Japan tripled the departure tax and raised the Kyoto and Fuji fees, and with the yen near a 40-year low the whole lot is rounding error.
The new fees are real but small: the sayonara tax is 3,000 yen (about 18 dollars) once, buried in your fare; a mid-range Kyoto room is taxed about 400 yen a night; Mount Fuji's 4,000 yen only bites if you actually climb.
Dodge the crush, not the country:
- Skip the summit; the Fuji Five Lakes give you the view for a 2,200 yen bus ticket
- Trade the Arashiyama bamboo grove for near-empty Adashino and Otagi Nenbutsu-ji
- Base in Kanazawa for the old-capital postcard at half the volume
- Go at dawn or on a winter weekday
The fee lands where the crowd does, which is more than most tourist taxes manage.
