Japan

We track 2 cities in Japan. The mid-range shoulder-season day averages $397 — 42% above the median across all 68 cities we cover. Inside the country the range runs from $385/day in Kyoto to $408/day in Tokyo, a 6% gap: a tight band, so swapping cities barely changes the daily number.

Accommodation accounts for 51% of the average mid-range day in Japan, the largest single line item in every city we track here. Kyoto (wooden temples, raked gravel, seasonal precision) sits at the affordable end; Tokyo (a precise, polite hyper-city of small perfect rooms) anchors the top.

Season coefficients are calibrated per city, not shared. Across Japan the peak-to-low swing runs 70%–70%, widest in Kyoto (70%, twin-bloom peak (spring and autumn) pattern: low Jan–Feb, Jun at ×0.86, peak Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov at ×1.46). Two sharp, short peaks — cherry blossom and autumn colour — plus domestic Golden Week. Blossom-week lodging is the single most inflated inventory in the dataset; the rest of the year is comparatively flat.