I went to Tokyo with my family in August 2017. It we absolutely fantastic. Best place I’ve visited. We all loved it there and would definitely go back.

It was a pretty reasonable cost to get there. Flights for 2 adults and 2 kids came to £2,200. At the time that was cheaper than going to NYC. We found accommodation in a very good Tokyo district (Asakusa) through AirBnB for £1,300 for three weeks. That was the real bargain that made it doable.

Since we’ve been I think the Tokyo City council has clamped down on AirBnB and they are not as easy to come by. I think hotels are pretty pricy.

Costs while we were there were mixed.

Transport - using the underground to get around Tokyo was reasonably priced. At the time we went it worked out cheaper than going round the London Undeground.

Travelling outside of Tokyo seemed very expensive though. Much more expensive than here. You don’t realise how big Japan is. To go to the nearest city, Kyoto, was £70. One way. So that was out of reach for the family and I. You can purchase a rail pass from JR. If you are thinking of travelling round Japan explore the JR Pass it appears to be good value. However it wasn’t suitable for our needs.
There is actually a city that adjoins Tokyo, Yokohama. That was quite cheap to get to.

Food - mixed. If you want Western stuff in the supermarkets be prepared to pay a premium. My youngest was particularly fussy on that holiday. Croissants £2 each. Sliced white bread, loaf of 4 slices was £2.
Japanese food however was cheap. Sushi - big box of the stuff about £1.50. Pot Noodle/Rice meals 50p. And they were from a different planet compare to out pot noodle range.
We ate in a street food district in Asakusa and got a Japanese 2 course family meal with drinks for just over £30. I found the street vendors that served Local foodstuff to be reasonably priced too. Especially if you like
Octopus. Its everywhere!!
They sold Asda branded £1 chocolate in the store by us. It was about £5. They also had Kit-Kats for the Japanese market. These are like the miniature Kit-Kats we get here and come in mid-sized boxes and in over 10 different flavours. Raspberry was gorgeous. Can’t recall the price but they were cheap, I bought loads.
The rule regarding food is buy Japanese. You have travelled thousands of miles to go to Japan afterall.

Clothes - oh my god!!!! Unbelievably expensive. Football shirts £150. Ordinary plain t-shirts like you get in Primark £10. We didn’t buy any clothes there, the prices were unreal.

Electricals - oh yes!!!! The world’s your oyster. There’s everything there and its a touch cheaper than here. Not loads, about 5-10% cheaper.

Manga type stuff - I went with two kids. They filled their boots.

Beer & alcohol - sorry can’t help as we didn’t visit bars due to having two young kids.

People - mostly excellent. The assistants in the smaller shops were very attentive and wanted to chat. We found there was a language barrier in that people over 50 tended not to speak any English. The younger generation, below 30, tended to have a good grasp of English. Though to be fair it never caused us a problem. We never felt lost or intimidated. It was the most welcoming safe place I’ve every been to.

Attractions - ones we went to were cheap. Tokyo Zoo £8 for adults. Tokyo Skytree £14 I think and is the best view I’ve ever had. The top of that is mind blowing. (Empire State was £40) We went to Baseball that was well priced. Tokyo Tower - couple of quid. Disney Land - its was far cheaper than Paris or Florida and I’d day it was a better park than Paris. Give two days to see both if the parks there. The Kill Bar - nothing, just cost of food. Starbucks from Lost in Translation - nothing but cost of drink, best cuppa Tea in Tokyo.

There’s absolutely loads to see in Tokyo itself the place is mind-blowingly huge. Though we never felt overawed or hemmed in by it. So much variety we didn’t stop doing stuff every day for the three weeks we went there.

I realise Tokyo isn’t Japan, like London is not truly representative of the UK, and i would love to go back and see not only Tokyo again but to get around Japan.

Maybe one day . . . .

Go for it. You won’t regret going. Superb, beautiful, wonderful place.