a day. They cost around 200-300 yen each. So some days you'll do a few, some days you'll do non.

That is basics for sightseeing and travel. Other costs like Disney entry for an example will cost a lot more. Places like this have websites to view their entry costs and allow you to make a decision on you budget.

Sorry for the breakdown, but this might help in your thinking.
$2500 AUD is roughly going to be 200,000 yen from your Australian Eftpos card taking into consideration fees and the like. Don't change money before you go - it's an absolute crime how much money they charge in Australia for changing money.

Getting money out of your Australian card can be difficult. Look for 7/11 shops as their banks allow money to be taken out from international banks. The same is true for Citilink and the Post Office Banks (found at almost all post offices).

This means that you will have roughly 10,000 yen each day to do whatever you want. As long as you don't go stupid, this is a very comfortable amount.

Breakfast: many cafe's have 4-500 yen specials
Lunch: 300-1500 yen. A combini (7/11 and similar) are really cheap and are great to pick up a sandwich and iced coffee for really cheap if your in a rush. Apart from rural areas, these are found everywhere. Some nice restaurants have fantastic lunch set menu specials which are MUCH cheaper than dinner.
Dinner: 400 - 3000 yen. Having dinner at a Sukiyaki or Yoshinoya (Japanese fast food - basically meat over rice) is ridiculously cheap and filling but is not the most healthy (well - compared to most Japanese food anyway). Izakayas are nice (Japanese pub) but they can get extremely expensive quickly if you drink alcohol. Drinking alcohol in restaurants or bars is a way for young people or drinkers to quickly burn through their cash .

Things to do: 1-2000yen a day. As mentioned above, there is plenty to do for free but lots of places also cost money. Note that almost all temples in Kyoto/Nara which are impressive cost money to enter so visiting lots can cost an arm and a leg. In general, you seem to have a good amount of money to travel around comfortably and to buy some knick knacks along the way...

As I have mentioned before I budget about 8000 yen a day but generally spend less. I often have my bicycle with me so have the occasional day when I spend very very little. On the other hand I go nuts in Book Off buying cd's sometimes so. . . .

7000 a day is generally what I've spent on average . That includes a light breakfast and, lunch both from supermarket, a couple of drinks through the day and a meal out in the evening, along with entry to anything I wanted to go to. Also public transport where the JR pass can't be used. Subway etc, although I've walked a fair amount.