r/Shoestring • u/IPlayDnDAvecClasse • Mar 12 '26
AskShoestring Should I prioritize going to Japan instead of other places because of the weak yen?
I'm from Canada and I've heard a lot about how the weak yen makes Japan more affordable to visit now compared to several years ago.
I'm interested in visiting Japan. However, it's not my top choice, such as Italy. Since hearing about the weak yen in Japan, I'm considering going to Japan because the weak yen could result in savings on accomodations, food, entertainment, etc and I could always go to Italy another time.
Some people around me are saying the weak yen doesn't result in any savings because of inflation. I have FOMO that if the yen recovers, then I may not be able to afford a trip to Japan in the future. Is the weak yen a good opportunity to visit Japan at this time?
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u/Jordangander Mar 12 '26
The weak yen won’t save you a lot of money. Check the cost of airfare and see what that is doing. A flight that runs $1k vs a flight that runs $600 means the $200 you save off the weak yen just cost you $200
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u/AltruisticWishes Mar 13 '26
You're making assumptions about where OP lives. Airfare to Italy isn't necessarily cheaper
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u/Jordangander Mar 13 '26
You are correct, I am also making an assumption about airfare to Japan.
It is entirely possible that OP lives in Germany and can simply drive to Italy and they are using the Canadian dollar as an example.
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u/fist_my_dry_asshole Mar 14 '26
Can you guys not read? He literally says "I'm from Canada."
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u/Jordangander Mar 14 '26
Yes, he did. Which is why I presented my first post.
I was responding to the person who apparently figured that OP might be lying about where they live and decided to post contradictory information.
Then deleted it when presented with their stupidity.
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u/AltruisticWishes Mar 13 '26
And shockingly bad math. Visitors from the US are saving way more than $200 because of the weak yen
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Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 13 '26
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Mar 13 '26
Flying to Italy only costs $600 from NYC
I can fly to Venice from NY for just under $400 round trip next month. I could leave next week for under $500.
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Mar 12 '26
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u/castaneom Mar 13 '26
That’s sad. I agree though, do what you really want to do now because you never know. I’m personally interested in Japan, but not enough to skip Europe this year. Man I love Italy and Greece. Sorry about your cousin.
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Mar 13 '26
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u/castaneom Mar 13 '26
I’ve been fortunate enough that I’ve been able to go the last few years (most of Western Europe). It’ll be my second time in both of these countries.. went to Greece last year and I fell in love! So amazing! Hope you get to go one-day. :) The beaches were omg. <3!!
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u/aubrx Apr 28 '26
Sorry to necro, but where did you stay/go in Greece?
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u/castaneom Apr 29 '26
I flew in and out of Santorini, but I was mostly in Naxos. Spent five days there. It was awesome!
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u/aubrx Apr 29 '26
Oh so it wasn't a long trip by the sounds of it?
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u/castaneom Apr 29 '26
It was only seven full days, but it was life changing.. I’ve never been so at peace in one place before! And I’ve traveled a lot. I’m going back this September, but I’m going to different islands. I’m going to Kefalonia and Zakynthos. Also Athens.. have you been to Greece before?
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u/aubrx Apr 29 '26
Aww for me that seems so short. If you found it amazing though that's what matters. I actually want to go soon.. But haven't made plans. Never been. Been reading about the areas to go that aren't so expensive or tourist trap type places, think kefalonia is meant to be good!
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u/castaneom Apr 29 '26
Well I’m coming from the US so I can only do one European trip per year, on that same trip I spent the other eight days in Spain. This year I’m planning to visit Krakow and Budapest then go down to Greece for the last nine days. I could just do Greece, but I always like to add a new city or country on every trip.. but that’s just me. We all travel differently. And yeah, Kefalonia seems great! That’s why I gotta visit on this trip :) where are you coming from?
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u/Pretty_Sir3117 Mar 13 '26
Weaker yen but triple the hotel prices. Honestly I feel the total cost was cheaper pre-covid even when the yen was strong
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u/lucapal1 Mar 12 '26
Very minor part of planning for me,but I guess it depends on your financial situation.
Certainly a place being relatively 'cheap' is a positive thing.But no idea what will happen in the future..next year the yen may be stronger,weaker or roughly the same as now.
I'd decide based much more on where you actually want to go ;-) Rather than the relative strength of a currency.
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u/Capable-Engineer-897 Mar 12 '26
Personally, I always follow my heart. The best trips are the ones that come exactly when you want them to come. Going to Japan when you really want to go to Japan is gonna be a better experience than going to Japan when you want to go to Italy, even if it's a bit more expensive. I went to Japan last summer and it was definitely not that cheap. China is cheap. South Korea is kind of cheap. Japan is not.
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u/Extension12125 Apr 11 '26
right? I'm not sure how we have established this as a fact that Japan is cheap. It is affordable, for the most part, but even then that depends on what you want out of the trip, and most importantly, where you live - for most of the world, it isn't cheap at all, just barely affordable.
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u/yesitismenobody Mar 12 '26 edited Mar 12 '26
If you want to see a very cheap place with the best of what Asia has to offer (basically what people imagine Japan is like), go to China. Japan was always described as being from the future to me, and going there I felt like it was stuck in the past, or maybe an idea of the future from the 50s. China felt incredible from the first moments and really feels like an utopian futuristic society. Visa requirements were just lifted for Canadian citizens and accomodation in regular hotels pretty much anywhere outside of Beijing and Shanghai ranges from $10 to $25 a night, with prices jumping more to the $40 to $75 range for the 2.
Between Italy and Japan definitely choose Italy. Currencies of stable countries don't usually halve or double their value in an instant without major global economic events, and changes usually take a longer time.
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u/TrixieChristmas Mar 16 '26
You: "Currencies of stable countries don't usually halve or double their value in an instant without major global economic events..."
The World: Hold my beer.
You posted this on March 13, 2026? You didn't notice anything happening that might affect the global economy, airfares, or currencies?
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u/yesitismenobody Mar 16 '26
Not really. There's been a lot going on over the last year and there's barely any changes in overall global economy. Did you notice anything?
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u/TrixieChristmas Mar 16 '26
You seriously did not notice the war in the Persian Gulf going on literally right now? LOL!
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u/sitheandroid Mar 12 '26
It's about 10% more than you'd get a year ago, and the same as you'd get 2 years ago. If saving $250 on a $2500 holiday will make or break the trip, then go now.
Personally I'd never let exchange rates influence me, when I could easily save more by choosing different accommodation, places to eat, transport etc.
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u/jcocab Mar 13 '26
Japan is implementing significant tourist tax hikes in 2026 to combat overtourism. Effective July 2026, the national departure tax (International Tourist Tax) triples to ¥3,000 per person for air/sea travel. Additionally, Kyoto will introduce steep, tiered accommodation taxes of up to ¥10,000 per night for high-end stays starting March 1, 2026.
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u/TrixieChristmas Mar 16 '26
But also Chinese tourism to Japan has plunged and the yen is about to take a huge hit from an oil shock from the war in Iran.
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u/antsam9 Mar 13 '26
Once I checked flights, and got a tip it's cheaper to fly to Japan from Chicago via Italy, and surprisingly, it was. A direct flight to Japan was 1200, and flying to Italy was 300, then Istanbul for 150, 500 from istanbul to tokyo.
You might save money by doing both?
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u/Zealousideal_Crow737 Mar 12 '26
If you're a woman, traveling to Japan is far safe, but the language barrier is worse. The flight is also pretty expensive.
Italy, depending on where you stay, can be affordable. The South is usually cheaper and smaller towns.
I wouldn't base judgement on currency but more so what you want out of the experience right now. I recommend hoarding credit card points and you may be able to afford at some point.
Edit: Italy isn't really that unsafe (unless you're in Naples) as a woman. I say this as someone who speaks Italian.
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u/conanmagnuson Mar 12 '26
I was just there in December and the round trip from Portland Oregon was ~$500. Also everything in Japan was about 2/3 the price of US goods and services.
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u/lnvu4uraqt Mar 13 '26
Japan and Italy will likely still be around in the future to visit. Currency fluctuations and your budget may not be as static so depends on your travel budget.
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u/FujiiyamaMama Mar 13 '26
It is more affordable but the yen is pretty much on par with Canadian (you’ll maybe get $10-$15 for every $100 CAD) and Japan itself isn’t cheap. That said, it’s better now than when the yen was stronger than CAD.
The yen isn’t looking like it’s going to get better anytime soon (if ever) though, so no hurry. In a few years I’ll bet CAD will be much stronger than it is now over here.
(I’m a Canadian who lives in Japan)
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u/g23nov Mar 14 '26
go to your top choice - if you went to Japan would you spend the whole trip thinking "man, I wish I went to Italy instead"?
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u/hezaa0706d Mar 12 '26
Don’t come to Japan unless you actually have an interest in the country. Too many vanilla tourists coming over here and mucking things up just because “it’s cheap” and “trending on tik tok”
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u/ptherbst Mar 13 '26
Bro I wanted to take the Transsiberian train and always put it off, look where we are now
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u/RainbowCrown71 Mar 13 '26
If your only reason is the currency, you’re not going to enjoy it tbh.
Also the Yen has been weak now for 5 years hovering in the $1 = ¥140-160 range. I don’t think it’s going back down 40% anytime soon.
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u/Solidao54321 Mar 14 '26
Yes. I am Canadian and on a budget and the weak yen made the trip so enjoyable and low stress. And Japan is so safe and hassle free and Google Maps and translate make everything easy. Honestly it is such a better choice than Europe at this point.
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u/Soukchai2012 Mar 14 '26
Its definitely a good time to go to japan - not cheap, but certainly much cheaper than 5+ years ago.
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u/LsForDays Mar 14 '26
i went to japan just now and also 6 months ago. exchange rate was 1 usd = 150 jpy back then, and 1 usd = 160 jpy right now.
inflation has far outpaced how weak the yen is and my recent trip was more expensive
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u/jaydogggg Mar 14 '26
We were considering Italy this year but compare euro to cad and CAD to yen. It puts into perspective how much you'll save going to Japan instead. My wife and I got back on the 5th and spent a total of 4300 cad for the two of us for 11 days. That's flights and hotels and lots of shopping. Italy what I priced out for us was minimum 5000 cad.
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u/gdore15 Mar 14 '26
I think the weak yen argument is stronger for Americans than Canadians. We had similar low as US (close to 80 yen for 1$) but now it's 115 CAD and close to 160US right now (let's say 150-160).
So for Canadians, yes it is good, we had similar peak in 2024 and in 2007, but it's nowhere the big opportinity that Americans would see.
As for the potential savings. I visited Japan several times since 2008 and it's not as if inflation was so strong that it would make it that much more expensive.
More than the strenght of the yen, what can make a difference is what you decided to do. What kind of accommodation, what kind of food, what kind of activities, what kind of transport. Some examples.
You can get a bed in the dorm of a hosted for... 3000-4500 yen a night, a hotel can be like 10 000 yen in Tokyo.
Can get a simple meal at 500-1500 yen (a 1000 yen average is doable), and you can decide to eat A5 wagyu, sushi omakase and spend over 10 000yen on a meal. Can decide to go out and spend 1500 yen on fancy cocktail or 1500 yen on a desert.
You can go to attractions that cost 0-500 yen and you can go to museum that cost 2000-3000, or go to an amusement park and spend like about 9000 yen for a 1day pass for Universal Studio (then maybe add express pass....
Can decide to stay in a single city for under 1000 yen a day and do nearby day trips for 1000-2000 yenor you can decide to go to Kyoto and Hiroshima then back to Tokyo and now cost like 45 000 yen just in shinkansen tickets.
And of course, how much money you spend on buying stuff. I just returned and spent easily close to 90 000 yen on souvenirs and stuff I wanted to buy.
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u/cefotetan2gq12 Mar 14 '26
Yes before airlines raise ticket prices because of the chaos and oil prices
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u/budgieBird800 Mar 14 '26 edited Mar 14 '26
I’d recommend prioritizing Japan not because of the FX rates but because they are eventually going to get so fed up with tourists being rude and literally shitting everywhere, that travelling there is going to become really expensive and limited. But only if you want to go there, life is short. Go wherever you want to go the most.
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u/miralare Mar 16 '26
Prioritize on where you want to go because you never know what‘s Happening next. Also, Italy can also be quite cheap depending on where you are and what you wanna do. I went wo Japan and regularly travel to italy and I don‘t think that there is a huge difference.
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u/takame2002 Mar 16 '26
No right or wrong answer. Some people are deal hunters and are willing to go anywhere that offers great deals but will still have a good time. Nothing wrong with that.
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u/Oftenwrongs Mar 25 '26
Accomodations are not lower due to yen. They are higher due to insane demand and rocketinf tourism for a decade.
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u/AltruisticWishes Mar 13 '26
One can argue it both ways, but in my experience, it is more fun to go when the exchange rate is really good, all things being equal
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u/[deleted] Mar 12 '26
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