Japan Budget Accommodation and Backpackers Hotels

Budget and backpacker hotels in Japan are somehow easy to find but in the end, you don’t know which ones to choose. Most cities have very cheap hotels, but you might just give a bit more to avoid a total dump.

On this page, I write step-by-step practical information, photos, and respective prices. Cheap hostels and hotels I stayed in Japan.

This is the list of places I stayed during my 26-day trip to Japan (24 nights). I always got budget accommodation choices except in a few cities. Sometimes we had a cheaper hostel but far from the center and the transportation money for two people would compensate for getting a more expensive hotel after all. We could have spent much less as most cities have cheaper places to stay in. But taking into consideration quality, location and price we decided to alternate between hotels and hostels.

Note: I traveled to Japan with my sister. Taking into account that we could get a double room for almost the same price of two dorm beds in some good quality backpacker hostels, we decided to include some economy hotels with private rooms to our list of places to stay in Japan. During all our stay we spent 1502€ = 62.5€ per night. So, the final average price per person per night was 31€.

My favorites

On that previous trip, my TOP 5 accommodation in Japan were:

1. Kumagai-ji Temple Lodging in Koyasan, let’s face it, sleeping in a real Buddhist temple and being able to participate in the morning ceremonies is priceless. Dinner and breakfast were also a unique experience. Although this place was not cheap, I totally recommend making an effort to stay here.
2. 9 Hours Shinjuku-North Hostel in Tokyo, staying in a capsule hotel in Japan has to be in everyone’s bucket list while in Japan. Amazing views from the common area window.
3. Kyoto Morris Hostel, very nice hostel with clean and useful facilities. Bunk beds were inside a huge space almost giving us the sense of being inside a little room all for ourselves.
4. Ryokan Hodakaso Sanganoyu in Hirayu Onsen, the second most expensive accommodation I got in Japan. But again, mealtime was a unique cultural experience. What my sister and I paid for one private bedroom + dinner + breakfast would be the same as we would pay in a restaurant for the amount of food brought to us for dinner.
5. Super Hotel Matsumoto Ekimae in Matsumoto, a practical and very well located hotel with a great breakfast and an amazing street from most of the bedrooms.

Geographic order of these hotels:

Tokyo – Hakone – Hiroshima – Himeji – Kobe – Osaka – Koyasan – Nara – Kyoto – Kanazawa – Takayama – Hirayu Onsen – Matsumoto – Tokyo

Backpackers Hotels in Japan

9 Hours Shinjuku-North Hostel in Tokyo

I stayed for 1 night in this Tokyo hostel. Capsule bed €25 Euros per night.

Guesthouse Azito in Hakone

I stayed for 1 night in this Hakone guesthouse. Private double room €69 Euros per night.

Santiago Guesthouse in Hiroshima

I stayed for 3 nights in this Hiroshima guesthouse. Private double room €43 Euros per night.

Comfort Hotel in Himeji

I stayed for 1 night in this Himeji hotel. Private double room with breakfast €67 Euros per night.

Daiichi Grand Hotel in Kobe

I stayed for 1 night in this Kobe hotel. Private double room with breakfast €76 Euros per night.

Hostel Rakutsuki in Osaka

I stayed for 2 night in this Osaka hostel. Dormitory bed €21 Euros per night.

Kumagai-ji Temple Lodging in Koyasan

I stayed for 1 night in this Koyasan temple hotel. Private double room with dinner and breakfast €185 Euros per night.

Hostel & Gallery G is Good in Nara

I stayed for 1 night in this Nara hostel. Dormitory bed €15 Euros per night. This was a very overcrowded and dirty place. The only accommodation in Japan that I didn’t like. Only book here if you want cheap and well located.

Kyoto Morris Hostel

I stayed for 3 nights in this Kyoto hostel. Dormitory bed €30 Euros per night. This is a really nice place.

The Share Hotels Hatchi in Kanazawa

I stayed for 2 nights in this Kanazawa hostel. Dormitory bed €25 Euros per night.

Sora-Ama Hostel in Takayama

I stayed for 1 night in this Takayama hostel. Dormitory bed €16 Euros per night.

Ryokan Hodakaso Sanganoyu in Hirayu Onsen

I stayed for 1 night in this Hirayu Onsen hotel. Private double room with dinner and breakfast €105 Euros per night. The food here was the best I ate in Japan.

Super Hotel Matsumoto Ekimae in Matsumoto

I stayed for 1 night in this Matsumoto hotel. Private double room with breakfast €54 Euros per night.

Super Hotel Otsuka in Tokyo

I stayed for 5 nights in this Tokyo hotel. Private double room with breakfast €84 Euros per night.